Friends and family of longtime Bay Area radio icon Ronn Owens have banded together a GoFundMe campaign to assist ease the financial strain he’s coping with amid “serious” health issues.

In 2014, the previous KGO 810 talk radio host shared that he had suffered from Parkinson's disease since 2001 a Facebook post on Tuesday – New Year's Eve – Owens revealed that life has dealt him “a few more blows”: 4 bouts of cancer, most recently colon cancer, and “some serious heart problems.”

“It's been a tough road, and honestly it's hard to admit that the financial burden on top of everything else has become overwhelming,” said Owens, who left the station in 2021.

“For 48 years, I have advocated for KGO with all my heart, sharing stories, igniting conversations and connecting with all of you,” Owens continued, saying he never thought he could be in a situation where he would must ask for financial help, “but here I am, asking the community that has meant so much to me for a little help.”

In an interview, Owens and his wife, Jan Black, who now live in Arizona, said they recognize that some may query why they need financial help, or that some may even wonder if the GoFundMe campaign does a “fraud” considering Owens made living as a radio host.

But Black said even her medical health insurance, Medicare and long-term care insurance couldn't cover the entire “remaining” healthcare costs after multiple health crises, which also included pneumonia and COVID-19. In recent years, Owens has spent as much as six months within the hospital. When he returned home, he needed a house caregiver. At one point, Black said, Owens was given six months to live, but “he beat the odds.”

Now they're excited in regards to the support they've received from individuals who donated to the GoFundMe campaign. “It was really a last resort,” Black said.

During much of his time at KGO, Owens was arguably essentially the most influential voice in Bay Area radio, because the station was the highest-rated radio station within the region. Owens was actually the station's most distinguished host, leading live call-in discussions with listeners about essentially the most pressing topics in Bay Area and national news, culture and entertainment.

For much of his time at KGO, “The Ronn Owens Program” aired on weekday mornings, making him a drive-by legend not only here but across the country. He was also elected to each the National Radio Hall of Fame and the Bay Area Hall of Fame.

Owens “was the voice that guided, entertained and inspired countless listeners on KGO 810,” family and friends said on his GoFundMe campaign page, which goals to lift $60,000.

“If Ronn's voice ever brought you comfort, sparked a meaningful conversation, or simply made you smile, now is the time to show your love and gratitude,” additionally they said. “Any donation, no matter how large, will help Ronn and his family get through this difficult time.”

Among those that have donated very generously is former KGO colleague and technology reporter Leo Laporte. “You have made a huge difference to everyone in the Bay Area and to me personally,” Laporte wrote in a comment following his $1,000 donation. “Hold on, buddy! We love you!”

Walnut Creek City Council member Kevin Wilk also donated $100 and wrote on Owens' Facebook page: “You weren’t only a 'voice of reason' but person through and thru.” It's a sad one “The state of our health system that people are in this situation.”

When Owens first publicly announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's, he said he was moved to do so after Robin Williams' wife initially reported that the actor and comedian had the disease, SFGate reported at the time. Her revelation came days after Williams died by suicide.

“I thought it was important to tell people that like me, you can have it for 12½ years and not be seriously affected by it,” Owens said of his condition. “It’s possible, but it’s not a death sentence.”

It was later revealed that Williams was actually suffering from Lewy body dementia, a progressive disease that causes deterioration in mental abilities and mobility.

Owens said he kept his Parkinson's disease to himself because “I just can't stand the thought of individuals feeling sorry for me.” He also said he didn't want to be defined by Parkinson's.

When Owens left KGO in 2021, he issued a statement saying, “I cannot express how much I appreciate the connection I actually have made with so lots of you who’ve listened to or called my show and wrote emails” (and even by post!) or posted on my Facebook page.”

“We laughed, cried, were angry and confused about the events that were unfolding in the world,” he also said. “Together we tried to grasp the entire thing and exchange ideas on how we are able to improve things.

The following 12 months, Cumulus Media, KGO's owner, abruptly announced that the station's news-talk format could be discontinued. Owens expressed resignation on the format change, noting that listening habits had modified as people now not relied on terrestrial radio for traffic and weather reports.

Originally published: January 2, 2025 at 11:34 am PST

Long before the appearance of reality TV, the favored game show “Queen for a day“ thrilled American audiences by giving women who told heartbreaking stories about their financial difficulties the possibility to win expensive items that might help them solve their problems.

During the show's run from 1956 to 1964, each episode featured contestants describing a misfortune that had befallen them or their families, comparable to polio, rheumatic fever or hunting accidents. They asked for every thing from bunk beds to tuition for cosmetology school to enhance their lot.

Finally, an applause-o-meter appeared and was placed over each woman's face. The winner was chosen based on the amount of the audience's applause. She was crowned queen for a day and showered with dishwashers, sewing machines and sofas, while the losers – and the Millions of Americans who had their televisions turned on – were watching.

