The White House’s attempt to cut federal funding for local radio and television stations could cut off critical funds for Kansas Public Radio’s news, cultural and arts programming, according to the network’s director.
KPR Director Feloniz Lovato-Winston said in a news release Friday that President Donald Trump late Thursday night signed an executive order directing the cessation of funding for PBS, NPR and thousands of local public media stations across the country. Trump has accused the two national stations of producing biased coverage he doesn’t agree with.
The immediate impact of the order is unclear because the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — the private entity established in 1967 to serve as a steward of congressionally appropriated funding for public broadcasting — is not a federal executive agency and is funded two years in advance to protect it from political maneuvering. PBS CEO Paula Kerger described the order as “blatantly unlawful.”
NPR usually receives around 1% of its funding directly from the federal government, and a slightly higher amount indirectly, according to an NPR article. Consisting of 246 member institutions with more than 1,000 stations, the network on average receives 8 to 10% of their funds from CPB. The article said PBS and its stations receive about 15% of their revenues from CPB.
Most of PBS and NPR’s funding is not from federal money, but from private donors and sponsors.
Rather, local stations like Kansas Public Radio receive most of the approximately half a billion dollars appropriated for the CPB in fiscal year 2025.
KPR is licensed to the University of Kansas and broadcasts in Lawrence and across the state. It is a 22-time winner of the Kansas Association of Broadcasters’ Station of the Year award.
“Millions rely on public media not only for news, but for music, culture and connection,” Lovato-Winston said in the release.
KPR also helps sustain the Kansas News Services, a collaborative between multiple local public radio stations providing news reporting free of charge to media outlets across the state.
“From broadcasting local classical and jazz legends and emerging talent, to offering enlightening talk programs and curated playlists that calm and inspire, public media is a cultural lifeline,” Lovato-Winston said in the release. “We’re proud to be more than a radio station — we are a gathering place for musicians, journalists, and everyone in our community.”
KCUR, Kansas City’s NPR station, and Kansas City PBS both reacted with alarm to the attempted cuts. Kansas City PBS President and CEO Kliff Kuehl said the cuts would be a “devastating blow” to the station’s content.
According to the release, Kansas Public Radio is launching an emergency fundraising campaign.
“This is more than just funding — it’s about preserving access to news and information, shared culture, emergency alerting and weather services, and community in a time when these resources are under threat,” Lovato-Winston said in the release.
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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Cuyler Dunn (he/him), a contributor to The Lawrence Times since April 2022, is a student at the University of Kansas School of Journalism. He is a graduate of Lawrence High School where he was the editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper, The Budget, and was named the 2022 Kansas High School Journalist of the Year. Read his complete bio here. Read more of his work for the Times here.
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