#California’s #NPR and #PBS stations will cut staff and programs after funding slashed
By Maya C. Miller and Cayla Mihalovich
July 29, 2025 10:05 AM PT
"Small NPR and PBS stations in California are teetering after Congress pulled funding from #PublicBroadcasting. Even big stations are bracing for cuts.
"Dozens of California public broadcasting stations will lose millions of dollars after Republicans in Congress voted to strip them of federal funding, cutting off a vital lifeline in rural communities and limiting access to local news programming in an era of hyperpartisan national media.
"While California broadcasters are assuring audiences that they plan to keep their signals running, they also warn that cost-saving changes are inevitable.
"Radio and television stations of all sizes across the Golden State say that to survive, they’ll likely be forced to lay off staff and cut programming unless they’re able to make up the losses through fundraising. Their leaders warn that the cuts will disproportionately harm locally produced programs, the most expensive to create but among their most popular content, that inform millions of listeners and viewers.
"Republicans have long wanted to cut funding for public broadcasting, arguing such services should be funded by private donors, not taxpayers. Their efforts prevailed when Congress last week finalized President Trump’s request to rescind $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides grants to National Public Radio, the Public Broadcasting Service, their affiliates and other independent public media creators. All nine of California’s #Republican members of #Congress voted in favor of the funding cuts.
"Now, roughly 35 stations from #SanDiego to #Hoopa in #HumboldtCounty have lost critical funding.
"While many public broadcasters remain hopeful that they’ll find ways to endure, all agree the rescission undermines the #egalitarian mission of public media — to create a nationwide network that provides access to quality information, stories and music for local #communities.
" 'That has been our superpower,' said Joe Moore, president and general manager of #KVPR #ValleyPublicRadio in #Fresno. His station lost about 7% of its budget, or $175,000, from the #CPB.
" 'The New York Times doesn’t have the type of investment in #Alaska or in #NorthDakota — or on #TribalReservations, bringing local news from these communities — that public radio does.'
"Smaller stations whose budgets relied heavily on federal dollars to make ends meet are the most at risk of closure. In Eureka, the community-owned PBS affiliate #KEET-TV stands to lose $847,000 — nearly half of its operating budget — due to the defunding of CPB. To survive, all of its funding will need to come from #CommunitySupport, since the station has no institutional backer such as a local college or school district.
"David Gordon, KEET’s general manager and executive director, says that as much as he hopes the station will stay afloat even at reduced capacity, he won’t make the same bold proclamation that, 'We’re not going anywhere,' like some stations have.
" 'I can’t guarantee that KEET will be here once the dust settles from this defunding move,' Gordon said. He emphasized that he was speaking for himself and not on behalf of his station.
" 'I hope it is, and I think there’s a good chance that it’ll survive in some form. But absolutely will it? I don’t know if I can say that.'
"Nearby, Mendocino-based NPR member station #KZYX was forced to lay off its news director after losing 25% of its operating budget, or $174,000, from the CPB. That means news will include fewer in-depth stories, such as interviews with city council members or county supervisors, said Andre de Channes, KZYX’s general manager and director of operations.
" 'There isn’t the time to source out those kinds of things,' he said. 'So the news gets more like a headline news.'
"The station serves roughly 130,000 listeners, including in Mendocino County and part of Lake County. When De Channes first learned about the CPB cuts, he immediately worried about fire safety, since listeners who live in #OffTheGrid #RuralAreas without access to internet or cell service rely on KZYX for #EmergencyInformation.
"Those potentially lifesaving #EmergencyAlerts became a rallying cry for public media providers and their allies as they begged Congress to preserve funding for their stations, especially those in remote, rural areas that also tend to be Republican. Frank Lanzone, the longtime general manager of the NPR-affiliated KCBX in San Luis Obispo, said his station has sometimes been the only on-air source providing emergency information during #SevereWeather events.
" 'There’s been several times in very bad storms when we’re the only station on the air in our area because of either power outages or people’s generators ran out of propane,' said Lanzone, who has worked in public radio for more than 50 years.
KCBX, which serves about 45,000 listeners from Santa Barbara to Monterey, will lose $240,000 in funding from CPB, about 13% of its operating budget.
" 'It’s going to hurt the stations and the people that listen to them who need it the most,' Lanzone said. 'The most vulnerable, the ones out in the middle of nowhere.'
"Local programs are most at risk
Both radio and television station leaders emphasized that local programming — shows that are created and produced in-house rather than purchased from another producer — will be first on the chopping block. To produce locally focused public television programming, stations must invest additional time, money and work on top of the membership dues they pay to be affiliated with PBS, which unlocks a large catalogue of programming that they can air at no additional cost.
"For PBS viewers in the Inland Empire, that likely means the loss of popular local programs such as '#InlandEdition,' an Emmy-winning weekly half-hour public affairs show, and '#LearnWithMe,' an award-winning #bilingual English-Spanish children’s show, both of which are produced in house by affiliate KVCR.
" 'The local stuff that’s so important to people is probably the stuff that’ll go away,' said Connie Leyva, executive director of KVCR and a former Democratic state senator. The station stands to lose about $550,000 in annual CPB funding, about 6% of its budget.
She emphasized that the station also wanted to preserve its journalism staff — two full-time reporters and one part-time — who have recently focused on federal #ImmigrationRaids taking place across the region.
" 'If we’re not here, the #InlandEmpire is just hearing about what’s happening in Los Angeles,' Leyva said. 'We want to know what’s happening in our backyard, what’s happening at the schools around us, what’s happening at the Home Depots around us.' "
Read more:
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2025-07-29/californias-npr-and-pbs-stations-will-cut-staff-and-programs-after-funding-slashed
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/Lur03
#ImmigrationRaids #ICERaids #ClimateChange #SevereWeather #KeepingUsInTheDark #CPBFunding #CPBFundingCuts #TrumpSucks
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