Could public media’s sometimes quirky but unique content be its savior? Early indications from the unlikeliest places suggest that the public’s defense of non-commercial media may be swinging the pendulum toward the good after government defunding delivered a hard body blow. Driven by their local missions, public radio and TV stations deliver content that average citizens find irreplaceable.
Alabama Reverses Course
Let’s start in Alabama. In the reddest of states, Alabama’s Republican governor pressured the Alabama Educational Television Commission to continue paying dues for Alabama PBS through fiscal year 2026. This comes after the commission indicated it was considering ending their PBS TV affiliation. As reported by Julian Wyllie in Current, local viewers stepped up to the mic to plead for continued funding by citing unbiased news reporting and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, and they succeeded:
Members of the public who attended the meeting urged APT to remain as a PBS affiliate. “If you look at any of the other news programming, it’s all become entertainment, shock value and partisan one way or the other,” said an attendee, who added that he enjoys PBS News Hour. “They report the news. They don’t do the shock value stuff. They just tell you what’s happened, and I think that’s vitally important.”
“My son goes to an autism clinic, and all those kids watch PBS,” said another attendee. “A lot of kids benefit from it so much, especially autistic kids. I have a hard time trusting any other place except PBS. … I can’t afford cable. … It would destroy my son if he cannot watch Daniel Tiger every day. He has a routine, and you guys understand with autistic kids, if they don’t have their routine, it goes down the window, and all of it goes back to regression. So we need PBS.”
New Jersey Debates Funding Cuts
Another recent article in Current was titled, “New Jersey lawmakers hear pleas to save public broadcasting-.” (This article was first published by the New Jersey Monitor and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.) Excerpts follow:
The Senate’s legislative oversight committee heard 90 minutes of pleas from people who warned that losing public news and arts programming would lead to a less-informed citizenry and hurt families who can’t afford to pay for cable TV or streaming services. Corruption, political polarization and misinformation threaten to flourish as the shrinking media industry loses another trusted outlet, they said.
“The end result is not just the thousands of journalism jobs that have been lost or the dozens of newsrooms that have been closed. It is the countless communities that are left in the dark and don’t know what’s going on in their schools, whether their water is safe to drink, where their tax dollars are going, which local businesses are opening or closing, and how to coordinate with their neighbors to solve problems,” said Mike Rispoli, senior director of journalism and civic information at Free Press Action.
Assemblyman Louis Greenwald (D-Camden) testified that public media is a needed antidote to the non-traditional news sources that “reward outrage and echo chambers” and the health of our democracy depends on the strength of our local news. We cannot rely on New York and Philadelphia media markets to tell New Jersey’s story.”
New Jersey’s legislature has already passed a state budget that slashed NJ PBS’ allocation to $250,000. This comes after NJ PBS saw over $1.5 million in CPB funding eliminated. As a result, NJ PBS intends to cease operations in June 2026. It remains to be seen if public pressure will change their closure.
HBO Show Cites Public Media’s Essential Content
Public radio’s Tiny Desk Concerts, Native America Calling, National Native News, public TV’s Mr. Bean, Sesame Street, The Joy of Painting, Rock School, and a local fundraising show called Trading Time on KZYX-FM that airs on three signals in and around Mendocino (CA) were recently featured on Last Week Tonight With John Oliver. Even programs no longer in production were cited by public TV fans who hold onto old memories.
Clearly savoring public media’s idiosyncratic programming and following, the show aired a previous interview with The Berserker Blóthar of heavy metal band, Gwar, who said, “Public radio, it’s a national treasure. I mean, where else would you go? As a young man, I watched Ginger Baker have a drum-off against the drummer from Ratt on Rock School on PBS. You’re not going to find that on network television, and not to mention Sesame Street. I mean, look, this is Mr. Rogers. It’s quality programming and it always has been, and it’s a damn shame to just throw it in the toilet like that.”
