(bright music) (audience cheering) - Hello and welcome to another episode of "A Slice of the Community."

I'm your host, Jerome Moore, and today we are live in studio, joined by an audience with public media leaders, Becky Magura of Nashville PBS, Avery Hutchins of WCTE Central Tennessee PBS, and Mack Linebaugh of National Public Radio, also WPLN.

How y'all doing?

- Great.

- Great.

- Are you all doing great?

- Well, it is great to be with you.

- Yeah, National Public Radio, this might be a different thing.

You know, congratulations, I should say, on being able to raise you all's funding to make up for the defunding.

I think that deserves a round of applause, right?

(audience applauding) - Yeah, thank you.

Yeah, definitely made us feel supported.

- If you wanna, you know, kinda like share some of that, that's okay too, you know.

But let's get straight into it, you know?

Unfortunately, there was a recession package that led to defunding of public media, the television, broadcast, and radio.

I'm gonna start with you, Avery.

How is that impacting you all today right now in Cookeville?

- Well, I mean, it's a big hit.

It was 40% of our budget, so we lost a million dollars of our two and a half million dollars budget.

So it's tight.

It's tight.

But right now, we're just pivoting.

We're being very resourceful.

We're getting a lot of messaging out there.

We're educating people on what it means and how they can help and we're finding people stepping forward every day.

- Becky.

- Mm-hmm.

- Obviously, Nashville PBS where we are here today, which I'm a proud team member of, you know?

What is Nashville PBS doing and how are we being affected right here in Nashville?

- Well, it is, you know what?

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is shutting down, and that is very much an infrastructure for all of us in order to be able to facilitate those federal funds.

But with the federal funds rescinded, for us, it's 20% of our budget, which is 1.3 million.

And that is a significant blow.

And the thing that for all of us that was critical and is critical is it happened immediately.

You know, we had funding approved for two years, that was rescinded, and the clock started ticking immediately.

And so we are very actively engaged in asking our viewers to step up and help, and we're getting a wonderful response.

But I think it's really important to understand that that funding is essential foundational and infrastructure funding for every public media station.

While it seems like it would help with the budget, and we all want the federal deficit reduced, so that's not part of it.

We just know that that funding was essential to our infrastructure and us being able to serve the public.

- Yeah, well, you know, that $1.60 really helped the deficit.

- It's $1.60 per citizen.

- Annually.

- Annually.

Which was 100th of 1% of the federal budget before this current budget.

And the deficit is still there.

And that was for all radio and TV.

- And so Mack, this is kinda like a different, I guess, pivot question, since you all have been able to fundraise to kinda cover this year's budget when it comes to the-- - Well, I wouldn't say that.

- Break it down, okay?

- Because we've got a lot left in this year's budget.

We do have, for us, it was about $400,000 was our annual appropriation from the CPP.

And amazingly, we went on the air, and in three days, we heard from a lot of people and we crossed the $400,000 mark after three days, which is our most successful fundraising campaign that we've ever had.

- Wow.

(audience clapping) - Thank you.

And even when we went off the air, it just sort of kept coming in.

And, you know, like I said, we have a seven and a half million dollar budget, and there is a lot of we'll have to raise for the rest of the year.

But I feel like the takeaway for us is just that we know people want us to exist and we feel their support.

So it's put some wind in our sails for sure.

- And so I'ma back to you, Avery.

Cookeville is a little smaller than Nashville.

- Yes.

- All right?

Due to these, the funds are cut, the funds are gone, right?

This is not maybe, when.

It has happened.

- That's right.

- What type of programming, emergency services, educational engagement, is now at risk for you all?

- Well, I mean, all of it's at risk.

Because we have to be able to sustain ourself in order to be able to provide those services.

And so immediately, I mean, we're in the mode of fundraising.

We're trying to get people onboarded.

We're trying to increase our membership.

We're trying to get sponsors so that we don't have to get to that point of having to cut.

But we have cut back on some of our, like a member's magazine.

We've had to cut back on some little things.

We've reduced some things that we do in the office just to be conservative in spending so that when we do spend, it's for very meaningful things like content, education, engagement.

But, you know, we have about six months that we're gonna be able to do this.

And if we don't see a significant improvement or an increase or our ability to raise bigger dollars, it's gonna get a little leaner after that.

- Oh, the beginning of 2026.

- Yeah.

- It could literally be a new year.

- And we are the only television station in the upper Cumberland in a 75 mile radius of Cookeville, we are it.

And there are dark holes in that area.

They don't have cell service.

They don't have fiber.

They're not getting any other source of communication other than WCTE.

And we have to stay on the air in order to serve those communities.

- Right, and I think like, especially Tennessee being around 80% rural, right?

