Trump is cutting public broadcast funds. That’s why it will hit rural communities the hardest

Each morning, Gwen Johnson, a resident of the small Appalachian community in Jackhorn, Kentucky, wakes up to wake up the sounds and sounds of her favorite public radio station.

Johnson, 67, is preparing to go to work, listening to FM at breakfast while driving all day.

“Through the highs and lows of my life, it’s always been a real comfort for me – when you can only flip on the radio and get human voices,” said the nonprofit professional and former broadcast programmer. “It really adds a lot of happiness in the dark times.”

Johnson’s preference is Mountain Community Noadive Station WMMT 88.7 and NPR member WEKU. But now, they will lose key fiscal support as President Donald Trump’s administration revokes Congressional funds to the public media.

Trump believes that cuts will save the U.S. government billions of dollars in wasteful spending each year.

But Gengyun will have a serious impact on rural communities, which are the public broadcaster of news and entertainment, and the lifeline during public emergencies and natural disasters, according to residents, media interests and others who speak with CBC News.

Johnson believes public spending may need to be “restricted” in certain areas.

“But it’s a very troublesome area,” she said. “I’m very worried.”

She added that she was concerned about whether the move violated freedom of speech and press.

“I feel that one of our freedoms, our First Amendment rights, is being maintained by radio stations.”

‘This is very overwhelming’

Federal funds for public broadcasters (CPB) to companies are part of a $9.1 million cut outlined in the Revocation Act, which revokes Congress-approved funds allocated to public broadcasters and foreign aid.

Congress approved the layoffs Friday morning to deliver the package to Trump’s desk for a final signature.

CPB is a private company that provides approximately $1.1 billion to NPR, PBS, as well as local TV and radio stations each year, with much of its operating budget providing direct grants to local public radio stations.

Senator Mike Rounds said last week that he had obtained a carving for more than a dozen Native American radio stations that they would receive funding at the Interior Department. But it is not clear whether this has been approved or helpful.

Some community radio stations are already looking for different funding models and revenue streams to offset the cuts. One of them is the above-mentioned Kentucky station, WMMT 88.7.

It is located in the heart of the coal country and has been in operation for nearly 40 years. Its signal extends to a portion of Virginia, West Virginia, East Tennessee and a little bit southeastern Ohio, reaching 18,000 people a week, according to the station’s Nielsen survey data.

“It’s hard to imagine,” said Roger May, director of art programming at Appalshop, an independent Appalachian media company. WMMT is its flagship radio station.

“I mean, I’m watching it through the lens of a community radio station and it’s overwhelming when I pull back and imagine all the other stations.”

According to May, about one-third of the station’s funding comes from CPB, and the rebates on that money will have a huge impact on its operations in the next two fiscal years. Currently, it has a full-time employee and relies on a local CD jockey network to run its programming.

The radio’s development team is looking for ways to raise funds from elsewhere. It has long been supported within the community – some small businesses, including the bakery run by Johnson, are underwriters of the station.

“It’s not a political issue. It’s a community service issue and everyone will be influenced by community radio stations and public radio stations in the country,” May said.

“We are just an example of many countries in rural space, and these examples do rely on sounds as simple as community broadcasts. It’s really an important key to our sharing of information.”

Emergency Services

May said when WMMT hit eastern Kentucky after people briefly knocked off-line, WMST became a tool to spread public service announcements, news and “normality” as people recovered from disaster.

Last year, when Hurricane Helen landed in the U.S., another community radio station shared the government’s continuous updates and emergency guidance.

“We heard stories about the stories people told us, ‘Okay, okay, we got the crank broadcast, or we had a crank broadcast and we knew you were going to keep going.’”

Some people would raise the volume and put the radio on the mailbox, neighbors would gather as the story progressed, and the stations were reported at the water distribution site – Asheville’s water supply system was shut down. “That’s what they have to do to get the information that helps their lives,” Ellis said.

Blue Ridge covers more than a dozen counties in the western part of the state, reaching 90,000 listeners per week.

“We hit every valley and every mountain in this 14 county area. So some people wouldn’t get other public broadcasts without us,” she said.

Due to the cuts, the station will lose about 6% of its budget, or $330,000 per year. Ellis said this could lead to unemployment or removal of signals in communities that keep signal towers running more expensively.

The United States uses an emergency alert system that shines on broadcast AM and FM channels, surpassing other programming in national emergencies to provide important information. However, without public funds, the integrity of the system is at risk.

“If there is a tornado watch, tornado warning, flood watch, flood warning, blizzard, Mother Nature might stand out – one can know it’s coming.”

She added that without funds, that would change, and if people don’t notice the change immediately, they may not understand the role of public broadcasting in the community.

“But they didn’t think about what happened eight months later, and when one of our towers fails for some pretty reliable reason, we will have to decide whether to spend money on that tower.”

Trump’s battle with public media

In May, Trump signed a separate executive order requiring the CPB to stop funding to NPR and PBS, although the group believes it is not a federal agency under Trump’s authority.

The president also frequently criticized the characteristics of left-wing bias in NPR and PBS, cutting funds to end “taxpayer bias media subsidies.” Leaders of both organizations testified in March about allegations of ideological bias.

The NPR CEO believes that cuts will be a risk to public safety, and Rep. Lisa Murkowski, one of two House Republicans who opposed the withdrawal of the Act, believes that public broadcasting saved lives.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt disagreed, saying: “I’m not sure how NPR can help public safety in our country, but I do know that NPR unfortunately has actually become a propaganda voice for the left.”

Laura Lee, a state media organization in North Carolina, former producer and editorial director of NP Local, said public radio plays a crucial role in small communities that will be the worst every day and in emergencies.

“We are talking about communities where local news media have closed down and people are unable to get the quality, review, independent news and information people need to have on school boards, city councils, and the agricultural industry in the community.”

While the 2023 Pew Research Paper shows that the public broadcast audience has been steadily declining in previous years, it is found that one in five of our adults have received local news from the broadcast.

Lee added: “The term ‘news’ has even become a bit politicized, but people need information, and these channels are very conscious channels for people to know what people are doing.”

“The Trump administration’s clear criticism of the media has been vocal, and I’ve seen local journalists have put it aside and continue to talk about the business of getting the information the community needs. So I’m happy with this diligence.”