“In a word, disappointment.”
That was Dawn Schmiitt’s reaction on Thursday afternoon when the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved a bill that would claw back two years of funding that Congress already approved for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Schmitt is General Manager of WQPT, a PBS affiliate based in the Quad Cities that serves viewers in eastern Iowa and west central Illinois and produces a number of local programs and short segments.
She said without federal funding, it will be impossible to sustain WQPT’s current educational mission in the small, rural markets that it serves.
“We’re going to stay optimistic, and prepare for the next step in the rescission vote as it goes to the Senate,” Schmitt said “We will ask our loyal supporters to continue reaching out to their U.S. Senators through protectmypublicmedia.org.”
WQPT is one of two public media entities licensed to Western Illinois University. WIU President Kristi Mindrup said the university administration was disappointed by the House vote to accept rescission of public media funding.
“Public media expands the reach of our university and provides critical learning opportunities, local programming, and information to our communities. We support our PBS and NPR partners and urge the U.S. Senate to vote against rescission,” Mindrup said.
The other public media station licensed to WIU is Tri States Public Radio, an NPR affiliate that serves all or part of 20 counties in west central Illinois, southeast Iowa, and northeast Missouri. Its locally produced content includes digital and broadcast news, podcasts, and classical, jazz, and folk music programs.
Heather Norman, general manager of TSPR, said she was hopeful the rescission bill would not pass the House, but was not surprised when it did, because she has been in regular meetings with the policy and representation team at NPR, which communicates with members of Congress to educate them on public media. They expected the House vote to be close, Norman said.
“The vote was very close, and we know that the call to support public media was very strong,” she said.
How local stations use federal funds
The rescission bill was requested by the Trump administration and has cuts totaling $9.4 billion. That includes $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and $8.3 billion for foreign aid programs.
The measure passed largely along party lines, 214 to 212, with two key Republican lawmakers switching their votes from "no" to "yes" to push it over the finish line. In the WQPT and TSPR coverage areas, the measure passed strictly along party lines.
In a debate prior to the vote, Republicans accused NPR and PBS of bias, while Democrats defended public media as providing essential services such as news, cultural information, and emergency alerts.
But there was little talk on the House floor about how local public radio and television stations across the country use and depend on CPB funding.
Schmitt said while WQPT receives generous support from its viewers, local businesses, and local foundations, approximately half of the station’s $1.8 million budget is provided through CPB.
“It’s also important to note that as a non-profit public television station, we do not have the opportunity to sell call-to-action advertising,” Schmitt said.
For WQPT, broadcasting expenses alone exceed the amount of CPB funding the station receives. That includes programming rights from PBS and other sources, master control, tower rent, and utilities. Salaries and benefits for the station’s eight employees are covered through other funds.
In general, more money is allocated by CPB to public television stations than public radio.
Norman said a CPB Community Service Grant makes up around 17% of TSPR’s budget of $1.2 million in operational expenses.
“The federal money helps support our distribution system,” Norman said. “That is what connects all the stations together. It also pays for all our music rights. CPB negotiates and pays for those for the whole system.”
So without CPB, the station would have to come up with the funds from the CSG grant and also cover services provided by CPB.
“That is almost double the amount of money we would need to replace the federal funding,” Norman said.
Norman said TSPR is also currently participating in two programs funded with help from CPB. One is a professional development program helping the station move into the future of digital media, and the other is a StoryCorps initiative called One Small Step that helps to bring people together across differences.
“Both of these programs are supported by federal funds and they are really about building communities, better informed communities,” Norman said.
Accusations of bias
President Trump has accused NPR and PBS of bias against conservative viewpoints.
Two former Republican lawmakers told NPR that GOP sentiment toward public media has evolved from frequent support to skepticism to open hostility.
Republicans on the House floor before Thursday’s vote repeatedly said taxpayer money should no longer support public media.
The overwhelming majority of CPB funds don’t go to NPR or PBS – they go to local stations like TSPR and WQPT. And TSPR and WQPT don’t receive many accusations of bias for the content they produce.
“WQPT has received no direct complaints from the federal government or elected officials. Citizen complaints have been confined to a couple of anonymous letters received by mail,” Schmitt said.
Norman said in the last year, she’s received a couple complaints that TSPR’s local coverage is left-leaning and she’s also heard complaints that the station’s local coverage is right-leaning. She also received a complaint regarding NPR’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
"When people have complaints about specific coverage from NPR, I point them to the Public Editor at NPR. NPR is the only major news outlet to maintain a Public Editor,” Norman said. “The editor's job is to hold NPR accountable for their coverage. If you have concerns about coverage you can email them.”
Norman said NPR’s Public Editor also has a blog where they address the most frequent concerns about coverage.
In addition, Western Illinois University is not aware of complaints filed with the adminsitration regarding ideological bias in content produced by its two public media stations, a spokesperson told TSPR.
As non-profit, public broadcasting entities, both stations maintain public inspection files to meet regulatory requirements and be transparent about their operations.
For more information, visit WQPT's Reports and Filings page and TSPR's Public Information page.
Tri States Public Radio produced this story. TSPR relies on financial support from our readers and listeners in order to provide coverage of the issues that matter to west central Illinois, southeast Iowa, and northeast Missouri. As someone who values the content created by TSPR's news department, please consider making a financial contribution.
