A simple website helps donors save the most vulnerable NPR and PBS stations

The Adopt-A-Station tool helps donors find and help
the most vulnerable stations. (NPR photo)

A simple website with a focused theme has started helping NPR and PBS stations after Congress rescinded $1.1 billion in Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding, leaving both entities with unforeseen budget shortfalls, reports Bob Sillick for E&P magazine.

Alex Curley, a former public media expert, created the single-page Adopt-a-Station website that "indicates which public media stations are most vulnerable to closing," Sillick explains. Most predictions estimate that nearly 1,000 stations would be affected by the loss of CPB support, with those serving indigenous, black and rural areas facing the most severe setbacks.

Approximately 40,000 people visited the Adopt-a-Station site during its first 30 days. Curley's most recent "review of analytics showed approximately 20% of visitors were clicking on a link to a station identified as losing 50% or more of its revenue," Sillick reports. "Curley is now working to increase visitor numbers to the site."

"I estimate 15% of all public media stations are at risk of closing," Curley told Sillick. "They either relied on federal funding so much that it was tough to stay open, or some other financial indicator paired with the loss of federal funding meant they couldn't balance their finances."