Those community members of this field that impact immediately, especially those can't get the fiber, you can't get all of these kind of technological things we may be getting in the inner city.

And so it's heartbreaking because it's like, who didn't benefit or who doesn't benefit, who doesn't gain from PBS in general, from education, from youth, from educator teaching youth or as an adult.

- The emergency alerts are so important.

I mean, if you're isolated in a rural part of Tennessee and you need to know what the weather's gonna be, or an Amber alert or where the tornado might be, you turn on your television.

Well, if you turn it on and it's dark, like where are you gonna get your information?

And so when I think about our mission and the work we're there to do, it is to serve those people.

I mean, it's to serve those children in those rural communities that don't have other ways of learning or school preparation.

We are their pre-K.

And Becky knows this.

But I mean, it is, I don't know how to really say how important it is.

I mean, we are often those children's first classroom.

They turn on the TV, we're a safe place for them to go, and they get the learning they need.

So when they attend kindergarten, they are ready for school.

- Yeah.

Becky, Nashville.

It's a little bit different market than Cookeville, but also things are at risk.

So what does that look like for a medium major market city?

- Well, I think we're all at risk because what we offer is not replicable.

You know, we are the public's media.

I think that's the difference.

And, you know, I worked in Cookeville, I'm so thrilled to be here in Nashville, and they are different markets, but we serve an urban area surrounded by a rural area that people need access.

What's different about public media is the universal access.

You know, the $1.60 per citizen is public money just like, I guess if you believe in public schools, in public health, in public highways, then you would believe in public media because it means every person has access to free, over the air, online, on the ground media that reflects and represents them.

And that is different.

That is different.

And that's why that federal and state dollar really helps us be that interconnection that belongs to the public.

- Well, before I get to you, Mack, we have some special role in features for some of my other media leaders throughout Tennessee.

And so I wanna roll one of those from East Tennessee PBS.

We're gonna hear that right now.

- I'm Vickie Lawson, CEO of East Tennessee PBS, a station that serves over 2 million Tennesseans.

Federal funding represents 27% of our annual budget.

Congress's decision to pull back this allocation is having a negative impact on our operations.

East Tennessee PBS has already experienced a reduction of staff, loss of educational and safety services, and cuts to the programming you rely on and love.

It's disappointing.

And for a small station like ours, it's more than that.

It's a real threat to the programs and services you count on every day.

We need you to keep sharing why East Tennessee PBS matters to you.

Your voice helps amplify our impact.

And your dollars are more important now than ever.

We are defunded but not defeated.

- Defunded, not defeated, right?

I think that definitely tells the story of what we are right now, right?

PBS is not gone, right?

And I think that's clear to state many times over and over tonight.

Mack, can you break down for us how you all was able to explore or going to continue to explore different ways to combat the loss, the deficit of funding.

And also, like I want you to also paint that radio lens too, because we have broadcast and radio.

So like as specific as possible too so we get into a little deeper so people can really understand too how NPR and PBS work together.

- Yes, and I do wanna emphasize that that you said, it is very much an ecosystem, and what Becky said about universal access is such a core pillar of public media that it is really difficult for us to even think of ourselves outside of that.

We are part of, you know, sometimes we're all these kind of independent stations that even bicker sometimes because we're an independent minded group and not everyone realizes that it's not the sort of monolithic thing where NPR and PBS kind of own these stations.

And it really is all of these independent stations that are working hopefully together.

And I think we'll be working together more than ever going forward.

You know, it has always been the case in the 22 years that I've been in public radio that our largest source of support was membership.

That is certainly a little bit more the case today than it was a few weeks ago.

And we also believe that membership will be the core of our business model going forward.

I mean, it is literally our members that we are beholden to.

We are a community licensed service for them so.

You know, I think that we will do a lot of rethinking things and how we, you know, approach the way that we communicate about our situation and speak with our members.

But I think there's something fundamental that just doesn't change here.

And that is the mission to be for everyone and to be supported by our members.

- Becky, I think this part and this question, I think is maybe if not the most crucial thing for people to understand, as we know in this public media system, there's a lot of acronyms to go around, right?

PBS, maybe you're feeling it's a lot.

It's a lot, right?

I can't keep up with all of them.

But CPB is one of those main acronyms, Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

And PBS.

Two separate entities, but many people think they may be one of the same.

People may not know what CPB, Corporation for Public Broadcasting is.

And I think this would be a great opportunity for a little education around CPB and how the loss of their funding affects the PBS system and the system in totality.

And so I'll give you an opportunity to, because I think you do a really good job of breaking that down.

That's what I learned from.

You've been my teacher.

So thank you.

Yeah, so if you could break that down to us as simple as possible.

