Federal Funding for Public Media: Facts & Threats

The latest occurrence in the debate over federal funding for public media was an executive order from the White House restricting funds for NPR and PBS. President Trump ordered that no funding can go directly or indirectly to those media organizations. that means the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which distributes public media funding, was told not to grant any monies to PBS and NPR. For stations such as WAER, we are not allowed under the order to use any of our federal grant to purchase programming from those organizations.

CPB has chosen to challenge the order, suggesting the President does not have jurisdiction to limit their activities and policies. CPB is a private, nonprofit organization created by congress to distribute federal funding. In their view, the White House cannot make the restrictions Mr. Trump has ordered. This debate is likely headed to court before any final determination.
NPR reacted to the order by reiterating the value of public media, suggesting the move is not about balancing the federal budget.

The threats below - to rescind funding for the next two years, including grants to stations such as WAER, and to remove federal funding from future budgets through reconciliation, still exist.
You can:

• Contact members of Congress to tell them you value public media, especially local stations that provide local news coverage, unique and valuable programming, emergency communications and more.
• Tell friends and family to do the same; engage in conversations about the importance of keeping WAER and other public media strong through the Community Service Grants we get from Congress, via CPB.
• Donate to WAER Syracuse Public Media, or increase your membership or sustaining pledge. These funds will help us weather the loss of approximately 11% of our budget if we lose federal support, or if solidify us for the future, preserving jobs, programming and other services into the future amid tenuous and unpredictable government funding.
• Finally, let us know how we can better serve you through: suggestions for stories to cover; groups or meetings we can attend to explain our mission and learn interests of yours or theirs; feedback about what you like so we can make sure we continue to be a valuable public service.

Funding for public media, including WAER, has come under threat.
Congress is considering a measure to rescind funding that was already approved and appropriated. Washington will also soon debate future budget priorities, with the threat of zeroing-out public media support in years to come.

Public media funding approved by Congress as part of the budget goes through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. CPB distributes over 70% of those funds to stations. WAER gets a CPB grant that amounts to about 11% of our total budget, but closer to 20% of our news and programming support. WAER Syracuse Public Media uses federal funding to help pay our local news department costs and to help purchase national programs, such as All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Marketplace, BBC Newshour and more. A loss of these funds would mean staff cuts, fewer eyes on our community and local leaders to keep you informed and connected, and cuts to some programs you've come to rely on.

The philosophy behind public media funding is the belief that certain programming is in the public interest. That includes news and information about government and other important issues, given commercial media outlets have no requirement to provide that information. Certain music formats, such as classical and jazz, also are considered worth preserving in many communities. Public media also reach 99 percent of the country's residents, making it invaluable for emergency communications.

(Find template here for letter or email to congress member)

Congress is being asked to take back, rescind, funding for fiscal years 2026 and 2027. Those would be grants WAER planned on getting in the beginning of 2026 and 2027. Both houses have to agree to the recission request, or the funding remains intact.

We are currently lobbying congress members to ask them to oppose the recission. We're asking our Community Advisory Board and members of our community to reach out to congress members if they value our local news and other information programming. Such messages are urgent; a vote on this request cold happen as early as the first week of May.

Five things to know about public media and federal funding:

• Public media reaches 99% of the U.S. population and serves millions of Americans every day.
• The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is an independent nonprofit that distributes federal dollars (an average of $1.60 per American annually) to local stations. That money is used to invest in programming and services according to each community’s needs.
• In 2025, WAER's federal grant totaled $175,000.00, about 20% of our budget for news department staff, nationally-distributed programs, such as All Things Considered, Morning Edition, BBC Newshour, Jazz music and holiday programs, entertainment such as Wait, Wait, and others. We choose these local services and programs to follow our community mission, Enlighten, Entertain, Engage.
• CPB funding allows public media stations to pool resources for satellite interconnection, emergency alert systems, music licensing, and educational program development, all of which would be too expensive for stations to do independently.
• Cuts to federal funding would negatively impact rural stations like ours' ability to serve the people who need it most. Learn more at Protect My Public Media.

1. In light of the current recission request, we ask you contact your members of congress to indicate your support for public media, and opposition to the recission request currently under consideration.

2. If you have friends who are supporters of our local coverage, national news programs, music and entertainment offerings, or our important training mission for developing journalists and broadcasters, ask them to also contact congress members.

   Rep Claudia Tenney can be contacted here. or by mail:
   2230 Rayburn House Office Building
   Washington, DC 20515
   Phone: (202) 225-3665

   Rep John Mannion can be contacted here, or by mail:
   1516 Longworth House Office Building
   Washington, DC 20515
   Phone: (202) 225-3701
   

3. For those of you who support us as members and donors, first of all THANK YOU, local funding from members and local underwriters is our biggest and most flexible portion of the programming budget. Consider becoming a member if you're not one already, increasing your support of you are, and for those interested, become a major donor or look into planned giving.
4. All of the above help us not only stay stable and reliable for you, but also help us grow and change in the evolving media landscape, for both audience and as a training ground.