Indigenous Broadcasters Talk Threats to Federal Funding with Native America Calling

By Kyler Edsitty

Flagstaff, AZ, February 20, 2025 – Native Public Media Chief Operating Officer, Brian Wadsworth, appeared on Native America Calling along with other Indigenous broadcasters to discuss President Donald Trump’s Administration’s plan to cut federal funding for public media. Part of this plan would be to eliminate the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).  The panel also spoke to the strengths and resiliencies of these broadcasters, how they are preparing for these potential cuts, and what role public radio plays in our communities.

Native America Calling Host, Shawn Spruce, gathered broadcast veterans and experts to weigh in on the issue: KUGA Co-founder, Peggy Berryhill; KOTZ General Manager, Lenora Ward; KILI Station Manager, Oi Zephier; and NPM’s Brian Wadsworth. The panel discussed the importance of funding from the CPB for our public media outlets, how broadcasters are bracing themselves for funding cuts, and provided context to how important broadcasters are to the general population.

According to the CPB, the corporation formed in 1967 provides funding through grants for 1,500 public radio and television stations with 245 grantees considered rural with the goal of ensuring Americans have access to free high-quality and educational programming. The CPB provides funding for 36 Tribally licensed radio stations through its Community Service Grant program. In January 2025, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memorandum to Head of Executive Departments and Agencies to place a temporary pause of agency grants, loans, and other financial assistance programs. Although OMB later rescinded its memorandum, the threat of losing funding still lingers for broadcasters across the country, as many of them rely on grants from the CPB.

Wadsworth spoke to what services public radio stations provide to their communities, especially in Indian Country. 

“Tribal radio stations serve as a lifeline for rural communities,” Wadsworth stated. “They are sharing the news, community events, and emergency alerts. These stations aren't driven by ratings or dollars. Taking all things political out of it, their purpose is to share lifesaving information within those communities. Federal funding is so vital because it allows these broadcasters to continue informing their communities.”

Ward highlighted how integral CPB funding is to public radio and television broadcasters and how cutting federal funding would affect small communities.

“The station would definitely lose our newsperson and our engineer if funding is cut,” Ward stated. “It's roughly 40 percent of our funding and the rest of that funding comes from the kindness of the communities and businesses here. There's no way they could make up that amount of money. We've already been hit by the state of Alaska. The current Governor, Mike Dunleavy, has taken out public radio funding. If we lost federal funding, we would just be finished.”

Zephier talked about other funding sources his station is trying to find amid this uncertainty.

“There's a lot of people making money out there as social media content creators,” Zephier said. “What I'm going to do is take what we’re creating and what we're recording and put those into podcasts. Over the long term, that's going to turn to revenue. If we lose funding, we're not going to be able to improve the things we need at to the station. I'm optimistic. I know KILI radio will be around because we have huge community support.”

Listen to the entire broadcast here.