Rage-giving, innovation and cuts: How public media has survived without federal funds
Public media organizations in the U.S. are facing significant financial instability following the removal of federal funding. Stations are struggling to maintain local news coverage and staffing levels while relying more heavily on private donations.
Why it matters
The loss of federal support threatens the viability of local journalism and public service broadcasting, particularly in rural areas.
A year ago, President Trump drove a conservative backlash against NPR and PBS straight to Capitol Hill, where Congress stripped public radio and television stations of nearly all federal funding. When his signature turned that bill into law, Trump ended nearly six decades of bipartisan support for funding public media.
Since then, more than 500 public media staffers have been laid off, according to a tally by SemiPublic. And yet station officials across the country have reacted with a sense of urgency, hope and anxiety.
Urgency because change is being forced upon them.
Hope because listeners, viewers and philanthropists stepped up.
"All of this exists because of viewers like you," PBS CEO Paula Kerger said at an event at the Chautauqua Institution this summer. "We have said this on the air for many, many years. And I think, until this year, people didn't quite fully realize what that means."
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