News
WOUB has identified nearly $1 million in cuts this fiscal year to make up for the loss in federal funding
By: David Forster
Posted on:
ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — WOUB Public Media has identified nearly $1 million in budget cuts, including some layoffs, to get through the rest of the current fiscal year following the elimination of its federal funding.
More cuts will need to be made to carry the station through the following fiscal year, which starts on July 1.
The station’s NPR and PBS programming will be spared during the current fiscal year because content for the year has already been paid for after negotiations were made to lower the cost.
“Our viewers and listeners won’t experience anything different until next summer,” said Mark Brewer, WOUB’s general manager.
It remains to be seen how much funding the station will have for programming next fiscal year and what changes may need to be made.
The budget cuts are a consequence of Congress’ decision last month, at the request of the Trump administration, to rescind $1.1 billion in already approved funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributed these funds to local stations.
WOUB received about $1.5 million, or 30 percent of its budget, through CPB. About 45 percent comes through Ohio University, which holds WOUB’s broadcast licenses and where the station’s operations are based. And the rest comes through donations and underwriting.
The Ohio Legislature is also cutting back on its funding for public media. WOUB lost about $250,000 in state funding this fiscal year and next fiscal year will bring a 27 percent reduction.
Public media stations throughout the country are announcing cuts in staffing, programming and other areas as they grapple with the loss of federal support. Some stations, especially in smaller rural markets, may not survive. But even larger stations are struggling to adapt: WQED in Pittsburgh is considering shutting down entirely.
“This is just tragic,” Brewer said. When stations fail, he said, it hurts all stations. PBS and NPR receive a substantial share of their revenue through programming fees paid by member stations. When stations shut down, PBS and NPR may have to make their own cuts and charge stations more for programming to help cover the loss.
Brewer said he and his team scoured every line item in the budget searching for savings. But it wasn’t enough to avoid some layoffs. It is not clear yet how many positions will be cut, or in what department the cuts will come, but they are expected to happen in the coming weeks. No additional layoffs are planned at this point for the following fiscal year.
Another possible casualty of the cost cutting is WOUB’s paid summer internship program, during which college students pursuing a career in journalism work full-time producing content for the station’s television, radio and web platforms.
Brewer said he met with university leadership and presented the cuts needed to keep WOUB running. The university has not offered to provide additional financial support to offset proposed cuts at this time, but Brewer said he will be meeting with the leadership again in a few months.
In a statement released Tuesday, the university said that “WOUB and Ohio University leadership are currently evaluating ways to streamline operations and reduce costs while protecting the experiences provided to students through WOUB as well as the services provided to the greater community.”
There is a bright spot in the midst of all this financial gloom, Brewer said. Membership and donations have been trending upward over the past several years, but in the past two months alone they have soared to new highs as the local community responds to the loss of federal support.
WOUB is planning two big fund-raising pushes later this year. It recently launched a campaign asking people to include the station in their wills, which is already getting some responses. And it continues to explore funding opportunities through regional, state and national foundations.
Meanwhile, several large foundations announced last week they have committed $37 million to provide emergency funding to smaller stations at risk of closing, particularly those in rural areas that lack a strong media presence.
Disclosure: Under WOUB’s protocol for reporting on itself, no executives reviewed this story before it was posted.