Tough times are ahead for WETA, the Shirlington-based producer of the “PBS News Hour” and other public programming, following millions of dollars in federal funding cuts.
Congress’s decision to withdraw $1.1 billion from public broadcasting nationwide will cost WETA $9 million in previously allocated funds during both of the next two fiscal years — a roughly 7% cut to the station’s budget.
But that’s just the beginning of the impacts on the station that produces documentary series with filmmaker Ken Burns, shows on D.C.-area arts, restaurants and neighborhoods, WETA Classical, the largest classical music station in the country, and an array of educational resources used in classrooms around the country.
“Of course it will impact programming,” Mary Stewart, WETA’s vice president of external affairs, told ARLnow. “To lose that much money out of an ecosystem of programming across the country is going to result in programming cuts. What they are, we don’t know yet.”
In fiscal year 2024, according to online finance statements, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting provided WETA with over $24 million. None of this funding will be coming anymore.
Beyond that, Stewart noted that public broadcasting stations around the country pay dues to PBS and NPR, which in turn fund studios like those in Shirlington. If some stations can no longer support themselves without federal funds — which may be the case in some places, especially in rural areas — that will also impact WETA’s bottom line.
How severe will the impacts be?
“It’s early days for us,” Stewart said. “So in terms of giving you super specifics, we don’t have those yet — because we’re certainly looking internally at our changes, and we need to also be working with the rest of the system.”
To some extent, WETA is seeking to make up for the losses with fundraising. The top of the station’s homepage is currently taken up by a message asking for donations and a link to a statement from WETA President Sharon Percy Rockefeller.
The statement underscores that despite the severity of the funding cuts, WETA isn’t going anywhere.
“It is important for you to know that although WETA will deeply feel the impact of this funding cut, this institution remains vibrant and enduring,” Rockefeller wrote. “We will move forward to do our important work to inform and to educate and to make lifelong learning available and accessible; and we will continue to deliver outstanding content to our audiences.”
Roughly 70% of funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting goes directly to the 330 PBS and 246 NPR stations across the country, although that’s only a shorthand way to describe its potential impact.
The cuts are expected to weigh most heavily on smaller public media outlets away from big cities. Katherine Maher, NPR’s president and CEO, estimated as many as 80 NPR stations may face closure in the next year. Some stations are already fielding offers from commercial entities to buy their broadcast licenses, she said.
“Many of our stations which provide access to free unique local programming and emergency alerts will now be forced to make hard decisions in the weeks and months ahead,” said Paula Kerger, PBS president and CEO. “There is nothing more American than PBS. Despite today’s setback, we are determined to keep fighting to preserve the essential services we provide to the American public.”
Maher fears what the cuts might mean for the system’s journalism, not just in rural areas where local news can be hard to come by, but in telling the rest of the country what is going on there. Less funding will also mean less support for popular television and radio programming, although it’s too soon to tell which programs will be affected.
At WETA, Stewart said she hopes that some individual donors will step up to help, although she noted that people tend to have a different relationship with public broadcasting stations than they do with subscription services. The contributions tend to be less transactional, she said, and more about the person’s relationship with the station.
Stewart warned that programming cuts are all but certain.
“We can’t keep doing all of that,” she said. “We want to do as much of it as we can, and it is individual contributions and philanthropic support that will make it possible.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
