Leaders from WTVP and WCBU voiced their disappointment on Friday in response to federal cuts to PBS and NPR stations nationwide as part of a funding recission package that was championed by President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans.
The recission package, which was approved by both the House and Senate, would see WTVP lose about $1 million annually and WCBU about $125,000 annually. Each figure accounts for roughly one-third of their budgets.
“We are grateful for everyone who took time to advocate for continued federal funding for WTVP,” WTVP President and CEO Jenn Gordon said in a statement. “While we are very disappointed that the package passed, we are not facing today with fear. We believe that what we do at WTVP is needed now more than ever. WTVP is essential to the health and wellness of our community, providing a dynamic, community-oriented, and safe alternative to a saturated for-profit media landscape that is largely void of high quality, educational, ‘good-for-you’ content.”
WCBU’s assistant executive director Melissa Libert wrote in an article published Friday about the funding cuts.
“This decision is devastating for the millions of people who rely on public media every day. NPR and WCBU are moving into an uncharted future, but our commitment to serving our community will never waver.”
Libert went on to say that the budget cuts to WCBU means that three unfilled journalist positions at the station will remain unfilled.
“Correspondents and paid student interns can help fill some of the gaps, but there will be gaps,” Libert said. “Programming changes will become clear in the coming months as NPR determines next steps. Bottom line, we will have to drastically reduce our public service to survive.”
WTVP will attempt to fill it’s $1 million annual budget gap with donations spurring from its new, “We Believe in WTVP” campaign.
“We are not feeling sorry for ourselves today,” WTVP board president John Wieland said in a statement. “We are grateful to this community – and fully believe that what we provide is worthy of support whether it comes from the federal government or from members and donors. With the community’s support, we believe this will be a shining moment.”
In total, the recission package passed by Congress cuts about $9 billion from the federal budget and about $1 billion from public broadcasting stations like NPR and PBS. The House vote passed largely along party lines 216-213 with two Republicans voting against the cuts. Vice President JD Vance had to cast a tie-breaking vote to advance the bill out of the Senate.
Peoria-area Republican Congressman Darin LaHood voted in favor of the bill; Democrat Eric Sorensen voted against it.
Republicans, urged by Trump, have had funding cuts for public broadcasting in their crosshairs for months as the president has accused NPR and PBS of being liberally biased. In May, the White House released a statement calling NPR and PBS “radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news.'”
The loss of federal funding marks the beginning of yet another difficult chapter for WTVP who has spent the better part of almost two years mired in an embezzlement scandal that saw their federal funding pulled, and eventually restored, while an investigation took place.
WTVP just had its federal funding for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 restored in April. At the time, Gordon called the restoration of that funding a “big weight off our shoulders.”
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: ‘Disappointed’ and ‘devastating’: Leaders react to WTVP, WCBU funding cuts
Reporting by JJ Bullock, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