Today, something like this black and white television show runs nonstop, but on different devices. It is the Action by GoFundMethe world's largest personal crowdfunding website.

The private company says it has helped people study 30 billion US dollars in donations between 2010 and early 2024. While this sum sounds impressive, GoFundMe's success leaves a trail of failed campaigns and disenchanted users – a reality that the platform actually desires to hide.

Behind the success stories

If you GoFundMes Discover Page you will see that a cascade of misfortunes.

People from all walks of life use the platform to tell the general public in regards to the Cancer and diabetes cases, House fires And other tragedies who’re harassing them or their family members. They are asking for help paying for every thing from medical treatment to varsity textbooks.

A donation counter appears, often next to a photograph of the person looking for help, and measures how the appeal is received by website visitors. Winners go viral, exceed their goals and lift Tens of 1000’s of dollars.

Others hope the group will select them next.

We are politically Sociologists is all in favour of how people in North America use digital technologies to address the high costs of healthcare and better education. Part of our researchwe conducted 50 in-depth interviews and surveyed over 600 crowdfunding users between 2018 and 2021. We also analyzed data from nearly 2 million GoFundMe campaigns.

In “GoFailMe: The unfulfilled promise of digital crowdfunding”, our book based on this research, we explain that behind the GoFundMe winners whose stories are featured on the website’s front page, and his podcast – “True stories of good people” – there may be an extended list of losers.

In this manner, they hardly collect any money, but experience an emotional rollercoaster ride and reveal a big a part of their privacy and private data.

Digital hurdles

When these platforms emerged within the 2000s, crowdfunding corporations promised to make use of the networking opportunities of the Internet to Remove Gatekeeper And democratize fundraisingso that everybody who has an excellent cause can access the cash they need.

Far from this tech-optimistic vision, we see glaring inequalities throughout GoFundMe’s fundraising process.

First, there may be the digital divideMany low-income people simply don't seek help with crowdfunding because they don't learn about it, don't have reliable web access, or are too intimidated by the technology.

For those that manage to enter the virtual world, crowdfunding rewards users who have already got many economic benefits within the offline world. Wealthier people usually tend to to make use of online services, while poorer and fewer educated users find it tougher to market their misfortune in compelling narratives, eye-catching photos and exciting videos.

And crowdfunding works best when there may be a crowd willing and in a position to help, which often starts with family, friends and acquaintances. But if your loved ones and friends are broke, such as you, then there may be to have little helpregardless of how good your campaign is or how cleverly you market it.

GoFundMe’s invisible majority

We estimate that only about 17% of U.S. GoFundMe campaigns for healthcare and emergency expenses reach their goal. We also found that the majority of the funds raised are concentrated in a really small group of campaigns.

We saw in the information we analyzed that the highest 5% of campaigns with the best revenues accounted for about half of all of the dollars raised on GoFundMe. Because relatively wealthy users are likely to be more successful In crowdfunding, such a discrepancy will probably only exacerbate the already high level of economic inequality within the USA

Despite the Company Representations While every good cause has a spot on GoFundMe, most users simply don't get the funds they need through the platform.

However, this just isn’t what you will see that out for those who search GoFundMe.

Nothing will be sold with failures.

The multitudes of campaigns that never get off the bottom are largely obscured by a algorithmic advice system that highlights probably the most successful cases and pushes the remainder into the platform's search results. This appears to be very profitable for GoFundMe, which generates revenue through Fees and suggestions added to donations, but leaves many users feeling disenchanted and a few even get scammed.

One user we interviewed, whose campaign to assist with medical costs ultimately failed to lift a single donation, compared the experience to “screaming into that well of grief and hoping that people will see and hear you.”

When asked for comment, the corporate said our book was “full of misconceptions,” but GoFundMe didn’t provide details about what individuals who don't reach their stated fundraising goals get from the platform. “We're constantly evolving our product to ensure more organizers have greater success,” GoFundMe added.

“Queen for a Day” 2.0?

People have all the time asked for help, and each era has its own way of deciding who gets that help.

In the Fifties, media corporations experimented with recent mixtures of charity and entertainment and invented the TV game show. We agree with critics who consider “Queen for a Day” to be among the many worst exploiters of the genre of hardship for profit.

The opportunity for corporations like GoFundMe to make use of technology in recent ways to enhance people's lives has never been greater. At the identical time, the opportunities to take advantage of a crisis are growing.

To fulfill the democratic promise of crowdfunding, we imagine GoFundMe must be rather more open in regards to the success of all of its campaigns, including those who fail, and will do rather more to make the platform more accessible to the people most in danger from economic hardship.

Until these steps are taken, users should proceed with caution and remember that behind every viral success lie countless untold stories of unmet needs.