Public media’s make-or-break moment

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) winds down operations this month, ending nearly 60 years of coordination of the public media system – and millions of dollars in annual funding and infrastructure support for local stations. What happens in the next several months will determine not only whether individual stations survive but the future of local journalism in the country.  

Public media stations reach 99% of the country’s population with free, noncommercial, local news, music and information. Yet their greatest strength — broadcast dominance built over decades — has become their most significant vulnerability.  

The continued reliability of broadcast revenue meant many stations were slow to invest in digital capabilities, leaving them unprepared to serve audiences migrating online (in a sad echo of local newspapers before them). Digital news nonprofits saw opportunity and have moved into some markets, competing with stations for audience, members and advertising dollars. But the window of opportunity is still open in most places, and public media stations remain positioned to become the leading source of local news and information. They’ll need to move fast.

My colleagues and I have spent the past year addressing exactly this challenge with over 100 public radio and television stations. Through initiatives like our Digital Transformation Program and the Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative, we’ve focused on critical areas like revenue generation, audience service, data literacy and news strategy. Participating stations in our programs have raised millions of dollars in new revenue, and tens of millions in new audiences. Many have expanded into local news.