The present and future of public media is now left to local communities. There are many losers in the elimination of federal funding, in some cases state funding: entire regions, communities and cities, listeners, members, non-profit partners, endangered stations and staff, to name just a few. But there is one winner: local missions.

Now that government funding is tethered to political whims, public media is liberated from financial bribery. Public media’s shackles are off. That’s a good thing.

Public radio and TV stations have “missions” that go beyond a mission statement. They operate inside an ethos that codifies who and what they support in their local communities. More than ratings and revenue, missions are the underpinning of public media. Every mission is different and localized to take public stance on who they support, why they support them, and how they support them. Missions serve entire communities and people who need support, are not red or blue, and don’t change with political winds. Compromising a public media mission for a government check is antithetical to non-commercial media.

Public media has spent decades focusing on narrow slices of potential audience, while  ignoring others. The choice has driven its audience and revenue results, but those results have also come at a high price.

I’m not the first to say local public media must widen its target audience and be more inclusive to all corners of your community. DEI stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion and shouldn’t be a tool to alienate others. Celebrating heritage months is great but should be balanced to celebrate everyone not just a few. Fact-based reporting is critical, but so is balanced story sourcing and competing point of views. Community building that isn’t just tied to content but with true local outreach that invites all psychographics must be pursued.

The collateral damage to protect public media missions is awful. Public media will never be the same, but it can and must be better without government funding and with an unyielding focus on serving local needs. If that happens, then mission accomplished.

All of us at Paragon are rooting for everyone’s success. We believe there’s a path forward and we’re here to be part of the solution.

More about Mike.