PMC announces new Public Media Bridge Fund to secure public media service in at-risk communities.
At Public Media Company, we have worked for over two decades to ensure that every community across the country is enriched by local public media. Public media organizations play a vital role in community life as trusted sources of news, education, music, and public discourse for people of all ages and backgrounds. Today, this networked system of local organizations reaches 99% of the country.
But now our system faces unprecedented risk. In the aftermath of CPB defunding, many local organizations are cutting costs, laying off staff, and downsizing operations. Many others are likely to close. We’ve studied the impacts of CPB defunding for months, and we know the most at-risk stations are almost all in rural and underserved areas of the country. We also know that when local organizations begin to fail in these communities, not only will tens of millions of Americans lose essential services, but the effects will also cascade through this highly connected system, destabilizing other local organizations and their ability to serve their communities.
In response, we have developed the Public Media Bridge Fund (PMBF), a pooled philanthropic fund operated by PMC that will provide grants, low-interest loans, and advisory services to at-risk local public media organizations. The goals of the Fund are to:
- Secure local public television and radio service for the communities most at-risk of losing it;
- Help stabilize the system in the aftermath of the elimination of federal funding; and
- Assist local organizations in moving to more collaborative and sustainable operating models.
The formation of the PMBF was reported in the New York Times this morning. We are grateful to the bold national foundations who have rallied quickly and with extraordinary generosity to this cause. We are also excited to announce that Erik Langner has accepted the critical role of PMBF Executive Director. A public media leader and former Public Media Company executive, Erik has extraordinary experience and invaluable insight into both the challenges and potential opportunities facing public media organizations. Our team at Public Media Company is working hard to meet this moment.
We know that the PMBF cannot compensate for the devastating loss of CPB funding. This is a terrible time for those who’ve committed their lives to public media and to the communities that rely upon our work. We also understand this is a time of great uncertainty and concern for many local public media organizations, and we are moving quickly to both capitalize and operationalize the fund. We expect to finalize our grant process, including eligibility and criteria, in late September, and we will make sure that local leaders are aware of opportunities as quickly as we can.
In addition to the Bridge Fund, Public Media Company will continue to provide organizations with the services, support, and insights they need to thrive and make a lasting local impact. Our team remains fully committed to public media’s mission, and we believe in our collective ability to find a way forward no matter how hard the path.
Learn more and subscribe for updates about the Public Media Bridge Fund.
