Outsiders Find West Texas, and Public Radio Follows

[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Barabara Novovitch]
This afternoon, Marfa Public Radio will be the first radio station offering national and world news to far West Texas, with a potential 50,000 listeners, counting travelers and residents. The station's signal will reach from Van Horn in the west to beyond Marathon, about 150 miles to the east, and from beyond Presidio, at the Mexican border, to Balmorhea, about 120 miles to the north. The schedule will include NPR's signature programming — "Morning Edition," "Weekend Edition" and "All Things Considered" — and programs from Public Radio International and American Public Media. Marfa may seem an unlikely home for public radio. The town is the county seat of Presidio County, which has a median household income under $20,000, less than half the national average. More than one-third of residents live in poverty, and more than half are Hispanic. But this vast, sparsely populated region in recent years has attracted urban refugees who live or vacation here. Local residents had tried for decades to bring public radio to the area, but it was the influx of outsiders that helped them finally start a station.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/national/12radio.html
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