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Axios
2 days ago
- Business
- Axios
KQED braces for $8 million loss amid federal funding cuts
San Francisco public radio station KQED faces an $8 million budget gap after Congress voted last week to slash federal funding for public broadcasters nationwide. Why it matters: Public radio and TV stations don't just provide news, but also critical information such as Amber Alerts, Silver Alerts and natural disaster advisories. State of play: The cuts are part of a sweeping rescissions package to claw back more than $9 billion in federal spending. $1.1 billion was cut from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) through 2026 and 2027, marking a devastating blow for PBS and NPR. Yes, but: While the cuts target the national organizations, PBS and NPR receive just 1% and 15% of their revenue from CPB respectively — most federal funds go to local stations. Zoom in: KQED (88.5 FM) is asking listeners for more donations in response to the cuts, which represent about 7% to 8% of its revenue. The move came days after the organization announced plans to lay off 15% of its workforce due to financial constraints. What they're saying: President and CEO Michael Isip said on Forum that the cuts were "the most difficult, distressing moment" for public broadcastings, both nationally and locally, but that "the loss of funding does not change our public service mission." Follow the money: KQED was among 40 or so public TV and radio stations in California that received CPB grants totaling more than $53 million in 2023. KQED got almost $2.2 million, the highest allocation of the radio stations in the state that year.
Axios
3 days ago
- Business
- Axios
WDET braces for budget hit after public radio cuts
Detroit's public radio station is preparing for a "giant hole" in its budget after Congress voted last week to gut federal funding for public broadcasters across the country. Why it matters: Public radio and TV stations don't just provide news, but also critical information alerts that can mean life or death for local communities. Amber Alerts, Silver Alerts and natural disaster advisories are among the public safety warnings that are broadcast on local stations. State of play: The cuts they're facing were included in a sweeping rescissions package to claw back more than $9 billion in federal spending. The bill cut nearly $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) through 2026 and 2027, marking a devastating blow for PBS and NPR. Yes, but: While the cuts target NPR and PBS, the national organizations won't feel much of the impact. Only around 1% and 15% of NPR's and PBS' national revenue comes through CPB, respectively. The majority of federal funding is allocated to local member stations, which use it for day-to-day operations. What they're saying: WDET (101.9 FM) is asking listeners to donate more in light of the recent cuts. "It is a huge kick in the gut to WDET," general manager Mary Zatina told Fox 2. "It's going to create a giant hole in our budget." Follow the money: WDET was among nearly 20 public TV and radio stations in Michigan that received CPB grants totaling $10 million in 2023, CPB documents show. Detroit Public Television got almost $2.2 million, the highest allocation that year. WDET received $262,191. The average CPB amount received that year among 12 Michigan public radio stations from Ypsilanti to Marquette was $201,598. Zoom out: Once a broadcaster is shuttered, it's unlikely its spectrum license ever returns to a community news station, PBS CEO Paula Kerger explained in a recent interview with the Washington Post. "I can imagine they would be auctioned off for whatever purpose and you won't have a local television station again in a community." Many stations are based in rural communities that are most heavily reliant on federal government funding to survive.
