We’ve missed the mark about how we’re talking about Congress’ attempt to defund public media.
Opinion
Here’s what’s getting lost: Public radio and television stations are independent and community-owned. One-third of public radio stations are not NPR affiliates, and most aren’t located in big cities. In fact, the people who will be most hurt by these cuts live in rural, often conservative parts of the country — places like much of Wyoming, where news deserts have crept in, local journalism has dried up and public media is often the only newsroom left.
Federal dollars allocated by Congress to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting are redistributed to 386 public radio stations via annual grants. To qualify for CPB funding, stations must show significant local support and investment. KHOL, the station I manage in Jackson, didn’t qualify for a CPB grant until 2020, 12 years after we first went on the air.
Once awarded a grant, those stations decide how to spend their money. The federal Communications Act — Congress’ own rules! — requires that 25% of these grants are spent on “national program acquisition or distribution.” Some stations chose to pay for NPR with these dollars, akin to how newspapers license wire stories from AP or Reuters. The intent is to supplement, not substitute. Unfortunately, the public often doesn’t realize this distinction — apparently, neither do many lawmakers — and local stations are suffering as a result.
At KHOL we air some national shows like Marketplace and The Daily distributed by American Public Media and Left, Right and Center distributed via NPR, but we’re not an NPR affiliate.
Like the 386 public radio stations supported by CPB grants, we’re independent. Our reporters live in the community we serve. Our daily newscast, feature stories and public affairs shows are for, and about, the people who live and work here.
The role of public media
In an era when journalism is increasingly polarized, with clickbait and social media often driving ideological divides, public media remains a rare public good. It’s free, locally grounded and committed to facts and civic life.
As local newspapers have closed, people are turning to national news and “influencers” who view the world through whatever lens they choose. (This May, social media surpassed television as the most popular news source.) There’s a structural reason behind the polarization of the press: Straight news doesn’t really pay for itself anymore.
Americans are pinned between paywalls at legacy outlets like the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal and free content from The Daily Wire or Breitbart that have explicit political alignments.
That’s where public media comes in. It offers high-quality journalism that’s free, widely accessible and local.
Let’s reframe the debate
This is a moment for public media to reclaim its community-centered identity, but first we need to do a better job talking about what we do and who we are. We are community newsrooms serving places the national press rarely reaches. We’re often the only journalists in town. We’re watchdogs, storytellers and public servants.
Defunding public media won’t fix bias in media. Instead, it will tear down the infrastructure that brings independent, free, local news to the places where it is most needed.
Public Media is wrongly attacked almost everyday by townsquare media in Wyoming, yet no one says a word. Saying the same lie over and over works and it works way better in gullible Wyoming as the support for DJT is unparalleled.
For Profit journalism … isn’t.
It’s important to keep that top of mind if some entity is trying to sell you news. Nobody owns the news. Even NPR and PBS are not excused from this. Although public broadcasting is just trying to make ends meet I’ve grown weary of the neverending fundraising that puts the journalism in the back seat too much of the time. It’s literally a turn-off . Conversely, even on its best behavior , commercial broadcasting’s motivations are questionable. Too often soulless.
Where did critical thinking go ? The more I see and hear these days, the less I know.
As usual, technology has developed more quickly than existing regulatory structure. Broadcast licensees no longer share public responsibility requirements — as certain political entities have exploited new electronic media innovative applications to fit their own ideological views (nothing new here).
Fact-based news (in contrast to inference-based, alternative reality-based news or information based on wishful thinking….) still survives among most (I would hope) “public” broadcast entities. I can’t say the same for non-broadcast information sources or all “non-commercial” broadcasters.
Let’s hope that the concept of fact-based “news” reporting (including information source attribution) can function beyond the current opinion-dominated information dispersion tendencies.
We still need local news coverage that reflects basic objective reporting. Many public broadcasters support that concept as resources permit. It’s one of the “best bang for the buck” options still around.
I would like to think that elected politicians still consider objective local reporting when making geographical and politically-appropriate decisions rather than slavishly take marching orders from an out-of-state or foreign political source.
Very informative Emily. Thank you for explaining very clearly that public media isn’t nearly as liberal as our “representatives” are currently claiming it is and that most of it is locally based.
The Trumplicans want to get rid of public media because public media tells the truth. They almost always tell both sides of the story, and the listener can make their own decision. The Republicans want you to watch Faux news- you know, the media that has NO truth.
Public media tells the truth? Not NPR. It is mostly far left crack pot nonsense on par with MSNBC. They don’t have any actual journalists just talking heads that don’t know what they are talking about.
No media is more ‘crackpot’ than faux news.