- Well, you know, and we're all about education, so this is perfect.

I think that's been a big misunderstanding.

When the Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced that they would be winding down and shutting down, there was a big misunderstanding that that meant PBS or it meant NPR.

What it means is the, back in the early days of '69, President Johnson really, after a study, worked to create the Public Broadcasting Act.

And the Public Broadcasting Act meant to turn the vast wasteland into an opportunity of education and utilizing television and radio to enhance our lives as American citizens and for the public to own the media.

So this is a public media infrastructure that was created for the people, by the people, and to serve the people.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a 501-C3 that was created to distribute those federal funds from Congress.

Congress actually appropriates the funding.

And of the funding that has been appropriated over the many decades since that Public Broadcasting Act was written, gets divided out.

It was divided to radio and to TV.

70% went directly to local stations.

So when they talked about defunding PBS and defunding NPR, that was very minimal amount of that federal dollar, right?

The majority of it went directly to local stations.

And right here in our region, that's what the community service grant was for.

And CPB also had the fiduciary responsibility to make sure that whatever you said you were using your CPB money for, that community service grant, well, you had to document and show what you did for your community with that grant.

So it was a wonderful, it was wonderful way to really work our opportunity for universal service and free over-the-air television radio streaming.

Everybody says, "Oh, well, you don't need radio and TV anymore because everybody streams."

Well, we stream too.

We're all those places.

- We're streaming now.

- Streaming right now.

Right now.

So CPB, because they're not getting the federal money, they have to wind down their operation because they can't employ people when there's no funding coming in.

But those people helped us in emergency services.

You'll remember, Avery, when we had an ice storm and our transmitter in Cookeville was the roof had a big icicle go through it.

And CPB helped us with emergency funds during that time to take care of that.

They did a lot of things that people didn't know about, you know.

- Well, and I'll go to this question for you, Avery, from a local and national content, right?

We have our local content like "Tennessee Crossroads", which everybody loves, of course, right?

Tennessee Crossroads, right?

(audience applauding) But then you have a national show that everybody also loves, like the "Antiques Roadshow", right?

Can you break down that funding and how those two different categories will be impacted or may be impacted due to this defunding?

- Well... - [Becky] You can't.

- I don't know that you can.

I think Becky's right.

But I will say that what the federal funding did for us is it laid a foundation for us so that we knew with that funding, we could pay our salaries, we could pay our rent, we would have the utilities, we could cover the core things that kept us moving, which allowed us then to be able to do content that could be paid for by grants that weren't so large that were outta reach for our local community.

So we could do a series, you know, for $80,000 or $60,000 because we had that core funding.

But as soon as that money is gone, now we're worried about keeping the lights on and the salaries paid.

So now we have to pay or charge a lot more for that local content.

And the local content is what sets us all apart.

I mean it's what's unique about me and Becky and what keeps us, and it keeps the viewers in our areas seeing themselves and seeing that we're preserving their culture and telling their story.

Additionally, I was just at Rotary, today's talking about this, but we also take their content, our local content, and we distribute it out.

So we're telling our story outward into other communities across this country, which makes it so wonderful 'cause now we might get people coming to see us and we might be going to see them, and it brings us all together a little bit closer.

But with that loss of funding, it's gonna be really hard for us to do a lot of that local content because we're not gonna have the funds available to us.

- You know, Jerome, everybody thinks PBS and NPR is a network.

Like a commercial network.

But we're member-federated system.

It's not pushed down like that, you know.

We bubble up content just like you're saying.

You have content that goes national.

I hear it.

Val has content that goes national, international.

And so that's a difference, you know?

It's reflective of our communities, but it is not a network-driven.

- Initiative.

- Content platform.

- I wanna go to some of our friends at WKNO that also has some things to say about being defunded but not defeated.

- Hello, I'm Charles McLarty, the president and CEO of WKNO Public Media, which has served the greater Memphis area for almost 70 years.

And we remain committed to continuing to serve the Mid-South with quality programming for all in the years to come.

At this point, we have more questions than answers as we're still gathering information to assess the full impact of the elimination of federal funding for WKNO as well as public media across the country.

For example, federal funding through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, CPB, has always taken care of the negotiations and funding of music licensing for all public broadcasting programs.

With the likely closing of CPB at the end of September, we are waiting to see what that financial impact looks like for not only WKNO, but for the National Program Service.

Another longer term concern is the sustainability of our popular local programming and productions, as well as our early childhood education outreach project.

These initiatives are a critical part of WKNO's public service mission.

- I see another great message from our Tennessee family, right?

And as you all see, it's a lot of acronyms.

You know, it's a lot.

You gotta remember 'em all.

