Federal Cuts to Public Media May Bring Devastating Consequences
Following a May 2025 Executive Order retaliating against publicly-owned media by Donald Trump, where he directed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to cease funding Public Broadcasting System (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR), US Congress passed a $9 billion rescission package that included nearly $1.1 billion in cuts to the CPB and around $8 billion in cuts for foreign assistance programs, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for 2026 and 2027.
On July 17, 2025, H.R.4 - Rescissions Act of 2025 passed the Senate by a vote of 51-48.
So what’s the big deal? Why do we need public media? Glad you asked.
Between 1984 and 2011, The United States went from 50 companies that owned a controlling interest in our media to just 6. By 2011, 90% of the United States's media was controlled by six media conglomerates: GE/Comcast [NBC, Universal], News Corp [Fox News, Wall Street Journal, New York Post], Disney [ABC, ESPN, Pixar], Viacom [MTV, BET, Paramount Pictures], Time Warner [CNN, HBO, Warner Bros.], and CBS [Showtime, NFL.com]).
And who owns those companies? Mostly billionaires like the Murdoch family, Michael Bloomberg, Jeff Bezos, the Hearst family, and George Soros, alongside groups like BlackRock and The Vanguard Group, Inc., who have holdings in multiple conglomerates.
By contrast, public media is owned by, attuned to—and more importantly, is accountable to—the public.
The true value in community media is in the way it forges local connection and identity, providing spaces for diverse voices—something that is often lost in conglomerate media, who tend to cite the same sources (often one another), parrot the same talking points, and create an overwhelming agenda on behalf of their owners or investors.
As we have seen recently when CBS fired comedian and talk show host Steven Colbert three days after Colbert roasted Paramount’s—CBS’ parent company—$16 million capitulation to Trump, claiming “financial” reasons, a free and fair press is threatened when a few control access and the narrative.
More than that, limiting or annihilating access to local media can be deadly. In many rural communities, cell and internet service can be spotty due to the distance of towers, or the exorbitant cost of broadband service that might not be affordable to small, low-income populations. In these communities, weather and safety alerts by radio or local television stations can be more dependable in an emergency.
Public media offers a form of democratization in media that has deteriorated over the past few decades. Northwestern University’s 2024 The State of Local News Project indicates that “Since 2005, more than 3,200 print newspapers have vanished.”, and that the closures result in news deserts, “...areas that lack consistent local reporting that fills critical information needs.” The Executive Summary indicates that news deserts are growing, and
...there are 206 counties across the country without any news source, up from 204 last year, and 1,561 counties with only one source. Altogether, this means that almost 55 million people in the United States have limited to no access to local news.
In 2023, Thomas E. Patterson, Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, published a discussion paper titled, “News Crisis: Can Local Public Radio Help Fill the News Gap Created by the Decline of Local Newspapers?”, in which he outlines the “weakening of local news”, and details ways in which public radio could fill the needs created by this massive loss. Some of the most substantial challenges to this proposition that Patterson presented were understaffing and funding, both issues that threaten to decimate community stations after the recent rescission.
The latest cuts to public media seem to be both a punishment for fair and balanced, factual reporting (claimed, without sources or examples, by The White House as “biased”), and an attempt to keep children in need from accessing educational tools that might teach empathy, acceptance of diversity, and inspire a love of knowledge that contradicts current extremist ideologies and keeps class-based ignorance intact.
As someone who came from poverty and grew up on PBS programming like Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, and Reading Rainbow, these programs set me on a lifelong journey of learning and helped forge an ideology that trends toward compassion. The potential defunding of public media is deeply personal to me. Although I was lucky that my parents encouraged my love of knowledge and reading, many children don’t have that same security, and at times, these are their only glimpses into a world outside of an experience that can include abuse, ignorance, and oppression.
What kind of fallout from this clawback of previously appropriated funds might we see in Washington State? Both urban and rural public media is at risk. Nationally, rural broadcasting support accounts for around $147 million—31% of CPB’s annual appropriation. According to their site, “245 of the total 544 radio and TV grantees are considered rural. Of these, 84 are public television station grantees and 161 are public radio station grantees.”
