I knew I wanted to do a Web site and instead of doing something silly, I did something I thought might help some people. In 1993, he co-founded Newsplus, St. Louis' first local news and sports wire service. Bafaro credits his layoff at KTRS as the catalyst for creation of the Web site. But when you're standing still, you're really falling behind. He laments the dismantling of radio news departments as cost-cutting measures.
Radio news is treated like an ugly stepchild.
The point I've always made is a news department is a public relations tool, a community outreach. The PR benefit is unbelievable. We went to places WIL wouldn't have been if they hadn't had a news department. The WIL years were particularly satisfying, he noted. I had the most fun running my own newsroom.