President Donald Trump wants Congress to rescind more than $1 billion in federal funding to NPR and PBS. That would in turn impact local affiliate stations across the country.
And last week, Indiana lawmakers passed a state budget that quietly cut nearly $3.7 million dollars each year for the next two years to Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations (IPBS). It’s a partnership of 17 radio and TV stations across Indiana. A note of transparency, LPM News has an editorial partnership with IPBS.
Mark Newman, executive director at Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations), said in an interview with LPM News the move came as a surprise, and IPBS leaders and partners are now making sense of the magnitude of it. The organization has received state support for more than 40 years.
Newman said IPBS has longstanding relationships within the Indiana General Assembly as well as with multiple administrations of governors.
“There was no forewarning that it was going to happen,” he said.
He said this will impact funding with the start of the new fiscal year July 1.
The cut came as lawmakers addressed a projected $2.4 billion shortfall. Newman said the timing meant they didn’t have a chance to rally public support or deliver testimony to state leaders. He said funding for public media passed through the Indiana House and Senate untouched, and was included in the governor’s original budget proposal.
“So all indications were that this [cut] was not even on the radar screen,” he said. “So when it did happen, it was a complete surprise.”
Newman said he believes the ultimate decision to cut that funding is solely a financial decision and not about Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations’ content. At the national level, however, Congressional Republicans held committee hearings in late March, many accusing NPR and PBS of political bias.
Newman said the stations cover 95% of Indiana — with educational resources for children and families, local journalism, local art and history programming and public safety alerts.
Different impacts for different stations
Newman said for WFYI, Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations’ flagship station in Indianapolis, state funding only accounts for about 5% of their annual operating budget. For smaller, rural radio stations, it could be 20% to 30%.
“In…particularly the rural communities, where public media is the lifeline, it's the lone source of news and information, of entertainment, of valued content, that stands the risk of going away,” Newman said.
Though state and federal funding is a piece of IPBS stations’ budgets, the contribution from the general public is a more significant portion, Newman said. He said the public-private partnership also helps drive donations, sponsorships or underwriting from businesses and individuals.
Many public media stations also get some funding from grants, at the local, state and regional level in addition to some one-off federal grants.
But the loss of state funding could be an existential threat to some stations if it’s compounded with a sweeping federal cut.
“It could be catastrophic for some of our stations,” Newman said. “The smaller stations might not survive that.
“As it is, we are earnestly working on developing a new model, a new way forward that I'm hopeful will be a successful path for all of us collectively, so the 17 television and radio stations in Indiana can move ahead.”
Newman said the uncertainty is difficult but not dispiriting for staff members across the state.
“People have their heads down right now and are fighting the good fight. And you know, that's what I would have expected,” he said. “We're not going to go down without that fight. I think it's important for everybody to recognize public media has many strengths, and it's not going away. It may just be coming in a different way.”
As of Monday, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun had not yet signed the budget bill.
This story was reported and edited by LPM News. No IPBS editors or executives reviewed the story before publication.
Coverage of Southern Indiana is funded, in part, by Samtec Inc., the Hazel & Walter T. Bales Foundation, and the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County.
