Lost funds would hurt broadcasters nationwide, but the most vulnerable are concentrated in the West, where 20% of revenue is dependent on federal money.
by Annie Rosenthal and Chad Bradley in High Country News
Late last fall, members of Bethel, Alaska’s search and rescue team met at the local public radio station, KYUK, for a program called River Watch. Over an hour and a half, they took calls from listeners around the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, comparing notes on the safety of the ice at different points along the Kuskokwim River.
“Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there,” said a caller from the village of Kalskag, his voice muffled over the phone. He said he’d recently flown over the river to the east and observed lots of holes in the ice. He wanted to warn listeners in other towns: “There is no trail right now. None of the open water is marked. So it’s advised not to be traveling back and forth from Aniak.”
KYUK is the only daily news source for this region, which is roughly the size of Oregon, and River Watch is a staple of its programming. In dozens of southwest Alaska villages — including many Yup’ik, Athabaskan and Cup’ik communities — residents who live far from the U.S. highway system rely on boats and snow machines to get around. “The Kuskokwim River in this region is like our highway,” said KYUK news director Sage Smiley. During freeze-up and breakup each year, knowing the condition of the ice can be a matter of life and death. And in the Y-K Delta, where Internet access is often limited, public radio plays a crucial role.
But if the Trump administration gets its way, programs like River Watch could soon disappear.
Last month, the president signed an executive order aimed at preventing congressionally approved federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) from going to National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). NPR, PBS and a host of local stations have all filed lawsuits in response. Meanwhile, in its proposed budget, the administration outlined a plan to eliminate funding for CPB entirely — and Trump asked Congress to take back more than a billion dollars that had already been set aside for public broadcasters. Lawmakers have 45 days to make a decision on the request. (Cascade PBS editor’s note: The House voted to approve Trump’s recission request on June 12, 2025. The request now heads to the Senate for consideration.) Continued on page 2 at www.skyline725.com)