URBANA — President Trump is asking Congress to pull back all federal funding for public radio and television broadcast stations by rescinding funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The recission package would withdraw money that was allocated for the next two years before Trump returned to a second term. The move comes as the new fiscal year approaches on July 1.
Lawmakers have about 40 days to act on the proposal, which calls for clawing back foreign aid money and over a billion dollars in CPB funding that goes to NPR, PBS and local stations like Illinois Public Media.
IPM’s Executive Director Moss Bresnahan spoke to Morning Edition host Kimberly Schofield about what a loss in public support could mean for the station’s radio, television and digital programs.
KIMBERLY SCHOFIELD: How much federal funding does Illinois Public Media receive? And can you explain why public broadcasting stations like ours receive that funding?
MOSS BRESNAHAN: Yes, well, about 20% of our budget comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. That’s about $1.5 million, and this federal funding plays a critical role for stations like WILL because we serve our local community in so many ways, and that funding is really essential to help us with our PBS children’s programming, science programming, history programming, our local news, our local public affairs. It’s all made possible, in part, by this funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
SCHOFIELD: The Trump administration claims the public media system is “politically biased” and funding it is “an unnecessary expense to taxpayers.” What’s your response to that argument?
BRESNAHAN: Well, PBS is often ranked as the most trusted media brand out there, and, you know, NPR has emerged as one of the premier news organizations in the country. Certainly, it’s not perfect, but it provides a very valuable service. But when you look at most of what Illinois Public Media offers, it includes PBS children’s programming, it includes science programs. It includes documentaries, classical music, soul and R&B. We have so many services, and, really, the public overwhelmingly has supported it. When polls are taken about funding for public media, you know, 80% of the public supports it, so it really has enjoyed bipartisan support over the years. So we take any criticism seriously and look carefully at it, but we haven’t seen anything that would show that we are really not fair in what we provide to the community.
SCHOFIELD: Moss, if Congress does go forward with this plan to pull back public media funding, what would the impact be here at IPM and across the state, and will our station be able to stay on air?
BRESNAHAN: Yeah, well, unfortunately, the stations that are most vulnerable to this cut are stations that are in rural areas, and that includes downstate communities across Illinois. So, you know, we have relied on federal funding for 20% of our budget for many, many years. Certainly, viewers and listeners make up the vast majority of our support. But it would really affect the whole public media system. A lot of the smaller stations would go off the air. It would affect us in ways that would really significantly reduce our programming and our ability to engage with the community, and we don’t know what PBS or NPR would look like in a post CPB world. So, you know, for anybody who really cares about public media and enjoys it and listens to it and sees its value, this would be a good time to get involved.
SCHOFIELD: Kind of an extension of that question and the answer that you gave, what makes the public media funding model and approach different from other corporate-owned news organizations?
BRESNAHAN: Well, it allows us to be focused on education and the best that our culture has to offer and good citizenship, so we’re not driven by the profit motive. And there’s nothing wrong with businesses that make money, but really there should be at least one channel and one media outlet out there that is focused on public service. Television and radio has such an influence, you know, it can teach and inspire just as effectively as it can sell. And so we put that to its best and highest usage in educating the community and bringing everybody together. So that really is one of the very vital differences between public media and commercial media.
SCHOFIELD: I understand you’ve met with members of Illinois congressional delegation. What have you heard from them? And how do you think they and Congress as a whole will vote on this?
BRESNAHAN: Well, I think that, again, public media has enjoyed bipartisan support since its founding, and so now is a time where it is a very serious threat. We do believe we have the support of much of our state delegation, and we’ve met with the members of Congress or staff. So we’re still hopeful, because we know that their constituents love public media, PBS and NPR, and the local services we provide are enjoyed by the communities all around downstate, and so in the end, we really hope that public media will prevail, but I would encourage everybody listening to let their elected officials know where they stand.
SCHOFIELD: Moss Bresnahan is Illinois Public Media’s executive director. Thank you for your time.
BRESNAHAN: Thanks for having me.
Editor’s Note: Per Illinois Public Media’s internal reporting guidelines, no member of upper management or news executive reviewed this interview prior to publication.