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Kathryn Olmstead of Caribou taught journalism at the University of Maine in Orono and published the quarterly magazine Echoes based in Aroostook County.
I know I am one of many Maine residents who cannot imagine life without Maine Public, which brings us both National Public Radio and PBS television. These networks carry PBS News Hour, Washington Week, Masterpiece, Here and Now, On Point, Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me, Finding Your Roots, and locally produced programs like Maine Calling, High School Quiz Show Maine, Borealis and high school basketball championships, to name only a few.
I rely on Maine Public for balanced, non-commercial news and quality entertainment. But threats to the future of public media are real.
On May 1, President Donald Trump issued an executive order instructing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to cease federal funding for NPR and PBS.
On May 5, the U.S. Department of Education informed CPB that the current Ready to Learn grant to PBS (the source of children’s programming like PBS Kids) was terminated.
Now, the White House has sent Congress a “rescissions” package that targets public media funding. Rescission is a seldom-used tool to claw back funding already approved by Congress.
These are the most severe threats public media has ever faced. Most CPB grants go directly to local stations like Maine Public. If the executive order were to be carried out, it would devastate the public safety, educational and local service missions that Mainers value and put the future of public media at significant risk.
Fortunately, Maine’s congressional delegation has a strong history of support for public media. Sen. Susan Collins was honored as a Champion of Public Broadcasting, Rep. Chellie Pingree posted support for public media on Instagram, Sen. Angus King is a former on-air host on MPBN, and Rep. Jared Golden has expressed support for public media. All have appeared on Maine Calling.
But these are uncertain times in Washington. We need to tell our elected officials that we want them to reject any proposal to cut, rescind or eliminate public media funding.
Cuts in federal funding would leave many Mainers, especially those in rural areas, without critical services public media provide, such as Maine’s statewide emergency alert system and educational programming that has prepared generations of young children to be ready to learn in school.
Federal funding through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting makes up about 12 percent of Maine Public’s budget (about $2.3 million this year). As one of our nation’s most successful public-private partnerships, local stations leverage every dollar of federal investment over seven times with private funding.
As a former member of Maine Public’s board of trustees, I gained new insights on the level of devotion, work and ingenuity dedicated to this organization by its staff members. They typify the hard work ethic for which Maine is well known.
I hope Mainers who value Maine Public will join me in communicating to our United States representatives and senators our sincere appreciation for their support, and our respectful request that they do all that they can to keep our Maine Public stations fully funded for the future.
For information on the status of federal support for public media and how you can get involved visit www.ProtectMyPublicMedia.org.
