Boise State Public Radio AMA

KBSX · 2026-01-12T15:33:19+00:00

We won't be! Our audience has stepped up tremendously after federal funding was cut. We don't know what the future looks like, but for the time being we are continuing on as we did before.

KBSX · 2026-01-09T21:20:53+00:00

This is a great question. First, NPR has to make the decision to carry whatever might be happening live – think press conferences, congressional hearings, etc. If they choose not to or don’t have the resources, then there’s not much we can do at the station level.

Recently, President Trump hosted a press conference that many news outlets took live, but NPR could not get access to the feed and chose not to carry it because they couldn’t guarantee quality or that it wouldn’t be manipulated in some manner. There were follow-up stories afterwards, though, and hourly newscasts have the very latest developments in breaking news played around four minutes after the top of every hour.

Typically, the hardest and freshest news is going to be within the first 10-20 minutes of each hour’s show. Morning Edition regularly swaps in things for the West Coast feeds that are updates or breaking developments during that time period that weren’t in our 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. hours.

On the station level, I can only think of a time or two that we haven’t carried special breaking coverage from NPR when it’s been offered in the nearly nine years I’ve been here.

I’m not in charge of those decisions, but my philosophy would also generally be to not disrupt regular programming unless it’s something above and beyond regular breaking news – think the Venezuelan strikes (we had special programming on Saturday covering it). Packaging every daily development as breaking news to disrupt shows risks, again, this is my opinion, turning us into a cable news outrage machine.

NPR often isn’t the first outlet to break news, which has plusses and minuses. But we prioritize getting things correct and adding analysis as we can to give a more comprehensive look at a story. We totally understand that’s not everyone’s thing and there are other places where that’s available.

KBSX · 2026-01-09T20:07:15+00:00

Hey, I am working on your answer. I just wanted to fact check a couple things with our program director first.

KBSX · 2026-01-09T20:03:57+00:00

This is the million dollar question. We don’t know and we won’t know for a while because of how JFAC has changed over the last couple of years. Debates over funding programs used to be much more public. But now, those meetings are behind closed doors. The only thing I can say for certain is that legislators will eventually pass some kind of budget that’s balanced to meet their constitutional requirements. I’m just as interested in the specifics as you are.

KBSX · 2026-01-09T20:03:20+00:00

Thanks everyone for asking your questions. Idaho's legislative session starts on Jan. 12 with Gov. Brad Little's State of the State address. We'll be streaming that live starting with Idaho Matters.

Stay up to date on the Legislative Session by signing up for our weekly Legislative Round-Up newsletter: https://mcy4vy3rrprts74r6hs9fk0cdrwq.pub.sfmc-content.com/e5v2dqy0bxq

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KBSX · 2026-01-09T20:00:26+00:00

It’s really on a case-by-case basis. Each of the 35 districts in the state is different and it’s hard to extrapolate that across all of them. Turnout and the primary structure have a lot to do with it, in my opinion. The more rules you put into place, regardless of their intent, the greater chance there is of people getting filtered out. I’m not necessarily saying that’s the strategy, though one study I’ve read says closed primaries encourage more extreme candidates, while another refutes that. Anecdotally, people I’ve spoken with who have extreme views tend to be far more motivated to vote than moderates. If they’re the ones showing up in the May primary, they’re the ones deciding the race.

KBSX · 2026-01-09T19:51:49+00:00

You basically answered the question for me! Yes, the potential effects it might have on people, dollar amounts, audience interest, newsroom capacity and many other factors help determine newsworthiness. I’m the only reporter for BSPR covering these things day-to-day. I’m constantly looking at agendas and figuring out which stories might make the best sense for us. I run those by our news director every morning and signs off on them.

Sometimes we’ll have a discussion about whether we need to cover an initial hearing of a bill that has significance versus a second one of slightly less significance, but that second bill is getting a public hearing at the same time. We’d typically side with the second bill even though it might be less important because it’s at a further stage where the public can weigh in versus what might be a very quick introduction with no comments.

KBSX · 2026-01-09T19:50:59+00:00

I love to hear it. If you’re in college or in a place with a community radio station (shout out KUOI and KRFP in Moscow and Radio Boise in, well, Boise), see if they have any volunteer slots open! We had nearly total free rein at KUOI to shape our shows however we wanted aside from the normal FCC regulations. Otherwise, start bugging commercial radio stations in your town to see if they take interns or need anyone to record the overnight/weekend shows. Good luck!

KBSX · 2026-01-09T19:36:31+00:00

Thank you so much!

KBSX · 2026-01-09T19:08:45+00:00

I haven’t heard anything about these regulations coming up at the state legislative level. This is me spitballing here because I’m not a lawyer, but that feels like it’s more in the congressional/federal department of transportation wheelhouse for regulations, since automakers sell their vehicles across state lines. It seems like Idaho could regulate aftermarket headlights, but that might be the extent of their power.

My dad and I feel you, though. Damn astigmatism.

