Charleston, W.VA. – After Hurricane Helene devastated Asheville, North Carolina, the sound from open cars windows when residents gathered in a street at the top of a crest that tried to obtain cell service the past fall was Blue Ridge Public Radio. And as they rose for water or food, the latest news they had heard at the station was a frequent conversation issue.
“The public radio station was alerting people what was happening,” said Lisa Savage, who offered as a volunteer in a church in the area after the hurricane.
Now, public radio stations are being cuts from President Donald Trump. This week, he signed an executive order aimed at reducing public subsidies to NPR and PBS, alleging “bias” in the reports of the broadcasters.
Public radio stations have been a lifeguard for residents during natural disasters that eliminate power, internet and cell towers. And in many remote and rural areas of the United States, they can be a lonely source of local news.
Approximately one week after being voluntary in the Asheville area, Savage remembered having driven through another affected community and listening to updates on the public Blue Ridge radio on where the residents could collect water.
“So that was crucial,” said Savage.
In the Desert of West Texas, Marfa Public Radio offers listeners a mixture of local and national news and music. It is based on Marfa, a city of about 2,000 that attracts tourists to their artistic scene.
“Marfa Public Radio is the only radio service in much of the geographical area we cover,” said Tom Livingston, interim executive director of the station. “Therefore, it is really essential in terms of whether there are news events, if there are security things that happen in the community.”
Financing has a generalized impact
Trump’s order instructs the corporation for public transmission and other federal agencies “to cease federal funds for NPR and PBS” and also requires working to eliminate indirect sources of public financing for news organizations. The speakers obtain approximately half a billion dollars in public money through the private CPB, which has said that it is not a federal executive agency subject to Trump’s orders.
The bosses of PBS, NPR and CPB suggested on Friday that the order was illegal, and a judicial fight seems inevitable.
The White House has also said that it will ask Congress to rescue funds for the CPB as part of a $ 9.1 billion cuts package. Local stations operate in a combination of government financing, donations and philanthropic subsidies, and stations in smaller markets depend particularly on public money.
WMMT, based in the eastern Kentucky community of Whitesburg, can be heard in parts of five states of the Apalaches. The general manager of the station, Teddy Wimer, said that the listeners “want to listen to people who sound as people who know for Appalachia”, and the station, which currently operates from a renewed Winnebago called Possum Den, depends on the financing of CPB.
“We are in an economically disadvantaged area of the country,” Wimer said. “Most of our listeners who really trust our programming do not have the funds to increase their support.”
Livingston said that about 30% of its funds come from the CPB. At this time, he says, it is too early to know if the cuts will really happen or what would affect if they come.
The local flavor is a factor in the audience and credibility
Along the border of Virginia Occidental-Virginia, more than three hours from Washington, DC, residents can collect signs of distant radio stations. But those “are not going to have the taste and local impact we have,” said Scott Smith, general manager of Allegheny Mountain Radio. “This is the only game in the city for that kind of thing.”
In his base of Operations of Monterey, Virginia, Smith said that there are around a cellular coverage area of 4 square miles with a cell tower. The station has proven to be a vital source of information during natural disasters. In 2012, residents trusted him after a right knocked out power to 680,000 clients in West Virginia and some areas took almost two weeks to restore their service.
“Yes, we play music. Yes, we are on the air and joke,” he said. “But we are here providing basic level information services, emergency information, such things, for our communities. And as part of that, we are a fairly critical link in this area for the emergency alert system.”
Smith has a staff of 10 people in Allegheny Mountain Radio, which receives 68% of its annual CPB budget.
“What the CPB finances the most is the small rural radio,” said Smith. “When you eliminate 60% of our income, that is not easy or easily replaceable.”
Smith calls him a “waiting and see game” about whether Congress will act with the CPB funds.
“The answer to how we advance is vague,” said Smith. “We will still continue here as long as we can.”
