The chief executive of Connecticut Public says he’s “deeply disappointed” that Congress has approved a rescission package that will eliminate about $1 billion in federal funding for local public media stations across the country.
Connecticut Public, which provides both NPR and PBS programming, gets about $2 million each year in federal funds via the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. That’s about 10% of its budget.
“This funding has long supported our mission to inform, educate, and inspire, and its removal presents a serious challenge,” president and CEO Mark Contreras said in a
statement
issued Friday. “However, this is not the end of the story — and we are not standing still.”
His statement focused on efforts to grow revenue and boost fundraising efforts. It did not mention plans for cutbacks.
Contreras says the organization has plans to launch additional fundraising campaigns focused on growing monthly donor support. Connecticut Public says it’s also exploring ways to broaden philanthropic investment and deepen community partnerships.
“We remain committed to protecting the work, the people, and the impact that define Connecticut Public,” Contreras said. “Our audience can count on us to continue providing the trusted content and essential services they rely on — and we will be calling on that audience to help shape a stronger, more community-powered future.”
In public forms issued to the IRS, Connecticut Public reported an increase in revenues in the
fiscal year that ended June 2024
— $25.1 million, up from about $23 million the year prior. The company has also been working to reduce its deficit — $2.8 million in 2024, down from nearly $4 million the year prior.
Connecticut Public in June 2024
laid off 4% of its staff
, noting that expenses were growing “at rates that have exceeded revenues for the last few years.” Across the country, local public media stations have laid off staff in recent years, including
GBH
in Boston,
WBEZ
in Chicago and
KQED
in San Francisco.
CT’s congressional delegation reacts
Both the Republican-controlled U.S. House and Senate have voted to approve the rescission package, which includes
$9 billion in funds
that Congress had previously approved. Most of the funding is for foreign aid efforts. The bill heads to President Donald Trump for his signature.
Some Republicans in Congress say the cuts are necessary to rein in federal spending. Some conservatives accuse public media — and NPR in particular — of left-wing political bias. NPR leaders deny those claims.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, voted against the rescission package, but told Maine Public earlier this month that NPR has a
“partisan bent.”
“NPR should be providing the kind of neutral coverage that Maine Public, for the most part, does provide,” Collins said.
Connecticut’s all-Democratic congressional delegation blasted Republicans for voting in favor of the rescission.
U.S. Rep John Larson said Republicans were “rubberstamping the president’s petty attack on public broadcasting.”
“Republicans in Congress are bending to the will of their ‘narcissistic nihilist’ president who has directed his ire at PBS and NPR because they refuse to toe the Trump line,” Larson said in a statement. “It is unconscionable for Republicans to renege on our commitment to global health and education.”
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he’s “especially angry” about the cuts made to public broadcasting, saying they will be devastating to local stations. He called the claw back effort an “act of cowardice.”
“Everything about this bill reeks of cruelty, from cutting off educational television to letting children starve,” Blumenthal said in a statement issued Thursday. “Republicans are killing Elmo and canceling local emergency alerts because they’re too thin-skinned to handle a couple of tough questions from the free and independent press. It’s pathetic and it’s harmful.”
Networks, other stations react
PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger said in a
statement issued Thursday
that the rescission will be “especially devastating to smaller stations and those serving large rural areas.”
“Many of our stations which provide access to free unique local programming and emergency alerts will now be forced to make hard decisions in the weeks and months ahead,” she said.
Kerger continued: “There is nothing more American than PBS. … We are determined to keep fighting to preserve the essential services we provide to the American public.”
NPR president and CEO Katherine Maher
said in a statement
that the vote to approve the rescission is “an unwarranted dismantling of beloved local civic institutions, and an act of Congress that disregards the public will.”
“This will be an irreversible loss,” Maher said. “If a station doesn’t survive this sudden turn by Congress, a vital stitch in our American fabric will be gone for good.”
In Boston, GBH president and CEO Susan Goldberg called the rescission a
“seismic event.”
GBH provides programming for PBS stations, including “NOVA,” “Frontline” and “Antiques Roadshow.”
“Sometimes hard times push innovation, and people can find in adversity the determination to speed along some of the innovation that needed to happen all along,” Goldberg
told GBH
.
She continued: “We really need to consider everything — what we’re making, how we’re making it, how frequently we’re making it, and what platforms we’re making it for.”
Learn more
Read the full statement
issued by Connecticut Public.
Connecticut Public’s Eric Aasen contributed to this report. Connecticut Public executives had no oversight or reviewed the story before it was published.
