Public media is NOT state-controlled media

Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Andrew Mercein, 7/18/25

Headline:  “Inside the Radio Stations Devastated by Public Funding Cuts”

Subhead:  “ ‘If we have to make cuts, there’s no easy choice,’ one station manager said.”

“At noon on Friday, just hours after Congress revoked more than 1.1 billion dollars in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, more than a hundred and fifty member stations joined a closed-door Zoom call with NPR leadership. The federal funding they had spent months trying to save was gone. What remained was a shared sense of loss, exhaustion, and the daunting task of reevaluating their mission and programming.

“In an emotional hour-long call, station leaders grappled with fallback plans and infrastructure gaps. Some large stations offered to share resources with smaller ones. Others voiced gratitude for NPR’s efforts in Washington. But no one believed the damage could be undone quickly—if at all. ‘It was, in some ways, a postmortem,’ said one person who listened to the call. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/news/public-radio-stations-funding-cuts-rescission.php

– – – – –

Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 7/18/25

Headline:  “Opinion | Defunding NPR and PBS passed the Senate — and it’s a direct hit to rural America”

“As feared, President Donald Trump, with the help of Congress, is making good on his threat to cut federal funding for NPR, PBS and other public broadcasting.

‘It’s a dark day for journalism, the free press and, perhaps most importantly, everyday Americans who are going to feel the effects of what happened Thursday. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/defunding-npr-and-pbs-passed-the-senate/