Congress voted early Friday morning to eliminate all funding to the Corporation For Public Broadcasting with the House of Representatives passing the bill by a 216-213 measure following the Senate’s vote earlier on Thursday.
The vote eliminates all $1.1 bullion in funding to the CPB for the next two years along with nearly $8 billion for a variety of foreign aid programs. The CPB was responsible for distributing its funding to public radio and television stations across the country as well as to NPR and PBS for assisting to fund national programming. The funding makes up about 2% of the annual income for NPR itself, but CPB funding usually is responsible for 8-10% of the budgeted income for public radio stations and as high as 15% for PBS and public television stations.
CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison commented, “Today’s vote by the U.S. Senate to eliminate federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a decision with profound, lasting, negative consequences for every American. The American public trusts and values public media, whose exceptional content and essential services are a public good that strengthens local communities. For nearly six decades, public media has served families in every corner of America, especially rural and tribal communities, providing extraordinary vital content and services free of charge.
Without federal funding, many local public radio and television stations will be forced to shut down. Parents will have fewer high quality learning resources available for their children. Millions of Americans will have less trustworthy information about their communities, states, country, and world with which to make decisions about the quality of their lives. Cutting federal funding could also put Americans at risk of losing national and local emergency alerts that serve as a lifeline to many Americans in times of severe need.
American taxpayers rightly expect and deserve public media to be reflective of and responsive to the local voices it serves and deliver accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news and information. Rather than dismantle public media, we should fund and strengthen it. The path to a better, more trusted public media is only achievable with continued federal support and constructive reforms.”
NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher released the following statement:
“This vote is an unwarranted dismantling of beloved local civic institutions, and an act of Congress that disregards the public will. Two-thirds of Americans support federal funding for public media, and believe that it is a good value for taxpayer dollars. Americans listen to their local NPR stations daily, watch their favorite PBS shows loyally, raise their children on educational television, and listen to music stations that showcase the best of our home-grown music traditions.
Public funding has enabled the flourishing of a uniquely American system of unparalleled cultural, informational, and educational programming, and ensured access to vital emergency alerting and reporting in times of crisis — all for about $1.60 per American, every year. Parents and children, senior citizens and students, tribal and rural communities — all will bear the harm of this vote.
Locally owned and independent, public radio stations reach 99.7% of the American public, and employ thousands of people, including nearly 3,000 local journalists. They have deep roots in their communities, an unflagging dedication to public service, and a commitment to all listeners, regardless of background or belief.
Supporters of defunding are fixated on NPR and PBS, but in reality the cuts will be felt where these services are needed most. Stations in places like West Virginia, and those serving tribal nations, receive more than 50% of their budget from federal funding. Public radio provides local programming that would otherwise be unavailable — coverage of town councils, statehouse affairs, local elections, and local music.
Public radio is also a lifeline, connecting rural communities to the rest of the nation, and providing life-saving emergency broadcasting and weather alerts. Nearly 3-in-4 Americans say they rely on their public radio stations for alerts and news for their public safety. In fact, while the Senate considered amendments yesterday, a 7.3 earthquake struck off the coast of Alaska, prompting three coastal stations to start broadcasting live tsunami warnings, urging their communities to head to high ground. Even in the face of evacuation warnings, staff at KUCB remained at the station at sea level to get emergency messages on the air in coordination with public safety officials.
Despite promises from some Members of Congress to fix anything the bill breaks, this will be an irreversible loss. If a station doesn’t survive this sudden turn by Congress, a vital stitch in our American fabric will be gone for good.
Public media is a resilient civic good, its organizations dedicated to public service. Tonight, our network’s service to the nation suffered a tremendous setback. Together — and with support from listeners and readers in communities around the nation — we will work to rebuild.”
NPR also shared comments from the following stations:
KUAF Fayetteville AR General Manager Clint Schaff said, “These cuts hit our communities right where it hurts. Our neighbors who depend on KUAF’s vital community service are set to lose nearly $193,000 in annual federal funding—16% of our operating budget—and the 750,000 people we serve across Northwest Arkansas, the Arkansas River Valley, southern Missouri and eastern Oklahoma are at risk of losing their most trusted local news source, their emergency weather alerts, and the kind of deep community storytelling that helps us understand each other across all our differences. In a world full of noise and division, we work every day to cut through the static and connect our communities—turning transplants into neighbors, bridging old-timers with newcomers, and creating the kind of shared understanding that makes democracy work better. While KUAF is a resilient mid-market operation that will work to survive this challenge, I fear for smaller stations across the country that may not be as fortunate and could be forced to go dark, and what that means for the network as a whole. What remains true is that KUAF’s service will be as strong as the support it gets from the community it serves—our communities need listeners who are able to donate monthly to do so, for existing contributors to dig deeper, for charitable organizations and foundations to step up, and for universities and other institutions to invest in this vital community resource.”
South Dakota Public Broadcasting Executive Director Julie Overgaard said, “This is devastating news for South Dakota Public Broadcasting and the entire public media system. Public Broadcasting and the many services we provide are invaluable to our citizens. Our communities rely on us. While we will immediately seek to make up the lost funds, this vote puts essential programming at risk – from bipartisan analysis of South Dakotan politics to coverage of high school sports, to life-saving emergency alerts and so much more. We must continue to fight to preserve public broadcasting in South Dakota and across the country.”
WDIY Allentown PA Executive Director Margaret McConnell commented, “WDIY 88.1 FM is deeply concerned by the passing of this rescission. This decision pushes us into uncharted territory. For 30 years, we’ve been a vital source of trusted news, local cultural programming, carefully curated music, and community affairs coverage that amplifies local voices and reflects the diversity and spirit of our region. WDIY isn’t just a radio station. It’s a public square — a place where people from different backgrounds come together to learn, reflect, and celebrate the life of this region. WDIY will continue to engage with the community and explore all possible funding avenues to preserve this essential service for the Lehigh Valley. We ask for the community’s support in helping us do that.”
CoastAlaska Inc. Executive Director Mollie Kabler stated, “Eliminating funding for CPB means rural Alaskans are going to be losing critical broadcast services they rely on for their safety. As the Senate was voting on the bill, a tsunami warning prompted an evacuation in Unalaska. The local station went on the air in coordination with local public safety officials. When the tsunami sirens activated, the voice message in the warning instructed community members to tune in to their local radio station. No other media could give the local information about the evacuation and the all-clear notice. We are willingly going to give up providing real information to Alaskans but the choices will be difficult and the level of service will be very different. Losing locally owned and operated stations is heartbreaking. The small investment from tax payers to fund CPB supports such important service in rural Alaska.”
KSUT Ignacio CO Executive Director Tami Graham said, “This vote represents a devastating blow to the Four Corners region and the tribal communities we serve. The loss of nearly 20% of our budget will force us to make impossible choices about maintaining our emergency alert systems, local journalism, and the community programming that serves as a lifeline for people living in what is already a literal news desert. This cut is particularly cruel to Native American communities who rely on KSUT as their primary source of emergency information and local news, especially in areas where internet access remains unreliable. While we remain committed to nurturing the public square of the Four Corners region, this funding loss will significantly hinder our ability to serve our neighbors throughout the Four Corners with the freely accessible journalism and programs they depend on.”
