We must act now to save public media

Image Credit: Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector

Communities are healthier when people are engaged in decision-making about their health. Residents need reliable, local news and information to meaningfully engage.

That is why efforts to defund NPR and PBS public media stations are misguided and dangerous to the health of our communities.

Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted to pass a bill that will strip away funding for public media at the request of President Trump. The bill now heads to the Senate, which could vote in the coming days. If enacted, this funding cut would immediately inhibit public news stations throughout Kansas and Missouri from serving their communities — and could force some stations off the air, especially in rural areas and other communities where reliable news is difficult to come by.

Health Forward has proudly supported public media since our inception 20 years ago because of the vital role they play in our local news ecosystem — delivering free, fact-based news and educational content to everyone. Reporting from NPR and PBS affiliates helps us understand what is happening all around us, including in our statehouses, city halls and county legislatures, allows us to share stories, helps contextualize issues that affect our lives and highlights solutions to improve our communities.

Nationally, PBS reaches 89 percent of families living on a lower income with trusted educational programming. Locally, PBS recently featured programming that highlighted the impact of policies on urban communities such as how Highway 71 displaced 10,000 families, and featured stories of hope and accomplishments from Kansas City’s Latino community in We Are Latinos.

NPR’s member stations across the country reach more than 40 million listeners each week, including in communities that are otherwise news deserts. And in an emergency — whether tornados, wildfires, or pandemics — it’s often the only station that stays on air and delivers critical updates. Recently, KCUR has published stories on how organizations working to build generational wealth for Black families through home ownership, and exploring how Medicaid work requirements would affect people in the Midwest.

Critics that support cuts to public media argue that it is biased. But surveys from the Pew Research Center show that PBS is the most trusted source of news in America — more trusted than cable networks, newspapers, or social media.

Both PBS and NPR are guided by strict editorial standards and bipartisan governance, and they operate with remarkable efficiency. The entire budget of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which oversees both PBS and NPR, costs each American about $1.60 – less than a cup of coffee.

So what can you do to protect public broadcasting?

• Urge your Senators to reject efforts to defund NPR and PBS.

• Share your story on why you value public media.

• Sign up for updates from Protect My Public Media.

A well-informed public is the cornerstone of a thriving democracy. Now is the time to stand with our local public media and ensure they continue to serve our communities.