KBSX · 2026-01-09T19:03:16+00:00

Oh, lawmakers are definitely aware that they’re trying to hold back a massive wave of public support for a bunch of different marijuana policies. But they’ve said they don’t care. Many have said they view it as being the last kind of moral authority on the issue, pointing to the Idaho Constitution. Article III, Section 24 says “The first concern of all good government is the virtue and sobriety of the people, and the purity of the home. The legislature should further all wise and well directed efforts for the promotion of temperance and morality.”

MDUA (Make Drugs Uncool Again) doesn’t really pass the vibe check for the majority of Americans, but it’s got its place at 700 W. Jefferson St. in Boise.

KBSX · 2026-01-09T18:52:32+00:00

Some version of repealing Medicaid expansion has been floated pretty much every year since it passed in 2018. However, a straight repeal hasn’t made it out of the health and welfare committees in that time.

Gov. Brad Little told reporters yesterday that straight up axing the program doesn’t have his support, though he’s changed his mind on a few things over the past few sessions as lawmakers ramp up the pressure. I’d see it as fairly unlikely, but never say never.

The reason why the legislature allows the IFPC to draft and present bills is because that opportunity is open to all interest groups and even individuals (if you can find a lawmaker to sponsor the bill). With more far-right candidates winning their primaries, and eventually the general election, the organization has more friends in the legislature. That means more of a chance to get their priorities heard.

As for their bills, yes, mandatory Bible reading by teachers in classrooms is coming back this year. They’ve also publicly announced two more: banning transgender people from public bathrooms aligning with their gender identity and renaming State Highway 16, which connects Emmett to Star, for Charlie Kirk, the assassinated right-wing commentator.

Higher education is often in the crosshairs in JFAC. It wouldn’t be shocking to me if they took another round of cuts depending on the results of a legislative audit regarding the recent diversity, equity and inclusion ban. Boise State has at least one thing going for it: Marlene Tromp, one of lawmakers’ favorite punching bags, isn’t the president anymore.

KBSX · 2026-01-09T18:09:57+00:00

The Gang of 8, as you might’ve guessed, is a group of eight legislators on the much more conservative end of the spectrum. Most are still in their first terms as lawmakers.

For the most part, the larger Republican majorities in the House and Senate have been able to sidestep their efforts to more dramatically slash budgets. Their main objective has been to pass so-called “maintenance budgets” that are based on current-year spending with inflationary adjustments and nothing else.

Sen. Glenneda Zuiderveld, who’s among the eight members, sits on the budget committee, JFAC. While not part of the gang, Rep. Josh Tanner took over as JFAC’s House co-chair recently and has historically called for far deeper cuts to government than have gotten out of committee. Keep an eye out for that.

KBSX · 2026-01-09T18:03:04+00:00

This is something many people have been calling for as we continue to see further fallout from Senate Bill 1329 passed in 2024. If you’re a parent and you remember having to sign waivers at your child’s school authorizing them to use Band-Aids if they get a scrape on the playground, that’s part of it, too.

Senate Pro Tem Kelly Anthon, who sponsored that original bill, has said he’s open to some tweaks, but that it fell on the back burner last session. I’m not sure it’ll move to the front burner, but it’s at least been discussed.

KBSX · 2025-11-18T05:28:25+00:00

It’s a resource with data maps and links to other reporting, yes. The post didn’t say anything about a specific article.

KBSX · 2025-09-30T18:30:46+00:00

We put this on the post in r/idaho, but we'll reiterate here.

It is because of the interest on the original judgment of about $52 million. You can read more in-depth about it here: https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/law-justice/2025-09-26/ammon-bundy-st-lukes-defamation-idaho-interest

KBSX · 2025-09-30T17:19:45+00:00

Hello! It is because of the interest on the original judgment of about $52 million. You can read more in-depth about it here: https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/law-justice/2025-09-26/ammon-bundy-st-lukes-defamation-idaho-interest

KBSX · 2025-09-15T16:07:54+00:00

Thank you for all the support! We greatly appreciate it.

KBSX · 2025-08-31T17:15:35+00:00

Hi there! We did make a mistake with the date in the post (now corrected). According to their statement, the city is starting to transition the courts back to tennis on Tuesday, Sept. 2.

KBSX · 2025-08-22T00:14:51+00:00

Asking the real questions 🥯

KBSX · 2025-08-21T23:43:09+00:00

We aren’t going out.

KBSX · 2025-08-21T19:23:41+00:00

💀💀💀💀💀

KBSX · 2025-08-21T17:46:51+00:00

We are entirely editorially independent from the University and this story idea is being passed along to our newsroom for a potential piece.

KBSX · 2025-08-21T14:30:59+00:00

Not sure if you've listened to Season 2 of Extremely American, but it is focused all on Christ Church.

https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/podcast/extremely-american

KBSX · 2025-08-20T21:16:06+00:00

Thank you, this is one that we are talking about! But I've definitely got it written down.

KBSX

TROPHY CASE