Hawaiʻi Public Radio President and General Manager José A. Fajardo announced this month that he is stepping down at the end of July. His battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is behind his decision. He was diagnosed in 2021.
Fajardo has been the head of HPR since May 2016. During that time, HPR expanded its network of transmitters, invested in news and digital content, and strengthened its financial standing.
He spoke to The Conversation on Tuesday morning about leading HPR for the past eight years and deciding to step down this summer.
CATHERINE CRUZ, HOST: Good morning, José.
JOSÉ A. FAJARDO: Good morning, Catherine.
CRUZ: I have to say it was an emotional day for all of us here at HPR when you shared the news about your decision.
FAJARDO: It was a very difficult decision for me to make. I've been in radio and actually television for around 40 years. It was a career that I fell in love with when I was about 8 years old. I knew I wanted to be in radio, so I was able to fulfill my dream. And while my mind is still sharp, and my passion is still strong, I came to the realization that my body just was not allowing me to do what I wanted to do. My energy level, which ALS reduces, made me just tired just doing simple things. So it was a decision that I started thinking about around November and then in December, I had an emergency surgery for a non-ALS related issue. And that added some complications. So I talked to my board and informed them that I would be stepping down in July. I had told them when I was diagnosed that when the time came, I would provide them with a six-month notice to provide for a smooth transition. So that's what I kind of started the process with my announcement.
CRUZ: I know I had a number of our listeners reach out to me, and they were just very moved by your letter that went out to all our members. They said it was just so well written and just from the heart.
FAJARDO: From day one, Catherine, I've been very transparent about my disease, my diagnosis. I've been on The Conversation talking about it several times. I have a blog that I keep people up to date. And so I thought it was important that once I'd made the decision and informed the board and the staff to also inform our major donors, our donors in general, and our listeners as we're doing today. Because it's important, I think, to keep the conversation going about ALS, and the impact it has. It's now robbing me of my passion of radio, and something that I've always loved to do. And so, while my career will be coming to an end, I hope that I find something else to do. The board has talked to me. We haven't made a final decision about keeping me active with the station in some capacity. Perhaps even sweeping the floors. I'll just find a way to do that.
CRUZ: You keep your sense of humor through all this and all of us here at HPR do appreciate that fact because we love you. We've seen the progress that we have made over the years. Thank you for hiring me, I've been here close to seven years and I have just seen the news department become strong, every year.
FAJARDO: We've done a lot. I mean, one of the first things that I was able to do was complete our statewide network by activating the Hilo transmitter and then purchasing a station on Lānaʻi to service Maui that we renamed KJHF on behalf of John Henry Felix. But the most important change was the program realignment when we were able to move all the news programs to HPR-1 and make HPR-2 a classical music station. That helped us really elevate and increase our audience, increase our revenues. We're now a very financially sound station with surpluses that we're able to invest in capital and reinvest in people. We have done a really good job of elevating compensation for our team and retaining talent, and putting in a $50,000 investment in scholarship funds for our staff to go to training and conferences. And I'm very proud of my time here at HPR. We have a great team, a great staff, we do really good quality work when it comes to local news. I mean, just yesterday you were in Maui, and so we are where we're supposed to be.
CRUZ: Driving around Maui, I had to smile, because I programmed HPR into the rental car and was able to listen to our signal. And I thought of John Henry Felix and the station, the transmitter — and knowing that our signal was really strong over there, it just made me smile.
FAJARDO: I'm really happy about that because, you know, we're separated by oceans and mountain ranges and volcanoes and valleys. And it's really difficult to do radio in Hawaiʻi, and it's because of the support from our listeners over the years that we've been able to invest in our infrastructure to be able to bring our quality programming from Kauaʻi all the way to Hilo, and all points in between.
CRUZ: I have to say that when I started here, I was a little scared of doing the call-in shows. But then that has become really a bright spot because I just love to hear from everyone across the state. They are really engaged and I just love the audience.
FAJARDO: To hear the diversity of voices when we do the call-in programs really is a highlight for me because we're not Hawaiian public radio, we're Hawaiʻi Public Radio — and we embrace Hawaiʻi, we embrace the local culture, we embrace our local community. And that is part of our mission and vision to be connected to our community in ways that impact our community in beneficial ways.
CRUZ: Being there on Maui, it was so easy to talk to people, you know, because they're our members and they have confidence and trust in our reporting. Very proud to represent Hawaiʻi Public Radio there on the neighbor islands.
FAJARDO: And I am very proud of everyone's work. And I'll be here through July 31. The board will be doing a national search and they'll hopefully be hiring someone who can take the station to the next level. Hopefully, I have left the station in good hands.
CRUZ: What are your hopes for HPR?
FAJARDO: To continue to grow, to continue to be engaged with our community, and to be ready for whatever the future is for public media — because the landscape will be changing and I think we're in a good position to be ready for those changes.
CRUZ: We thank you for all you have done for us here at Hawaiʻi Public Radio, for our state, for all our listeners. And we are sad that you'll be stepping down, but we know that you have left us a stronger place.
This story aired on The Conversation on Feb. 6, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. Sophia McCullough adapted this story for the web.
