The scramble to keep public media afloat https://t.co/6XYZt30Fr8
Philanthropic organizations commit $37 million to keep public media stations afloat https://t.co/ZDv4hCgu60
Several philanthropic organizations have pledged nearly $37 million in emergency funding to provide "immediate relief" to public media stations affected by the rescissions package passed by Congress. https://t.co/OW9DqP2BVl
A coalition of major philanthropies led by the Knight Foundation has created the Public Media Bridge Fund, an emergency pool that has raised $26.5 million so far to help local public television and radio outlets weather a sudden loss of federal support. The Knight Foundation contributed $10 million, with additional money coming from the Ford, MacArthur, Schmidt Family and Robert Wood Johnson foundations as well as Pivotal Ventures. Organisers hope to expand the fund to $50 million by year-end. The initiative follows Congress’s approval of a rescissions package that stripped roughly $500 million from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the principal source of federal financing for hundreds of PBS and NPR member stations. CPB has since said it will shut down, leaving about 115 mostly rural stations at risk of closure and job cuts, according to advisers to the fund. Public Media Company, a nonprofit consultancy, will administer the bridge fund and prioritise stations that previously relied on CPB for more than 30 percent of their budgets or serve communities with limited alternative news sources. Sector analysts estimate at least $100 million will be required over the next two years to avert widespread shutdowns; organisers say the bridge fund is a starting step while longer-term consolidation and cost-sharing plans are explored.
