NPR and PBS Must Transform After Trump’s Cuts Cripple Broadcasters

Radio and television stations, facing enormous budget holes, are pleading with NPR and PBS to lower their fees as they examine whether to drop national programming altogether.

On the windswept prairie of South Dakota, a tribal public radio station is selling off its old records to pay the bills. In Warm Springs, Ore., the NPR affiliate is considering dropping “All Things Considered” to focus on tribal issues.

In Bunker Hill, Kan., (population 103), the public TV station may eventually have to cut ties with PBS, pulling children’s shows like “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.”

“We are crippled here,” said Betsy Schwien, the general manager of Smoky Hills PBS in Bunker Hill. “It is the absolute worst-case scenario.”