Broadcast it
About GMF
The Greater Montana Foundation (GMF) has long supported a range of public broadcasting and commercial radio and television programs in fulfillment of the vision of pioneer Montana broadcaster Ed Craney who created the Foundation in 1958. That vision is captured in the Greater Montana Foundation Vision/Mission Statement that appears on every grant application form received:
The Greater Montana Foundation benefits the people of Montana by encouraging communication with an emphasis on electronic media on issues, trends and values of importance to present and future generations of Montanans.
Also, on every form is the following statement. It reflects Mr. Craney’s -- and the GMF’s – conviction that commercial broadcasting does, and must continue to, provide an important and fundamental ongoing communication on issues of importance:
The Greater Montana Foundation grants priority funding to programs that adhere most closely to the principles articulated in the GMF mission statement and for which applicants can demonstrate intention on the part of commercial television and radio stations to air the proposed programs. Special consideration will also be given to multi-part series written and produced to air within regularly-scheduled news and public affairs programs.
Historical Documents Relating To The Basic Purpose of The Greater Montana Foundation
Undated letter to GMF’s Board of Trustees from Ed Craney
Letter from Ed and Connie Craney dated October 3, 1963Memo written about the scope and purpose of The Greater Montana Foundation, dated December 18, 1984. (NOTE: The author of this memo is not indentified in the text of the document, but some evidence suggests that the author was the late Peter Meloy, who was Mr. Craney’s attorney and is believed to have been a Trustee of the Greater Montana Foundation at the time that the memo was written)
Historical Documents Relating To E.B. “Ed” Craney
“Ed Craney: The Voice of Montana” A 25-page unpublished thesis by Scott Parini with photographs used through permission of the Montana Historical Society Research Center.
“Messenger of the New Age: Station KGIR in Butte” by Mary Murphy, Magazine of Western History, August 1989, pages 52 to 63.
