August 1, 2025
On July 18, 2025, Congress passed H.R. 4, the Rescissions Act of 2025. This decision "clawed back" $1.1 billion in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for fiscal years 2026 and 2027. On August 1, 2025, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the conduit for federal funds to NPR and PBS, announced that it’s beginning to wind down its operations.
This is a somber moment for public media nationwide. While the funding in question makes up less than 0.01% of the federal budget, its loss threatens to disrupt many local public broadcasting operations across the country.
CapRadio has been proactively adapting to the stark reality facing public media by pioneering a new approach to sustainability that relies exclusively on community support — not government funding. Currently, all of our funding comes from individual member contributions (72%) and local business support (17%), in addition to vehicle donations, planned gifts and an unrestricted local grant (11%).
With a focus on sustainability, CapRadio continues to make improvements that bolster our new community-supported business model so we can build a robust future for public media in the region. As a 100% community-funded resource, CapRadio is not only empowered to operate undisrupted by this loss in government funding, but is actively increasing public services for the betterment of the community.
We’re expanding our content by hiring more reporters to cover local communities and making sure you — and NPR listeners throughout the entire state — have the latest politics news by investing in our Politics & Government team, and we’re adding editors and producers to shape the stories you hear. We’re launching our new and improved Jazz Stream, preparing to release a major update for our app so you can stay connected anywhere and offering the next generation of journalists valuable experience by growing our student internship program. We’re embracing partnerships that help our region thrive through initiatives like our Nonprofit Showcase.
Thanks to the support of our community, CapRadio remains unwavering in our commitment to provide independent public service journalism and cultural programming and deliver on our mission to create more informed, involved and educated communities.
You can learn more here
