Managers from public media outlets across Alaska met for a virtual roundtable Tuesday, in part to outline potential consequences if federal funding is cut.
Those forecasts ranged from layoffs, to reducing local programming, to — in the case of KSKO in McGrath — shutting down.
The meeting brought together about a dozen leaders from Alaska’s 27 public radio and four public TV stations, and it comes as the July 18 deadline approaches for a U.S. Senate vote on a multi-billion dollar rescission package forwarded by President Donald Trump. The package, if passed, would claw back the next two years worth of previously approved funding – or about $1.1 billion – for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
That corresponds to CPB grants the Alaska stations were planning to receive as early as this October, at the turn of the federal fiscal year, said Mollie Kabler, executive director of CoastAlaska, a consortium of six different public media stations in Southeast Alaska.
Still, Kabler was among a couple station leaders who expressed hope Tuesday that fundraising efforts could ease at least some of the financial challenges their organizations would face if the package makes it through Congress.
“While I can’t fault those who say they’re going to close down or be significantly different, I haven’t given up," she said. “And I think philanthropy is an opportunity for us to hopefully maintain service, with an eye toward rebuilding, eventually.”
But that level of optimism wasn’t ubiquitous. Tom Abbott, general manager at KFSK in Petersburg, painted a bleaker picture about the relationship between budget cuts and fundraising.
“I think that if the rescission were to go through, it would result in the need to cut personnel. If we were to cut personnel, I think we’re in a downward spiral: reducing our local service, which then would reduce the giving,” he said.
Congress created the CPB almost 60 years ago after passing the 1967 Public Broadcasting Act. The independent nonprofit acts as a steward of federal funds directed at supporting educational and news content for public radio, television and online services nationwide. It sends the majority of that money to local stations.
Those funds make up a significant chunk of the budgets for Alaska’s public broadcasters. A handful of the state’s more rural stations – like KTNA in Talkeetna – rely on the CPB for 70% or more of their revenue.
Statewide, the average is around 35%, according to an analysis of 2023 financial reports.
At KUAC in Fairbanks, CPB grants contribute roughly 30% of the station’s annual revenue. KUAC General Manager Gretchen Gordon organized Tuesday’s roundtable, and she, similar to Abbott, said losing that money would create an unfillable budget hole.
“There’s no other source of funding that can fully replace a loss of CPB funding for any of the stations across Alaska,” Gordon said.
During the meeting, each of the managers stressed their organization’s role in providing public safety alerts, connecting people to their government and running locally-produced news and cultural programming.
Justin Shoman, general manager at KTOO in Juneau, said their Gavel Alaska program featured more than 900 hours of live state government proceedings last year.
“So you can just imagine the amount of people power it takes to put 920 hours of live coverage out. And that’s part of what is jeopardized through the loss of federal funding,” Shoman said.
The President and many Republican lawmakers have targeted public media, specifically NPR and PBS, for what they claim is left-leaning bias in news coverage.
And the idea of pulling federal funding from the CPB isn’t a new phenomenon. In 2011, a Republican-controlled House passed a bill to defund NPR, though it failed to gain traction in the Senate at the time and never became law. Trump also tried to reduce funding for public broadcasting during his first term.
“There is no longer any excuse for tax dollars to subsidize these radical, far-left networks,” White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought testified during a Senate hearing last week. “If you would like to donate to them on your own, you are more than welcome to do so as a taxpayer. But taxpayers should no longer be forced to foot the bill.”
In addition to the CPB clawbacks, the rescissions package includes about $8.3 billion in cuts to U.S. foreign assistance. With support from Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska, the House passed the package in mid-June, moving it to the Senate.
How that vote will play out in the upper house on Capitol Hill isn't clear. Last week, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, was among a few Senate Republicans to criticize the take backs.
Congress must approve the package before July 18 for the rescissions to be realized.
This story was written and reported by KUAC Senior Reporter and Producer Patrick Gilchrist. It was edited by KUAC Senior Reporter and Producer Tim Ellis and Alaska Public Media Chief Editor Lori Townsend. Under KUAC’s protocol for reporting on itself, no KUAC or Alaska Public Media corporate official reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.