Oliver provided multiple glimpses into the essential nature of public media’s exclusive local content and its commitment to serving small communities. Moving beyond the quirky to the serious, Oliver bounced around the public media system to explain how important their service is to local citizens.
He shared reporting from the intersection of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas where Red River Radio (on five signals) is the only NPR news radio station in the area and also broadcasts classical music, jazz, and blues. The report featured News Director/Producer Jeff Ferrell, the only full-time news employee who wakes up daily at 4:00 am to be on the air at 5:30 am. Ferrell admitted to working 15-hour days and sometimes sleeping in his office to provide local listeners reporting they can’t get anywhere else. The reporter observed that, “About 19% of Louisiana lives in poverty and 15% don’t have internet access, according to the U.S. Census.” A local citizen chimed in, “You can’t afford satellite TV. You can’t buy cable. And they’re alone. And so it is a lifeline. And what’s great about this is that they feel connected. They stay connected to the world.” Another citizen said, “Radio saves lives. The Emergency Broadcast System. Without it, people would die.”
Moving to Colorado, the show interviewed Marty Jones, a volunteer DJ In Alamosa (CO) on KRZA-FM (three signals) who said, “One of the things that we do is provide public service announcements that inform people of meetings that are important to the community that they don’t always get in a timely fashion. Some examples that I just read on this morning’s show included an announcement about a distribution of school supplies that is occurring today. Here’s an announcement about a free sloppy joe luncheon for veterans and homeless.”
Turning to Ashville (NC), which last year endured devasting floods from Hurricane Helen, the program shared how Blue Ridge Public Radio pivoted to emergency alerts “when its small staff of seven didn’t just report through the storm and immediate aftermath, but they also kept working through a 53-day stretch where locals didn’t have access to clean water.” Local citizens emotionally weighed in:
- Listener 1:“You guys were wonderful and you sustained me. I was isolated on a mountain side.”
- Listener 2:“My wife and I are so thankful for your constant presence during this crisis. Keep it up. We love you.”
- Listener 3 (crying):“Thank you guys so much for being there. It’s just going to make me cry because you’re the only source of information that we’ve had. Thank you. Bye-bye.”
BRPR CEO/General Manager, Ele Ellis, correctly framed their exclusive local service by stating, “NBC Nightly News can show you pictures of devastating flooding, but they don’t tell locals where to get fresh water. NBC News is not for that.”
Defunding’s Winner? Local Missions
As public media fights for survival, the missions of public radio stations have quickly moved into focus. Thanks to local listeners who are defending and validating local service, and critical reporting of those views, more Americans are learning why public media is for all the public, and not just the hyped-up stereotypes that attackers spin for political gain.
In a Paragon blog from August after defunding, Mission Accomplished: Public Media After Government Funding, I surmised that, “Compromising a public media mission for a government check is antithetical to non-commercial media.” The last few months have shown that sticking to their local missions is exactly what many people want and need, it is what separates public from commercial media, and where the North Star will always point.
It’s also worth noting that community building is being recognized as the key ingredient to reengaging communities in the face of cultural divides. As the last local media standing, public media is uniquely positioned to leverage its position as a trusted community media by finding new ways to build communities that have nothing to do with content.
Kudos
Three important organizations deserve credit for keeping these stories in the news:
Nonprofit Public Media Company has long been an invaluable resource that endeavors to preserve local public media services. Their recent launching of Bridge Funds, a program that collects and distributes funding to at-risk local public media stations, is literally saving service in rural areas that would otherwise shut down due to defunding.
Current, “News For People In Public Media,” is the only American media outlet fully dedicated to critical reporting on public media. As a nonprofit itself, Current relies on readers to stay afloat. If you find their reporting important to the survival of public media, as I do, I encourage you to help fill up their tip jar by donating here.
Adopt A Station, founded by Alex Curley of Semipublic, is a way for people to help public media find stations in need of financial support and provide donations.
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