Mack, I feel like you just wanna say something, right?

So I will give you the opportunity.

- Well, I just, this has really kind of gotten me thinking about the quality of the programming that you get from public media.

And, you know, I'm a Nashville native, I was kind of raised by PBS, Nashville PBS, WDCN Channel 8 at the time.

And I am old enough to remember really when cable TV came along.

And this is sort of, I guess it's meant to address the idea that there's so many options now.

Do you still need a public media?

You know, cable TV came along and there was suddenly a discovery channel, "Oh, we're gonna like discover about the world or arts and entertainment, you know.

These channels that, like, I guess at first I thought these will do, you know, sort of what public media will do.

And I'm really not trying to take a dig at any of those channels because I like Shark Week as much as the next guy.

But, you know, that's where it went ultimately with Shark Week because it is difficult to do Ken Burns on a commercial station when you are driven by advertising.

There is just something fundamental to our mission that being a nonprofit and being publicly funded in part being a public private, sorry, a public and private partnership, which I think is we're a very efficient one.

We've managed to raise most of our money ourselves.

But I think it enables us to do something that you just would make different decisions if you were just driven by commercial concerns.

And I feel like that's a really important thing that we have to hold onto.

- Yeah.

I'm curious.

So what have you all been hearing at National Public Radio from your listeners about the defunding?

I'm just curious, 'cause you all was able go on that three-day fundraising and then still receive fundraising after that.

I'm just curious of like some of the messaging that you can share from those listeners.

- Well, it was... To be honest, it was an emotional experience to read them.

I mean, we would be-- - We can cry, Mack.

It's okay.

Tears are appreciated.

- There was definitely some crying going on in the studio.

- It's a great space for tears.

- During our fun drive.

We have investigative reporter named Paige Flagger, and she was on the air with another reporter, Justin Barney, in the afternoon when we crossed the $400,000 mark and we reached the goal.

And Paige was talking about a conversation that she'd had with her sister who had just been to see the new "Superman" movie and was saying, "When Superman was created, he was a journalist.

A journalist was a hero in our society."

And I feel like there have been moments where some of our journalists have felt a little bit under siege of late.

And I know that's happening across the whole spectrum of journalism.

And what our audience gave us was just a very clear message that they value the work that we do.

And I feel like that meant a lot to all of us.

- Well, before... - That is so true.

- That's true.

(audience clapping) - We're about to get in our Q and A section.

So audience members, get ready, come up to the mic whenever you're ready.

But before we get into that, I wanna give you, Avery and Becky, anything else that we wanna reflect on before we get the audience a chance to come up and ask even more detailed questions for you all.

- Well, I mean, there is power in numbers and we are a trusted source for a lot of people.

And we have to remember that.

We can't get down or feel like we've been defeated and we need to lean into the good that we do and remember why we're here.

We are here to serve the community and our viewers and everybody no matter who they are, where they live, what their paycheck is, whatever, we are here to provide them a service.

And I think we have to lean into that message and just keep talking about that work.

And I think as long as we stay true to ourselves and we keep talking, we are gonna see the light at the end of this tunnel.

And we might even come out bigger, stronger, and mightier at the end of this, which is what I'm banking on because I don't see us going anywhere.

- Yeah, I like that.

(audience applauding) - Well, I just, you know, I wanna thank people who have been stepping up and either doubling their membership.

I'll tell you something, the other day, we got envelope with two $5 bills in it.

And this gentleman, he wrote the sweetest note.

Now, we've had people give us a substantial amount of money.

You know, write a $25,000 check, actually.

I mean, that's huge.

But it just says that people care and they do want you to be successful and they recognize who you are and what you're doing and the difference you're making in your community.

And that's what we're all about.

That's what every station, not just in Tennessee, but in the country, that's what we're about.

And so for me, I just, I really am so grateful.

I'm so grateful for our team here, but I'm so grateful to the audience and to our board and our community advisory board and to our colleagues.

You know, one thing that we'll come out of this, we'll work better together.

I know that.

I know we're gonna be stronger together.

We're gonna find things we'll do together.

- This is an example, right?

- Yeah.

And so this is just the beginning of that.

And we want to answer questions.

You know, people, there's nothing wrong with them asking, "Why should you get my taxpayer dollar?"

There's nothing wrong with that.

I think we are good stewards of that, that private and public money, and we combine them for the good of the people.

So thank you, thank you, thank you.

- And also, I would like, if you all don't mind, I like you all to share how long you all have been a part of the public media system because the emotion is over years.

This is just not over a short period of time.

So Avery, if you would like to share?

- 14 years.

- 14 years.

- Oh, well.

I like to say I'm a multi-decade.

