Jan. 12 (UPI) -- The dissolution of the Corporations for Public Broadcasting ends a nearly 60-year commitment by Congress to fund local stations across the country, putting the communities that need public broadcasting the most at the greatest risk.
The CPB has been a key funding stream for broadcasters that serve the most rural and underserved communities in the United States and while public radio and television networks, from national outlets like NPR and PBS to small, local stations will continue on, for now, rural areas will feel the impact of the board's vote to dissolve itself.
NPR draws a relatively small amount of its funding from the federal government: about 1 or 2% annually. A larger portion of the PBS budget comes from the federal government but smaller locally-operated stations are the main recipients of federal funding.
Tami Graham, executive director of Tribal radio station KSUT in Colorado, told UPI that the CPB contributed about 20% of her station's funding. She knew it was only a matter of time before the CPB would dissolve but the announcement earlier this week brought about a "stark reality."
"It puts a tremendous amount of local and rural serving public stations at risk including ours," Graham said. "We're having to backfill and find ways to continue our same level of service to our communities without that support from the American public."
