Congress has voted to claw back $1.1 billion of already-approved federal funding for public broadcasting nationwide, and the action will “have an immediate impact” on Kansas Public Radio, according to the station.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting will lose $1.1 billion in funding that Congress had previously approved for the fiscal year slated to begin Oct. 1 and for the year after that, States Newsroom reported.
President Donald Trump asked Congress last month to claw the funds back, and Congress this week voted to send the bill on for his signature.
The cut, which will affect funds that were committed to more than 1,500 public media stations across the country, is part of $9 billion in public broadcasting and foreign aid funding that lawmakers voted to cancel.
For KPR, the cut eliminates 10% of the station’s operating budget, according to a Friday news release from the station.
“This move will weaken one of the most trusted civic institutions in America. Stripping away $1.1 billion in already-approved funding puts directly at risk the work we do at Kansas Public Radio,” Feloniz Lovato-Winston, station director for KPR, said in the release.
“Public media has always served as a pillar of democracy, with broad support that transcends party lines,” she continued.
The release highlighted some of KPR’s services to listeners and readers: fact-based journalism, particularly in underserved and rural areas of the state; emergency alerts; civil conversation; local, classical and jazz music; breakdowns of complex national issues through a local lens; and reports from the Kansas Statehouse, when Statehouse reporting “has diminished significantly.”
“And we do it without corporate influence or political spin, because we are a public service organization dedicated to the greater good,” Lovato-Winston said.
How to help
Donors will be matching gifts to KPR Thursday through Saturday next week, July 24 through 26. People can contribute one time or set up regular contributions at support.kansaspublicradio.org.
“Federal funding may be gone, but our mission has not changed, and we are not going anywhere. With the support of our listeners, we will continue to serve the public. But we need their help,” Lovato-Winston said in the release.
KPR is licensed to the University of Kansas and broadcasts in Lawrence on 91.5 FM and 96.1 FM (KPR2) and across the state. People can also listen online at kansaspublicradio.org. KPR is a 22-time winner of the Kansas Association of Broadcasters’ Station of the Year award.
The two representatives whose districts include Lawrence and Douglas County, Tracey Mann and Derek Schmidt, both voted in favor of the bill. Kansas’ two senators, Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall, also voted in favor. All four are Republicans.
Read more on how federal funding cuts and policy changes are directly affecting Lawrence and Douglas County community members in the articles linked below and on this page.
Contact information for the congressional delegation representing Lawrence and Douglas County is available at this link. The nonprofit 5 Calls, 5calls.org, has phone numbers and templates of scripts to help people make their voices heard on several federal issues.
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