LINCOLN, Nebraska (KMTV) — Nebraska Public Media is facing significant budget challenges after Congress canceled financial support for public media last week. The cuts amount to $4 million already allocated for Nebraska, representing roughly 16% of the organization's planned budget.
"We had that in our budget and had planned for the future of this money and it's gone," said Stacey Decker, General Manager and CEO of Nebraska Public Media.
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The cuts could affect local programming.
"We tell a lot of stories here in Nebraska, of course. Backyard Farmer, Big Red Wrap Up: those are stories we do and we're very proud of. They could be at risk. We don't know yet and we plan to do those as we have in the past," Decker said.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting was first funded by Congress in 1967 and has received public funds ever since. The cuts are part of broader federal budget reductions that removed more than $1.1 billion in funding for public media nationwide.
John Baylor, the play-by-play announcer for Husker Volleyball who owns an educational company, expressed concern about the potential impact on investigative journalism in the state.
"This is the jewel of the state. This is the pride of Nebraska: Nebraska Public Media," Baylor said. "If we devalue, and we de-emphasize and dis-invest in investigative journalism, we're less informed as a citizenry, furthermore, we suddenly have these news deserts," Baylor said.
"With some of the smaller organizations disappearing over time we've become more of a resource for the state of Nebraska and surrounding communities," Decker said.
"You know, an informed citizenry is really a pre-requisite for a successful democracy," said Baylor.
Decker remains hopeful, saying he doesn't believe the fight is over. He plans to work with the Nebraska congressional delegation to restore public media funding in the next budget.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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