The Evergreen Echo
In Washington State, at least 44 organizations are funded in part by CPB grants and allocations, to the tune of $10,106,644. This includes direct financial support for both urban and rural stations, system supports such as equipment, and access to tools like satellites and emergency broadcast systems. In the wake of The White House and Congress’ recent punitive legislation, local media organizations are feeling the pain, but some remain hopeful. Michaela Gianotti Boyle, a spokesperson for KUOW, Seattle’s NPR station, stated that:
KUOW received support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in two ways: direct funding (about 5% of our total revenue) and access to vital infrastructure like satellite interconnection and emergency alert systems. The value of their support was $1.4M annually, and we must permanently find a way to replace that funding year after year. Following the vote, KUOW went on-air for an urgent fund drive to replace the next 12 months of CPB funding. The response was overwhelming, and we were successfully able to raise enough to cover that gap across the next year. The success of our emergency drive is a testament to how much public media means to this community, and we are incredibly grateful.
Cascade PBS’ Director of Programming, Marketing, and Communications, Don Wilcox also looks to the positive:
The elimination of federal funding for public media is a profound loss—not just for Cascade PBS, but for the trusted journalism, educational content, and enriching storytelling that millions rely on each day. This decision creates a $3.5 million gap in our operating budget and presents serious challenges ahead.
And yet, in this difficult moment, we have also seen something extraordinary. Thousands of advocates, donors, and viewers have raised their voices to say public media matters. They reminded our elected leaders, and one another, that public media is not a luxury. It’s a public good. Their support has been deeply moving, and it affirms why we do this work.
In Washington State, rural broadcasting relies heavily on CPB for their funding. KDNA, a Spanish station in Eastern Washington’s Yakima Valley, receives 40% of their operating budget from CPB, according to The Seattle Times. Yakima Valley’s large Hispanic population comes largely from its farmworkers—immigrants (both documented and undocumented) who are essential to Washington’s agricultural industry. KDNA, which began in 1979 as part of Northwest Communities Education Center (NCEC) focuses on:
…educating, informing, mobilizing, motivating and encouraging its listeners to become involved in every aspect of the Valley’s culture that affects their lives: health, education, and civic participation; to learn English, to become citizens and to fully understand all the implications of benefits received from schools, state and federal agencies. [KDNA site]
Similar in tone, KSVR, a station that operates through Skagit Valley College Education District #4, boasts 50% Spanish programming. The community-run station has been programmed by students and volunteers since 1973. Dr. Mike Cogan, Skagit Valley Vice President for Administrative Services and CFO, expressed concern about the recent legislation, relaying that Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown “...has joined other states in legal action to challenge these proposed cuts. Skagit Valley College is actively monitoring these developments and remains proud of the role KSVR plays as a trusted source for education, local news, and cultural enrichment in our community.” (The Echo reached out to the Washington Attorney General’s Office for comment on this possible legal action, but has had no response as of publication.)
On-the-air programming isn’t the only potential loss we face: KNHC c89.5 is an award-winning high school broadcast station owned by Seattle Public Schools and housed in Nathan Hale High School. In addition to the dance music programming for which they are known and loved, they also host a digital media education program, with staff and volunteers who work with students to impart skills in audio mixing and radio production.
June Fox, General Manager for KNHC, understands that the program has a lot to lose:
At 11%, the loss of federal funding is significant for c895. In addition to the $140,000 in grant funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the CPB also paid our music licensing fees. Because the fees were paid in bulk for all public radio and television stations, the exact cost per station is not available and I’m estimating those costs for us will be between 35 and 50 thousand dollars per year.
C895 is already a lean operation. We have five full-time staff and one full-time contractor. A few more part-time contractors and hourly staff make up the rest of the paid team. We all wear multiple hats and work more than full-time hours. Most public radio stations in this city have more people in their fundraising department than we have running our entire station, so cutting a staff position isn’t realistic. The vast majority of our non-staff expenses are essential and non-negotiable…think electric bills, tower rent, equipment repair. Of course, our community volunteer program hosts are incredibly talented people who host most of our evening programming and we are extremely thankful they continue to be committed to our mission of being the best dance music station in the world.
