On Thursday, March 16, 2017, the White House released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 “skinny budget,” which proposed eliminating funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). As you know, CPB funding is irreplaceable seed money for local public radio and television stations.
The President’s skinny budget is a condensed blueprint of the administration’s funding priorities for the next fiscal year. This is not law. However, the skinny budget’s submission to Congress marks the beginning of the budget and appropriations processes and serves as a recommendation of what the President ideally wants Congress to fund.
Next, Congress will review the President’s budget proposal and work to develop its own. Congress’s budget will establish how much the government can spend and include instructions on how the budget should be used, potentially including guidelines related to public media funding.
We want to use this opportunity to directly ask for your support in making sure that the funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting remains steadfast. Sign the petition right now!
Lakeshore Public Media is Northwest Indiana's NPR and PBS stations. You rely on us to bring you news and information that matters to you here in Northwest Indiana. Public broadcasting stations are locally licensed and operated with locally determined programming selections and schedules. Our radio station Lakeshore Public Radio - 89.1 FM is licensed to Lowell, Indiana. Our television station Lakeshore PBS, is licensed to Gary, Indiana.
You tune-in everyday to Lakeshore Public Radio - 89.1 FM for Morning Edition, Regionally Speaking, and All Things Considered for local, statewide, and national news. Eye on the Arts, Casual Fridays and A Look At The Arts bring you culture and entertainment with a direct focus on Northwest Indiana's arts and music scenes. Public radio stations across the country host and broadcast approximately 10,000 of in-studio and community-based music performances each year. Our very own contemporary music show, Midwest Beat adds to that total, every year. It's programming like this, along with other terrific national programs, that inspires you to tune in to Lakeshore Public Radio. It's why you're reading right now.
More than 40 million people listen to public radio stations each week, across the country. The audience for public radio programming and newscasts is greater than the combined circulation of the top 64 national newspapers.
Did you know that public broadcasting is one of the most effective public/private partnerships in America? Annual federal funding amounts to only $1.35 per American and is leveraged by local stations to raise six times that amount from other sources. That $1.35 equals about a nickel from every paycheck (assuming 26 paychecks per year) that goes to helping to support the almost 2,000 public television and radio stations across the country. Public broadcasting stations leverage every $1.00 of federal funding invested to raise an additional $6.00 on their own.
For more information on how funding for NPR works, click here.
You might also be interested to know that Lakeshore Public Radio - 89.1 FM is a minority public radio station, and that we receive higher funding from CPB — because our diverse region simply doesn’t have the financial resources to provide support. With our MASS (minority audience service station) status we make sure to provide programming that directly reflects our listenership - from news to entertainment, to monthly documentaries and specials. We operate as efficiently as we can because of the appreciation we have for the financial support we receive. This is a big reason why CPB funding is so valuable to not only Lakeshore Public Media, but to all of Northwest Indiana and to all of our listeners and viewers.
Click here for social media talking points, as well as facts and information.
Thank you for your continued support.