The Hill
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Trump's assault on public media funding is dangerous to safety and democracy
Public media is under serious threat. Right now, Republican lawmakers are pushing a plan that could strip over $1 billion in funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — a move that would devastate local stations, especially in rural America. Here's what's happening: the Senate is about to vote on a rescissions package, meaning it will vote to formalize some of the cuts made by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. If it passes, funding for public broadcasting dries up — full stop. Although NPR and PBS might survive in major cities, small-town stations — the ones that rely on federal grants — could vanish. These are communities where public radio isn't a luxury — it's the only source for local news, educational content, even emergency alerts. Seventy percent of CPB's budget directly funds more than 1,500 local stations. Take that away, and many simply can't keep their lights on. This push isn't random. It's part of a decades-long conservative effort to gut public media, now supercharged by President Trump. Public broadcasting leaders call this the most serious threat they've ever faced. And they're not exaggerating. This isn't just about losing 'Sesame Street' or 'PBS NewsHour.' It's about silencing local voices across America. We're standing at a crossroads. If this passes, hundreds of stations could go dark by fall. And once you shut down the news, you silence the truth. But let's be honest: this fight over public broadcasting is just the tip of the iceberg. We're witnessing a broader assault on journalism itself. This isn't about budgets—it's about control. Public broadcasters are some of the last trusted, unbiased sources of news in many places. Defunding them doesn't just cut television shows — it dismantles community lifelines. Seriously, these stations provide emergency updates during storms, wildfire warnings, even Amber Alerts. Critics claim public media leans liberal. I disagree. What they really mean is: any criticism of Trump is unacceptable. Journalists should be free to speak truth to power — even when the powerful don't like it. Meanwhile, media power is consolidating. Corporate deals tied to politics are reshaping major outlets. We're seeing billionaires push papers like The Washington Post toward MAGA aligned narratives, while longtime journalists quit. Small-town newspapers face legal threats just for reporting poll results. And don't forget the Associated Press got banned from The White House for refusing to call The Gulf of Mexico 'The Gulf of America.' If public media falls, what's next? National outlets are under pressure. Local journalism is dying. Killing NPR and PBS isn't a budget cut — it's a step toward dismantling the free press itself. And without a free press, democracy doesn't stand a chance.
NBC News
11-07-2025
- Climate
- NBC News
FEMA records show Kerr County didn't alert all cell phones as flooding began
FEMA records obtained by NBC 5 Investigates show that Kerr County officials did not use FEMA's Integrated Public Alert & Warning System to send warnings with safety instructions to all mobile phones in the affected area during critical hours as the flooding began on July 4. Researchers who have studied the cell phone warning system told NBC 5 Investigates that policies on how and when to issue critical alerts vary widely from one county to another, potentially risking delays when seconds count. As the search for the missing continues in Kerr County, records reviewed by NBC 5 Investigates raise new questions about whether local officials could have used the nation's wireless emergency alert system to better warn people in the flood's path. Along with our partners at NBC News, we scoured a FEMA archive of cell phone alerts sent through FEMA's integrated public alert and warning system, or IPAWS. IPAWS is a system that many local counties, including Kerr County, are authorized to use to issue warnings to all cell phones in a designated area. It's the same system used to send Amber Alerts. The FEMA message archive shows that as the water began rising in Kerr County on July 4, the National Weather Service sent an IPAWS flood warning to cell phones as early as 1:14 a.m. However, weather service forecasters cannot issue instructions on whether to evacuate or wait for rescue; those messages are up to county or city officials. The FEMA archive showed that Kerr County did not send any wireless alerts through IPAWS on July 4, when the flooding began. Some families said they did receive a CodeRed alert from Kerr County, which is similar to an IPAWS message. But CodeRed only reaches people who signed up for alerts. 'Most of the people I've talked to didn't even know what CodeRed was,' said Kerr County resident Louis Kocurek. Louis and Leslie Kocurek shared a screenshot of a Kerr County dispatch CodeRed message they received, saying major flooding continues. However, the Kocureks said that the message didn't reach their phones until after 10 a.m. By then, one flood gauge in Kerr County showed the river had already risen about 30 feet, and the Kocureks had taken a photo showing that roads in their neighborhood were already cut off. 'I'm mad because, you know, like I told another lady, how many lives do we have to lose in order for them to fix the system? It's broken,' said Leslie Kocurek. Kerr County has used the wider-reaching IPAWS system to warn of flooding in the past. Last year, on July 23, the archive showed the county sent an IPAWS alert saying the Guadalupe River was 'expected to rise an additional 4 feet,' telling people to 'avoid the river' and 'move assets to higher ground immediately.' So why no county IPAWS alert before the flood this time? NBC 5 Investigates reached out to Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly and emergency management coordinator William Thomas, but they did not immediately respond to questions. At a news conference last week, Kelly was asked why children's camps along the river were not evacuated. 