I'm over 40, almost, well, 46 years.

- Wow.

(audience clapping) How about you, Mack?

- Well, I've been in Nashville Public Radio for 22 years - 22 years just at National Public Radio.

- Yes, and I'll let you know a little secret.

Before I was working at Nashville Public Radio, I had a part-time job right here.

- Whoo!

- Wow.

(audience clapping) So we kinda prepared you.

We gotta get ready, right?

I'm not even gonna say my tenure 'cause it doesn't-- - Oh, come on.

Say it.

- Like three and a half years, going to four.

I'm a PBS system baby.

Really like a rookie, yeah.

- You're the future.

- You are the future.

- Yeah, I'm the future.

We all know that.

Now, before we go into our Q and A, I'd love to go into another community member, community out in Murfreesboro, down in MTSU, at the WMOT.

Let's hear from Val, who's actually here in audience.

- I'm Val Hepner, executive director of WMOT 89.5 Roots Radio.

With the elimination of federal funding for public media, WMOT is entering uncharted territory.

The loss of support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting means we're facing new costs for music licensing, emergency communications, and the infrastructure that keeps WMOT on the air.

The largest impact is the cost of music licensing.

For decades, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting help negotiate affordable rates so stations like ours could keep independent music discovery alive.

Now, WMOT must raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to cover music rights and performance fees to keep the music playing and to continue to engage our community at live music events.

WMOT is known for music, but we're also part of Middle Tennessee's emergency communication system.

Public radio plays a crucial role in times of crisis.

National polls show that nearly three quarters of Americans, no matter their political views, rely on public radio for emergency alerts and safety information.

WMOT is proud to serve that role in our community.

Public radio was created to do things commercial broadcasters couldn't or wouldn't.

WMOT with its 100,000 watts signal serves 40 counties in Middle Tennessee providing unique Americana music programming, found nowhere else on the radio dial.

The loss of funding doesn't just impact our listeners.

WMOT is part of the music ecosystem, which supports Nashville artists, record labels, independent venues, and others in the music community.

- And Val is here.

Thank you, Val.

(audience clapping) WMOT is in the building.

And so we have our first question of the night to our guests, and if there's any particular person you would like to answer the question, you can identify them, that'd be great.

- Thank you so much.

And thank you for the opportunity to ask this question.

As a person who grew up on public media, public television, and public radio, the recent cuts have certainly cut deep for members of my community and the folks who live here in Nashville.

As a community organizer, I see the opportunity for us to do a lot of community education around both what public media does and the ways in which it helps our community.

Could you talk a little bit about what your role is in helping to make sure that members of the community can have their voices amplified and their concerns addressed as it relates to these recent cuts?

But also, what can community members do who want to support and invest in public media going forward?

What was that look like?

- I think that's a question all three of y'all can answer.

And we can start with you first, Mack.

- Well, I guess the first thought that comes to my mind is that community is at the center of everything that we do.

And that we consider it our job to help build community, to strengthen the community that we serve, to make our community more informed, to make our community have a deeper understanding of itself.

And so... I would say that that is more important to us now than it ever has been.

You know, obviously, we will rely on the support of that community going forward financially, but we only deserve it as we serve, as well as we serve our community.

And so I think that you'll just see us putting our audience first, our listeners first, as we always do.

And we will really be doubling down on that, and then there's a lot of trust.

- Yeah, I would just say "Slice of the Community" is one of our investments for sure.

You know, Jerome's been doing this show four years now.

- [Jerome] Going on four years.

- Yes.

- Four seasons.

- Four seasons.

And in this upcoming season, we want to expand it to be monthly and live so that we have an audience and we want the community to come and be a part of that.

But we're expanding so many of our local shows, you know, we talked about Tennessee Crossroads, which Ketch Secor is gonna be the new host of that in this 39th season.

Think about that.

39 seasons.

And that airs across all of our PBS stations in the state as does Volunteer Gardner.

And Volunteer Gardner, again, beloved multi-decade, at the same number almost.

Isn't it Greta?

34, 34 seasons.

So, you know, we are going to continue being in community.

I can't say enough about what we're doing in education.

We have a space at the Junior Achievement BizTown, and we're in community each and every day at our 50 forward and all across.

Sam Anders is here and Rose Mary Bruton.

They are in community each and every day, making sure that all generations are served, not just the very young, but all the way up with our "Aging Matters" series and our "Next Door Neighbors" and "Word on Words".

So we're gonna continue investing there, but this cut hurts.

Just like Avery said, it hurts the infrastructure, it hurts us being connected.

And you know, we cover gavel to gavel coverage of the Tennessee legislature.

- [Jerome] Exactly.

- And those are important community services for people to see how laws are made.

