May 9, 2025

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Save WHYY and PBS – No Journalist Layoffs When We Need It the Most (& Other Resources)

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From Free Press and Protect Public Media:

Public media is facing multiple serious threats. The White House proposed eliminating federal funding in its annual budget request, issued an Executive Order to block support for PBS and NPR, and plans to claw back funding approved by Congress. Together, these actions would immediately devastate your local stations.
Before it’s too late, we must send a strong and urgent message: Americans overwhelmingly value and depend on public media for unparalleled local news, life-saving public emergency alerts, lifelong learning, cultural enrichment, and connection.
Email your lawmakers now and urge them to oppose efforts to claw back federal funding for public media – and to support full funding moving forward.

Federal funding supports the vital services of 1,500+ locally operated public radio and TV stations across the country – along with the national systems they rely on to serve their communities. That includes emergency alert and program distribution infrastructure, educational resources for families and educators, and locally valued national programming.

Research consistently shows that most Americans support this investment. A recent Pew Research Center study found that Americans were nearly twice as likely to support continuing federal funding for NPR and PBS as oppose it. For about $1.60 per person each year, this funding powers content and outreach that boosts children’s academic outcomes, strengthens local public safety, and keeps communities informed and connected.

Defunding or restricting funds for public media wouldn’t just disrupt these services — it could force stations to shut down entirely, especially in rural and underserved areas, leaving millions of Americans without access to these essential resources.

Public media matters. Send your message now to protect it.

In addition, here are some more resources on the crisis in journalism from the from the STRIPPED FOR PARTS documentary crew:

Action Toolkit

Organizations doing the work to save local news

  • Larry Ryckman and others launched the Colorado Sun in 2018 in response to the rounds of layoffs and cuts at the Denver Post after Alden Global Capital took ownership of the paper.
  • Journalists and activists protest outside the headquarters of hedge fund Alden Global Capital in 2018.
  • Journalist Elizabeth Hernandez protests outside the NYC headquarters of hedge fund Alden Global Capital in 2018.
  • Journalist Julie Reynolds began investigating the secretive practices of hedge fund Alden Global Capital as it bought up local news outlets across the country and slashed their budgets. 
  • Larry Ryckman and others launched the Colorado Sun in 2018 in response to the rounds of layoffs and cuts at the Denver Post after Alden Global Capital took ownership of the paper.
  • Journalists and activists protest outside the headquarters of hedge fund Alden Global Capital in 2018.

Journalists and activists protest outside the headquarters of hedge fund Alden Global Capital in 2018.

Resources to Learn More 

  • The State of Local News Project by Penelope Abernathy
    • This landmark study of local news (covered in Stripped for Parts) is the most comprehensive–and ongoing– coverage of the crisis of diminishing local journalism in America.
  • The Local Journalism Initiative by Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols
    • This 2021 report (cited in Stripped for Parts), lays out the case for public funding of local journalism in America.
  • Democracy Without Journalism? by Victor Pickard (who appears in Stripped for Parts)
    • Uncovers the historical and structural roots of the American journalism crisis — and what we must do to fix it.
  • Hedged by Margot Susca
    • Reveals how private investment funds helped destroy american newspapers and undermine democracy
  • The Roadmap for Local News by Elizabeth Green, Darryl Holliday, and Mike Rispoli
    • Contains a set of recommendations – a “roadmap” – to revitalize and reimagine the local news ecosystems in this country so communities get the news and information they need to thrive.

Addressing new challenges in 2025:

Many legacy news organizations– newspapers, broadcast and cable channels– have not risen to the challenge of covering the new Administration in Washington that has attacked journalism, journalists and news organizations nationwide. At its best, The Fourth Estate, roots out “abuse of power” and “without fear or favor.”  Its approach is powerfully-articulated in a February, 2025 editorial by the Barre Montpelier (VT) Times Argus, in response to the nation’s news media being called “enemy of the people.”  

Seek out alternative sources for national and international news: Substack sites like those of Heather Cox Richardson and The Contrarian; Portside, The Guardian, Jacobin, ProPublica, and many more.  Where do you go for national news and opinion?   Let us know and we will add to our list.  

Become an activist!  Never has the country needed the increased and committed involvement of all the people, from every demographic, individually and in group efforts, to make our democracy work:  for everyone, including the most vulnerable.

Kovno Communications

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Berkeley, CA 94710

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