'I can't answer that, I don't know,' said Kelly, adding that they never expected water would rise so fast. 'We didn't know this flood was coming. Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming,' Kelly said. Researchers who have studied the IPAWS system told NBC 5 Investigates that communities across the country sometimes struggle to decide when to issue cell phone alerts, who should issue those alerts, and what the messages should say. The struggle stems, they said, in part from a lack of standardized nationwide policies. 'There is no required training. There's no certification process currently within IPAWS,' said Jeannette Sutton, an emergency alert researcher who explained it's up to each local government to write its own policies. That methodology, she said, has created differences in how effectively the system is used in each community. 'We need a lot of training, and we need the resources to help people to get trained,' said Sutton. Sutton's team at the University at Albany recently helped FEMA develop a tool for local emergency managers to use to pre-plan more effective messages before disaster strikes. 'They are generally facing a blank text box that says, 'insert message here.' And you can imagine that in a situation where there's a lot of stress and uncertainty, that writing a message from scratch is very difficult,' said Sutton. In a statement to NBC 5, FEMA said its IPAWS office '..encourages and supports practicing and exercising..' and said the agency makes training tools available '...enabling public safety officials to gain confidence using IPAWS.' 'It is really important to get it right when people's lives are on the line,' said Sutton. Sutton said cell phone alerts can be critical, especially in places like Kerr County, which doesn't have a siren warning system. But she said counties should also amplify alerts using tools like social media or even knocking on doors, as cell phone service is sometimes spotty in rural areas. On the morning of the July 4 floods, the Kerr County Sheriff's Department did use its Facebook account, posting messages around 5:30 a.m. warning of 'dangerous flooding' and urging people to 'move to higher ground.' Those messages could have reached social media users who happened to be awake and looking at Facebook, but they would not sound an alert on a phone like an IPAWS message. At a news conference Wednesday, the sheriff said the county would look into whether evacuation orders should have been issued. 'Sometimes, evacuation is not the safest. Sometimes it's better to shelter in place,' said Sheriff Larry Leitha. The sheriff also pledged to examine why cell phone alerts did not happen sooner. 'Those are important questions. Those are, we will answer those questions,' said Leitha.
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Worcester board: No permit for controversial billboard plan near lake
The Worcester Zoning Board of Appeals on Monday denied a special permit for a proposed 75-foot-tall billboard near Indian Lake. The board voted 5-0 against approving the permit, which would have allowed a billboard to be erected at 5 Norton Drive. The billboard would have overlooked Interstate 190, according to the project's renderings. The application for the permit was submitted by Kenjoh Outdoor Advertising, an advertising company with many billboards throughout the United States, according to its website. The proposal for the billboard in Worcester received opposition from many of the city's residents and politicians, who argued the billboard's LED lights would cause light pollution, hurting the wildlife in the area. Opponents also argued the billboard and its lights could distract drivers traveling on I-190. During Monday night's meeting, several members of the public spoke out against the plan. 'Just because a special permit can be issued, doesn't mean it should be,' said Steven Rothschild, a Worcester resident who lives on the lake. 'This is a complete aberration.' 'We don't need another billboard,' said Worcester resident Diane Fratoni. 'I hope that you don't approve this sign.' Representing Kenjoh Outdoor Advertising at Monday night's meeting was Attorney Mark A. Borenstein, who works for the law firm Prince Lobel Tye LLP. During the presentation, Borenstein showed photos of Indian Lake from various locations, such as Holden and Proctor streets. He told the board that residents in these areas would not see the sign. 'It is a significant distance from across the lake,' Borenstein said. 'You're not going to see the sign from many of these houses adjacent to the lake and inland.' Borenstein also said the billboard presents an opportunity for public agencies, governmental agencies or non-profits to have visible signage. He also said the sign could be used for Amber Alerts. 'Certainly if a parent is concerned about a particular issue, it would be very fortunate to have that as an option,' Borenstein said. Nevertheless, the board chose not to approve the permit, with members acknowledging the public's disdain for the proposal. 'I do think the public has spoken out pretty clear against it,' said Jordan Berg Powers, the chair of the board. 'When I talked to people, there wasn't anyone I talked to that felt that this was a good use of the property.' Man shot, killed in Worcester; suspect in custody Worcester man sentenced for hitting Warwick police chief with car Worcester City Council approves nearly $1 billion operating budget Read the original article on MassLive.