We want to continue being together, but we need the community support as members, as volunteers.

You know how they say time, talent, and treasure?

That's what we need from y'all.

Time, talent, and treasure.

- How about you, Avery?

- I echo everything that Becky is saying is television.

I mean, we are here to give voice to the people.

But I'll say that it's important for those people to be educated.

And so by us educating them to ask the questions, to come forward, to be an advocate for what's important to them, I mean, that's what we're giving to them.

We're giving them education so they can be strong.

And we use broadcasts and we're in the community.

We're doing, you know, family engagement workshops and so forth.

But social media, I mean, it is what it is.

I mean, it's everywhere.

And we're engaging them in those spaces where they are.

We need to get the young people involved too.

I mean, when I say young, like the 20, 30 year olds, I mean, we need them.

They've got tremendous voice and they are so behind us.

I really was like, "No, our audience is like older."

No, no, let me tell you, we've had some incredible testimonials from people who say, "No, no.

Hands off my PBS."

And they are very proud of that.

And we need to use those voices.

We need to count on.

We can't do it alone.

We need y'all.

- Hands off my PBS.

I like that.

- Yeah.

Hands off.

- And I think to echo what Becky said too, it's like this show in its entirety is not possible without community, right?

I can't do this without y'all, right, you know?

And so I think that's important to note, like when you have something that's centered solely around community and community shows up, that's powerful.

That's organizing.

- Yeah.

- Absolutely.

- And organizing, when you talk about power and organizing, it's organized people and organized money.

And so put this together, you get this, right?

You get this.

- That's right.

- I'm gonna go to our next question.

- I have a question as to whether this gives a new opportunity.

I think of myself as a Nashvillian, but I also think of myself as a Tennessean.

So I care just as much about the young children in Nashville as I do in Cookeville and a whole series of other communities we could name.

What opportunity is there for the PBS stations to collaborate and find ways to keep doing many of the things they're doing now and still operate.

In other words, maybe the operation somehow changes the infrastructure, but the infrastructure is there to deliver.

The question is, is it programming that you're gonna miss without the dollars or is it the actual distribution?

Could you help us understand how that affects different sized communities?

- That's a great question.

That's a really great question.

And I think, you know, it has been very intentional that the PBS and the NPR station systems across the country, stations have been placed intentionally in all size communities.

There's 300 PBS stations.

There's 1,500 radio stations across this country.

And some radio stations like in Alaska are placed in areas where the population is next to nothing.

But if they didn't have that station, they would be at great risk.

And they are at great risk with the thought of possibly shutting down.

I know the reason that the Cookeville station was placed there was intentionally, just like in Martin Tennessee.

It was very intentional that there would be no dark hole across this state for young children to be educated as their child's first preschool.

And so we've been, you know, WPLM was stood up by the public library.

Nashville PBS stood up by Metro Schools.

WCTE created by the State Department of Education.

So your question is great.

And in today's technology, can we build on shared systems, shared backend operations?

Very possibly.

We're exploring how to do that.

We want to be efficient with all dollars.

We're publicly funded no matter how you play it.

And so what we wanna do is make the best use of that and then continue to be able to serve in person and with content, as well as the kind of content you expect, right?

From radio and TV together.

So we're gonna explore that.

We don't have all the answers yet, I don't think, right?

- I don't think so.

- Avery's got 'em.

- I've got 'em all.

No, I'm just kidding.

You know, we hear in the system and we are gonna have to pivot.

We know that.

This is our opportunity to adapt and change and get stronger or we're not gonna survive.

And there may be stations in this country that aren't gonna make it.

And we know that, we know people at stations.

And there might be mergers, there might be, you know, some joint master controls.

There might be shared resources.

And that's okay because we are still gonna be in our communities.

And that's the most important part, is that we're there serving those people, giving them the signal and the broadcast and the storytelling that we offer them.

- And we're still gonna be PBS and NPR and public radio and your station.

- Mack, did you have anything to add to that?

- Well, I do.

I'm curious if we'll see some partnerships start to emerge across states and regions.

I mean, we were already, before this happened, we started participating in a regional newsroom called the Appalachian Mid-South Newsroom, where we are partnered with other stations in Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia to kind of pull resources for regional reporting.

And I kind of wonder if you'll see kind of groups like that start to sort of grow in strength and sort of take on more responsibilities with each other.

But I also, just to echo Becky, I think in all of those decisions, keeping the focus on our service for the local community will be key.

I mean, I can imagine, you know, there are already sort of statewide networks that exist in public radio where there's sort of like, one sort of centralized business structure, but then you have local reporters scattered throughout the state, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see more of that kind of thing.

- I'll add too.

- Go ahead.

