This July, a Republican-led Congress, acting at the behest of President Donald Trump, voted to cut $1.1 billion of federal funding for public media, including NPR and PBS, even though the funding had already been appropriated by Congress. According to a statement from the White House, NPR and PBS are “propaganda” and “a waste.”
Of the $9 billion in total cuts in a broader rescissions package, $1.1 billion came from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting—the full amount it was set to receive over the next two years. CPB distributes about a quarter of that funding to NPR and PBS for national programming. The rest goes to more than 1,500 locally operated radio and television stations, many of them in rural areas.
“The great irony of the budget cuts is that they will likely hurt rural and red state regions…more than they will the big East Coast or West Coast urban centers.”
As The New York Times reported, “The decision by President Trump and Republicans in Congress to strip $500 million from public broadcasters this summer is forcing profound changes that will reshape the airwaves, especially in rural and tribal areas of the country.”
To understand what these cuts mean for public media and the communities that rely on it, NPQ spoke with two experts working to strengthen local journalism. Although the loss is significant, both see opportunities to rethink how local journalism is funded and supported.
Why It Matters Now
“The great irony of the budget cuts is that they will likely hurt rural and red state regions and stations in places like the Dakotas and Alaska and Texas, more than they will the big East Coast or West Coast urban centers,” said Jim Friedlich, executive director and CEO of The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, a grantmaking organization that supports innovative local news initiatives nationwide.
Local stations, Friedlich adds, provide residents with news, weather alerts, road conditions, educational programming, and emergency updates. In many rural areas, where phone and internet service can be spotty or unavailable, these stations are often the most reliable source of information. Without federal support, many will be forced to close—with some already shuttering as the money runs out.
And like government services, local nonprofit public television and radio stations don’t need to put revenue first.
“The basic fact is that much local news is a ‘public good,’ meaning it doesn’t necessarily have a viable commercial business model but does provide tremendous value to the public broadly,” explained Steven Waldman, president of Rebuild Local News, a nonpartisan organization advancing public policies to create a stronger and more inclusive local press. “Like schools and libraries. Those are the classic cases where you need public support and more philanthropy.”
Waldman believes the path forward is to educate the public about the importance of local news, creating the same level of public financial support currently given to schools and libraries.
This Didn’t Come Out of Nowhere
For years, communities have watched local news shrink. While not the first blow, this recent loss of funding could have a devastating impact, further straining a system that’s been operating in crisis mode.
“The local news system was already collapsing before this move to reduce funding for public media,” said Waldman. “This will likely reduce the number of local reporters, especially those at public radio stations. So, it makes the challenge—reversing this catastrophic decline—even more difficult and severe.”
The scale of the decline is hard to ignore. As Waldman shared, “There’s been more than a 75 percent drop in the number of local journalists since 2002. One-third of the newspapers have shut [down]. More than a thousand counties have not even the equivalent of one full-time journalist.” These data come from the Local Journalist Index 2025, a recent report from Rebuild Local News and media software platform Muck Rack.
“The local news system was already collapsing before this move to reduce funding for public media.”
The experts aren’t counting on a comeback—that $1.1 billion of federal funding is gone, and they don’t expect it to be reversed.
“It would be prudent and wise to assume that this funding never comes back,” said Friedlich. “I think it would be much harder to restart it from a flat-footed, cold start than to cut it in the first place…even with Democratic control.”
Where We Go from Here
Now that the federal government has made an urgent problem worse, it’s even more essential for public media to pivot and innovate. To start, the government isn’t the only source of funding.
With the future of local nonprofit journalism in such uncertain times, this is an ideal moment for philanthropy to step up. Friedlich points to three opportunities in particular:
- Legacy funders like the MacArthur and Ford Foundations could deepen their support
- Journalism-specific funders could shift more dollars to public media
- Foundations and other nonprofits collaborating with or supporting nonprofit journalism outlets could do the same
He sees the third option as the one with the most potential, explaining that national foundations, community and local place-based foundations, and other nonprofits need to recognize the value of supporting public media and nonprofit news in their markets, even if they’ve never put funding toward these areas before.
Waldman agrees, adding that the moment calls for fresh thinking.
“It should also intensify the conversation about whether there are other ways to support local media that could be as effective and maybe have broad political support,” he said. “For instance, what if you gave a subsidy to small businesses that advertise in local news or underwrite nonprofit news? Perhaps that would have bipartisan support because it’s not the government deciding.”
At the same time, many local stations are already adapting their funding approach. Friedlich highlights a few examples, such as New Hampshire Public Radio and WBEZ in Chicago, stations that have reduced their reliance on federal dollars by bringing in new revenue from members, donors, and sponsors.
Friedlich also sees promise in new partnerships between public media and digital news startups. These collaborations, driven by innovation and necessity, could help fill local coverage gaps and create more resilient options for public media.
He added that outlets like The Salt Lake Tribune and The Philadelphia Inquirer are owned by foundations or mission-driven entities that reinvest earnings into news operations, rather than shareholders.
Community and Government Support
Beyond wealthy donors and established foundations and nonprofits, everyday readers can help.
“We would urge that they look at the most effective and community-centered local news where they live and support that,” says Friedlich. “Particularly when the local NPR station or the local PBS station is an important news provider and is currently under threat.”
Supporting local news, Friedlich argued, should be considered similarly to “paying for Netflix or Amazon.”
People can also push their local and state governments to take a more active role in supporting and funding public media. Without federal funding, the conversation has shifted to state legislatures, Waldman explains.
“We hope that states fill in some of the gaps, especially for smaller and rural stations, which will be hardest hit,” he said.
In fact, some states are already stepping up. According to Waldman, “New York State and Illinois together are set to provide $35 million a year in tax credits for hiring journalists from 2025 to 2027. California, Washington, and New Mexico are funding fellowship programs that place journalists into local newsrooms to help with community coverage.”
Waldman adds that several states now require government transparency for advertising dollars spent. This is meant to shift more toward local media.
On the local level, cities and counties are also trying out solutions.
“Some have provided direct funding to support public service journalism or increased their advertising in local outlets,” Waldman noted. “Others have partnered with libraries or community centers to help keep residents informed.”
