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Federal Funding

It’s difficult to predict the future of federal funding for public broadcasting.  If the last few years are an indicator, the future will be very bumpy.  Congress is in deficit-cutting mode, and cutting or elimination of federal funding to public broadcasting makes for an easy and high-profiled target for politicians.

Any cut in Wyoming Public Media’s federal funding is a blow.  We currently receive a yearly $280,000 grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which comprises approximately 12% of our operating budget and provides funding for key positions and services.

We at Wyoming Public Media understand the need for shared sacrifice for the general good of the nation, but we do urge our legislators to make cuts judiciously and proportionately.  A 12% cut to WPM is devastating and affects services critical to the state.  Total elimination of the $445 million investment in CPB would cripple the public broadcasting system millions of Americans depend on.  Would it provide a powerful solution to the nation’s deficit problem?  That is for every American to decide.   Total elimination of the $445 million investment in CPB represents a 3 ten-thousands of one percent reduction in the $1.5 trillion federal budget deficit. 

In an interview last year Colin Powell said “You can’t fix the deficit or the national debt by killing NPR or National Endowment for the Humanities or the Arts.  Nice political chatter, but that doesn’t do it.” 

It’s our fiduciary responsibility to inform and update you on the status of federal funding, and to provide information about how to contact your Congressional representative to express your views.