- That we're also looking at partners within our communities.

So it may not be another public station, but it might be our hospital or our school or, I mean, there's just a variety of things.

I know that's what we're looking at too, is like where can we partner and be stronger together.

- We have one more great role in from our good friends in Chattanooga.

So we will roll that and go back to our Q and A.

- I'm Bob Culkeen, president and CEO of WTCI-PBS.

These funds were approved and appropriated by Congress until the recession.

This created an immediate funding shortage for the system and stations.

The forward funding model allowed for strategic transitional activities just in case we were to lose federal funds.

The immediate loss of funds impacts everyone in the system without a period to smoothly transition our operations.

WTCI is working with community connectors to secure support over and above our regular fundraising activities.

Our total goal for FY-26 is $1.5 million.

Without these funds, our local programs, educational engagement activities, and station community events will be reduced or eliminated.

PBS is successful and trusted because of the quality and depth of our national programs and the commitment from 330 plus PBS members stations to serve communities across America.

The Tennessee stations are focused on serving everyone in our state.

And with your support, you'll help us live our mission.

- So if anybody got $1.5 million laying around, you know, let us know.

- [Becky] We'll put it to good use.

- Yeah, we'll put it to good use.

- [Mack] Or two $5 bills.

- [Becky] Yeah, or two $5 bills.

- Hi, I'm Michael Morgan and I'm from Nashville, Tennessee.

And I guess my question is, our audience here tonight and your viewers, we obviously know what's going on, okay?

But there's a lot of folks out there that do not know what's going on.

You've already said you needed our help.

What I'm asking for is help us to tell people.

What are we supposed to say?

How are we supposed to help you?

I mean, we're willing to help, but other than just in a conversation, are there other ways for us to reach out to the community and let other people know.

You know, a lot of people would probably say they didn't know that you'd lost your funding, you know?

So how do we get that out there?

- The most immediate thing you all can do is share this episode, right?

Because it's gonna go live like right after this, right?

So that's the immediate thing you can go on, you can tell people to download the PBS app or they can go to our YouTube channel and they can literally watch and learn, be educated immediately right after this, right?

But that's an immediate thing for sure right now.

- Yeah, and I think the main thing is just be our ambassador.

People think that they don't understand, they don't really understand the need for the funding and then what we do with the funding.

So I think anything you can share that helps people understand who we are and what our roles are and why this funding was important, but also what we can do collectively for each of us to serve.

So great idea.

And the PBS app is free.

So download the PBS app and you can watch all the content.

- There you go.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

And thanks for volunteering, by the way.

- Sure.

- Good evening.

My name is Steve Fisher.

I don't have a question.

I just wanna say I appreciate all three of your platforms, NPR, PBS, Slice of the Community.

Engaging.

I've learned a lot from PBS watching TV from nature to the cooking shows to this old house.

All of that.

I enjoy my Saturdays with PBS.

I enjoy coming once a month to see what you have to say and what your platform is.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

I think PBS, NPR, we're gonna be okay.

We'll get through this.

We're gonna be okay.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

(audience applauding) - Marcus, Nashville native.

Someone who grew up being educated by PBS and was always in a household where it was on.

It was obviously an educational tool for me.

And I now work in education, so it's still very important to me in that way.

But as an adult given the current media landscape and a lot of national headlines with things like Merger and HBO Max has changed their name for the 17th time.

Can you speak a little bit towards journalistic independence and what that kind of means for public media and how important that is and unique to public media?

That is, I think the editorial decisions y'all get to make because you're a public program, whether it be the radio or television, and kinda the editorial process that creates shows like "A Slice of the Community" and makes people like the wonderful Jerome get to have some screen time on.

Because I do think that's an important part to highlight is that the public media and the journalist independence that's afforded to it is something that is affected by the defunding.

Thanks.

- Well, from my understanding now that we don't get the money, we can talk about and say whatever we want to, you know?

- No, Jerome.

You still respect the public.

- But no, go ahead, Mack.

- Well, I guess I feel like, I'd like to say something about that because I think that NPR's news service has been a target of a lot of criticism.

And having been inside the system for as long as I have, I just wanna assure everyone that I have seen the integrity that exists in the newsroom, both the local newsroom for WPLN and at NPR.

I was at an NPR fly in meeting this spring.

And, you know, this was all being discussed.

They hear the criticism and, you know, there is some, there's definitely self-reflection, there's always self-reflection.

There had sort of gone through a process where they had added a new layer of editorial oversight to the newsroom to sort of make sure that they were being fair, fact-based, unbiased.

You know, I think that bias is very often in the eye of the holder.

And oftentimes, when I hear that, I kind of wanna say, "Can you point me to it exactly?

