House Republicans' move to eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting may be aimed at quieting what they see as liberal megaphones, but if the cut survives negotiations with the Senate, it could have the biggest impact on rural communities, which tend to be conservative.
"Small television and radio stations serving rural, politically red areas in California and other states would likely feel the biggest impact of such a move because 70 percent of public broadcasting funds are channeled to local stations," Joe Garofoli of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Larger stations that get a smaller percentage of their budget from CPB might be able to withstand its abolition, but smaller stations depend more heavily on it.
In Redding, Calif., 45 percent of KIXE-TV's budget comes from CPB, while just 7.8 percent of KQED's budget in San Francisco relies on the funding. Despite KIXE-TV's reliance on CPB, Republican Rep. Wall Herger, whose district includes Redding, voted to eliminate it. "If the cut isn't restored by the Democratic-controlled Senate, KIXE officials say the station could be devastated," Garofoli writes. Redding lacks big corporate donors or major foundations that could help make up for the loss of funding, and with the local unemployment rate at 16 percent few people are likely able to make donations to support the station.
"The victim from this cut will be all of the red-state rural stations," Phil Smith, general manager of KIXE, told Garofoli. "I told Congressman Herger, 'You're going to be wiping out all of your friends with this.'" Ron Schoenherr, the executive director of KEET-TV in Eureka, which receives 46 percent of its budget for CPB funding, told Garofoli the proposed cut "would close our doors." KEET-TV is the only public broadcaster covering the northernmost 200 miles of California's coast. Ginny Berson, a vice president of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters in Oakland, which represents 200 stations, notes that "for many public broadcasters on American Indian reservations, or broadcasting in Spanish to farmworkers, their federal subsidy is often at least half of their budget," Garofoli writes. (Read more)
"Small television and radio stations serving rural, politically red areas in California and other states would likely feel the biggest impact of such a move because 70 percent of public broadcasting funds are channeled to local stations," Joe Garofoli of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Larger stations that get a smaller percentage of their budget from CPB might be able to withstand its abolition, but smaller stations depend more heavily on it.
In Redding, Calif., 45 percent of KIXE-TV's budget comes from CPB, while just 7.8 percent of KQED's budget in San Francisco relies on the funding. Despite KIXE-TV's reliance on CPB, Republican Rep. Wall Herger, whose district includes Redding, voted to eliminate it. "If the cut isn't restored by the Democratic-controlled Senate, KIXE officials say the station could be devastated," Garofoli writes. Redding lacks big corporate donors or major foundations that could help make up for the loss of funding, and with the local unemployment rate at 16 percent few people are likely able to make donations to support the station.
"The victim from this cut will be all of the red-state rural stations," Phil Smith, general manager of KIXE, told Garofoli. "I told Congressman Herger, 'You're going to be wiping out all of your friends with this.'" Ron Schoenherr, the executive director of KEET-TV in Eureka, which receives 46 percent of its budget for CPB funding, told Garofoli the proposed cut "would close our doors." KEET-TV is the only public broadcaster covering the northernmost 200 miles of California's coast. Ginny Berson, a vice president of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters in Oakland, which represents 200 stations, notes that "for many public broadcasters on American Indian reservations, or broadcasting in Spanish to farmworkers, their federal subsidy is often at least half of their budget," Garofoli writes. (Read more)
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