Ozarks Public Broadcasting facing $1.3M budget loss in federal funding

Ozarks Public Broadcasting, the parent organization of KSMU Radio and Ozarks Public Television, is facing a substantial funding loss after Congress worked overnight to pass a public media funding rescission measure and send it to President Donald Trump for approval.

Trump is expected to sign the measure into law to claw back around $1.1 billion in funding that was previously approved for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the steward for federal government funding in public broadcasting, according to reporting by The Associated Press. 

Rachel Knight, general manager of Ozarks Public Broadcasting, this morning told Springfield Business Journal that the local organization would lose $1.3 million annually from the rescission measure. Federal funding makes up about 10% of KSMU's budget and around a third of Ozarks Public Television's budget, she said.

"This is a huge blow for Ozarks Public Broadcasting," Knight said, noting the organization’s projected fiscal year budget is roughly $4.8 million. "We are 18 days into our current fiscal year, and we were expecting this money."

Knight said Ozarks Public Broadcasting would examine a combination of reduced expenses and increased revenue to make up the shortfall.

The revenue side will involve asking supporters for funding, she said, noting the largest share of the organization's financing already comes from them.

"We are absolutely reaching out to our community to ask for increased support," Knight said. "We remain so grateful to our community. We are already seeing people step up."

Expense reductions are expected to be made, as well, Knight said, in areas such as programming. Impacts to staffing – Ozarks Public Broadcasting employs 40 full-time, part-time and student workers – are not yet known, she said, but noted cuts are expected "across all areas of the station."

The funding impacted by the measure passed in Congress was appropriated in fiscal 2024, Knight said, noting the organization is "forward funded" by two years.

While cuts are imminent, Knight said public media at large is not giving up on the potential for future federal funding.

"It has always worked, and it will continue to work," she said. "Public media should not be impacted by the whims of a single administration. There's been a breakdown of what Congress intended."

Public media was established through the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 by President Lyndon Johnson.