This year, unfortunately, Alaska joined the list of states failing to fund their public radio stations. With a veto from Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Alaska public radio stations saw their budgets slashed. All of the $2.7 Million previously allotted to public media and broadcasting was removed from the FY-2020 state budget. State funding previous made up between 7% and 28% of individual station’s budgets. These massive budget cuts are having significant effects on station operations from personnel to facilities to programming, but, so far, no stations have planned to close their doors.
Though stations are confident they will be able to make it through the next year, there are concerns among the larger stations in Alaska they will not be able to meet the fundraising requirements to be eligible for Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) grants that currently cover more than a quarter of their funding. These concerns, while a year out, are serious. While smaller stations in Alaska are automatically granted these funds due to their remote locations, larger stations must self raise $300,000 in order to receive CPB grants. Some stations may even have to consider shifting away from the non-profit, public media model in order to continue their operation.
States failing to fund public radio and public television is a growing issue nationwide, with 15 states in total having pulled funding from all public media outlets. Communities in Alaska are coming together around their local stations with fundraising events and donations to support public radio, but those stations also remain hopeful the Governor’s vetoes can be overturned by the state legislature. There is still a chance of funding being restored, but for the time being, they are planning for the effects of the steep budget cuts.
Read more about the Alaska Public Media and public radio budget cuts here and make sure to support your local public radio station!
