This action, known as a “rescission request” has to be approved by a majority in the U.S. House and Senate in the next 45 days in order for it to become law. If it passes both chambers, it would have an effect on the budget of The Public’s Radio and Rhode Island PBS. Our political reporter, Ian Donnis spoke with our CEO Pam Johnston about what this could mean.
Ian Donnis: We know the Trump administration has been trying to eliminate support for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides some funding for The Public’s Radio and Rhode Island PBS. What’s the latest?.
Pam Johnston: Well, that actually happened. It’s a day that we had been preparing for, this rescission package that was sent by the White House to Congress was something that we had heard about, we’ve been preparing for. We hoped it wouldn’t happen, but that has happened and so we are in a fight for our very existence.
Donnis: How will that affect public media in Rhode Island?
Johnston: It’s unclear what’s going to happen. Right now we are in the middle. So now that this rescission package has been sent to Congress from the administration, Congress has up to 45 days to consider it and either vote for it or against it. If in fact they vote for it, which means the rescission package is accepted, we would lose our funding here in Rhode Island, and funding for public media across the country would go away. It would decimate the system.
Donnis: To remind our listeners and viewers, what level of funding are we talking about For Rhode Island PBS, and The Public’s Radio?
Johnston: Here at home, that funding accounts for about 10% of our full operating budget. It’s a million dollars. It would make a serious, devastating impact here. It would affect our work, it would affect our journalism, it would affect our storytelling. It would affect our operations.
Donnis: A million dollars is certainly no small amount of money. How do you respond to those who say that the federal government should not be providing support for media?
Johnston: In a world where trusted, credible, independent voices are becoming less and less, public media is a reliable source of information all across the country. It’s also quite American. All of these stations are independent. They’re locally owned and operated and created right here for and by the people who live here in Rhode Island. The stories that you hear on The Public’s Radio and Rhode Island PBS are made by Rhode Islanders, and that’s the same all across the country. I think it’s incredibly valuable and would be a devastating loss to our country.
Donnis: If people hearing your voice now want to do something to support public media in Rhode Island, what are the most effective ways they can do that?
Johnston: Thank you for asking, and we thank our listeners and our viewers for their ongoing support, not only in this fight, but always. What we need now is even more support. So please, reach out to your Congress people. Reach out to our senators and our representatives. Tell them that public media matters to you. Stand with us. Support us on social media. Please feel free to donate. You can come to our websites and do that, but actively talk about the value that public media has meant to you in your life, and talk to your friends about that too. Your voice really counts in this moment.
Donnis: Thank you, Pam.
Johnston: Thank you, Ian.