Where exactly did you hear the bias?"

And sometimes that becomes a really difficult thing to say.

But you know, it is our, one of our highest values, editorial independence in our reporting.

- Yeah, I think we adhere to the PBS editorial standards.

You know, we are very strict about editorial integrity and making sure that, you know, funders are not influencing the content.

Key stakeholders even aren't influencing the content, that we're independent.

We work very closely with the programming service.

Jessica Turk, who has been our friend for many years.

All the stations do.

And they bring us a lot of advice from the system.

PBS does.

So I think, but you know, we are sensitive to that.

I think everybody on this stage and in our system is very sensitive to that.

And if someone is offended by something or they feel like there's a bias or they feel like there's some where they're not being heard or they're not being represented, they can tell us.

- They do.

- And they do.

And because we're a member federated system, not a network, we tell PBS or we tell whichever show they feel like has maybe not been as fair, and they hear us.

So I think that's critical.

I think that, and you know, if there's a problem, we can be part of the solution together.

We don't have to throw the baby out with the bath water.

- [Jerome] Right, exactly.

- Well, and I'll just add to all of this too, is that as we are community licensees, we are independent.

Like we get to choose what goes on our air, and we pick content that we feel like represents the communities that we support.

And so what that looks like for Cookeville may not be Nashville or may not be New York City.

So there was that going on where they thought, "Oh, PBS is telling you exactly what you had to put on your air."

And that's not true.

We get to choose what we put on the air.

Now there's those prime time things that we don't wanna mess up, right?

- Well, because of common carriage.

- Common carriage.

But it's important to know that.

We do get a say on what we put on.

- You've been carrying the county fair.

- Yes, we have.

They're actually carrying it right now.

I've got the horse show, and tomorrow night's the rodeo in case anybody wants to tune in.

- There you go.

- Can I just add that we do make mistakes.

And we do, as you said, we hear from listeners or our viewers all the time.

And every time we hear something, I wanna hear more.

I wanna talk to that person.

I want us to reflect on that.

That is definitely a part of the process.

We do not wanna be sitting sort of in this remove and some ivory tower just kind of doing our thing and telling the world how it is.

Like we are in community with our audience and we want to hear what they think of what we're doing.

And we take that very seriously and always reflect on it.

- Well, we're winding down on our time, but I wanna give each one of you all about 40 seconds each, 40 seconds each, you know?

- 40, 40 seconds.

- To I think address like, well, I think the echo or the theme is, if someone is worried about National Public Radio, PBS in general, NPR, what should they be doing and what are our stations doing to alleviate that worry?

I'll start with you first, Avery.

- Well, talking.

I think we have to talk to each other and we need to be educated and we need to understand what's going on.

And we need to ask good questions.

And when we don't get the answers that we want, we need to keep asking.

And you know, I think we're all a little, we're in new territory.

We're still learning what all of this means.

And I don't know that we really even know the real ramifications down the road what this is gonna be.

But I feel like that, you know, we have the best advocates that anybody could have in our viewership and our supporters.

They are well educated.

They're gonna know, they're gonna learn and then they're gonna advocate for us.

And I've seen it come out in the people that have called and sent messages and sent checks in or just stopped in to say I have something for you.

And I know they're out there.

And I feel like, like I said earlier, I think and feel that we will come out of this better, bigger, and stronger.

Like we are an elephant, y'all.

This is PBS and NPR.

We're an elephant.

And we need to stop acting like we're these little entities that we're tethered to a wall with a little string.

I mean, we're an elephant.

We can break free, but we've got this mentality a little bit that we have to stay within this framework, but not anymore.

They've opened that box.

- Mack, you only got 20 seconds now.

- Sorry.

- Well, I'm not gonna say that people shouldn't be worried.

I mean, I think this is a seismic event that will have a lot of effects, and I think it's gonna be very challenging.

But I think that what we learned from our recent fundraising, which I consider to be even more important than the funds that we brought in, is that we have a lot of people in our community that wanna come together and want this service to be there for them.

So we will partner with our community and make that happen.

- Becky, you have 10 seconds.

- I know.

We're gonna partner.

It's partner and perish, truthfully.

But also I want to just say that this public media belongs to the people, so the people have to use their voices.

They need to use their voices with us.

They need to use their voices with their elected leaders.

Because this is an infrastructure that should be maintained and protected and preserved locally, statewide, and nationally.

And I hope that folks will let that be known.

- Well, let's give them a round of applause.

(audience applauding) And thank you all for watching another episode of "A Slice of the Community".

If you'd like to watch more, please download the PBS app.

Check out our YouTube channel at youtube.com/@nashvillepbs.

Thank you.

(bright music)