'If I wasn't here, people could die': Trump public media cuts could hit rural America

Thomas Copeland, BBC World Service
July 15, 2025

"A gale-force storm hit north-eastern #Alaska last winter. Residents of #Kotzebue, a town of about 3,000, are used to polar conditions, so Desiree Hagan still had to get to work.

" 'The snow was so intense you could not see in front of you,' Ms Hagan remembers. 'I was walking backwards to work.'

"Ms Hagan is a reporter at a public radio station, #KOTZ, which airs across Kotzebue and its 12 surrounding villages.
She also happens to be the only US journalist stationed inside the Arctic Circle, so as the storm intensified, she had to get on the air.

" 'It's go time, I have to report on this,' recalls Ms Hagan. 'We have to make sure we know where people can go. Oh, the electric is out. Okay, now the airport is flooded.'

" 'Winter is not a joke here, it is life and death,' she tells the BBC. 'As a reporter I try not to make emotional statements like, if I wasn't here, people could die, but that is a reality.'

"On the other side of the country in #WashingtonDC, however, a historic vote could bring federal support for KOTZ to an end.

"The Senate must decide by the end of the week whether to claw back $1.1bn (£800m) from the #CorporationForPublicBroadcasting, the body that distributes federal funding to public radio and television stations.

"While the #PublicMedia cuts are part of a broad spending package, which includes requests to rescind $8.3bn from the United States Agency for International Development and other foreign aid programmes, they are especially dear to President Donald Trump, who frequently accuses media of bias.

"The president has now threatened to pull his support from any Republican senator who does not support the cuts.

" 'It is very important that all Republicans adhere to my Recissions Bill and, in particular, DEFUND THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING (PBS and NPR), which is worse than CNN & MSDNC put together,' Trump posted on Truth Social Thursday night.

"Executives at National Public Radio (#NPR) and the Public Broadcasting System (#PBS) reject accusations of bias and say they abide by all journalistic standards.

"Republican voters, however, are about three times less likely than Democrats to consume or trust news coverage from either outlet, according to the Pew Research Center.

"While the cuts will affect national broadcasters like NPR and PBS, more than 70% of federal funding goes to local media stations and about 45% of the stations that received funding in 2023 are in rural areas.

"For half of those rural stations, federal grants made up a quarter or more of their revenue. At KOTZ in Kotzebue, public funding constitutes 41% of its income.
EPA A demonstrator displays a sign that reads, 'Stop Cuts Save PBS & NPR'.EPA
The impacts of the cuts on rural constituents have made some senators balk.

" 'By no means is it assured of being passed in the Senate, where many of the Republican senators represent rural states that really do benefit from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,' Democratic congressman Dan Goldman, co-chair of the Public Broadcasting Caucus, told the BBC World Service's Weekend programme.

"Republican Senator #LisaMurkowski of Alaska has said she opposes the cuts to public media stations, warning that "what may seem like a frivolous expense to some has proven to be an invaluable resource that saves lives in Alaska".
'Almost to a number, they're saying that they will go under if public broadcasting funds are no longer available to them,' Murkowski told a Senate hearing last month. "

Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20w51rkw4no?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/ltoA4