This page is regularly updated with updates on local and national efforts to protect public media.
In June, 2025, the White House officially submitted its proposal to Congress to rescind funding from the Corporation from Public Broadcasting (CPB). Over $1 billion of previously allocated funding for the next two years could be rescinded from CPB, resulting in an existential crisis for independent public radio and television stations across the country. This comes after weeks of threats from the federal administration, and after NPR and PBS issued separate lawsuits against the administration and a separate executive order to protect public media’s ability to provide high-quality independent journalism nationwide.
If the rescission is approved, nearly $400,000 of annual support would be lost for KALW. Like all public media outlets, KALW is locally produced and managed, and responds to the unique needs of our Bay Area communities. But we do rely on that piece of federal funding. We believe our work remains essential in providing critical information, music and cultural programming, media training, and transparent journalism for audiences across the region.
Public media funding makes up a small fraction of the federal budget, but its impact is enormous, particularly for the stories, people, and communities typically not talked about in the media.
KALW and local stations across the country are now facing a direct and immediate threat to our ability to serve the public. Your action — right now — can help stop it.
We've put together these frequently asked questions about how public media funding works, and the impact of CPB’s funding loss will have on KALW. If you have other questions, don't hesitate to reach out to us at
kalw@kalw.org.
What can I do to help? How can I advocate for continued support of public media?
If you value the journalism, storytelling, cultural programming, events, and community service that KALW provides, we urge you to take action today.
ACTION STEPS: here’s how to Stand Up and protect public media and KALW:
- Send a message to Congress at ProtectMyPublicMedia.org
- Tell a friend
- Learn about CPB's role in public media - Corporation for Public Broadcasting
- Donate to KALW
Write to Congress
Ensure your voice is heard by your members of Congress who control the appropriations process. Go to protectmypublicmedia.org to find out who your representatives are and write to them. Tell them you support funding for public media and urge them to reject this rescission proposal. It only takes a minute, and your voice is a powerful defense against these cuts.
Donate to KALW
With the current crackdowns on free speech and the ongoing push to silence news outlets — and the threats to defund public media stations like KALW — it has never been more urgent to support YOUR local radio station. Donations to KALW enable us to continue our critical work. Now is an excellent time to give a one-time gift or become a monthly donor. If you're already a KALW supporter, thank you! Perhaps you can give more generously by increasing your existing donation.
Public media has always been supported by the communities it serves — and right now, your support matters more than ever. By supporting KALW right now, you are saying YES to the longevity and importance of public media in your life — and the lives of millions of Bay Area audiences who depend on KALW for free cultural programming and critical information and news.
Share with a Friend
Share this webpage with a friend or family member, tell them what public media and KALW means to you, and ask them to take action for the greater good. With enough community power, we can resist the government’s attempts to dismantle public media.
What has happened up to this point?
- March 14th: Congress passed a Continuing Resolution including CPB funding through fiscal year 2027
- March 26th: NPR and PBS CEOs testify before Congress at a hearing targeting CPB funding. Watch that hearing here
- April 14th: The White House announced plans to submit a formal rescission proposal to Congress to eliminate previously appropriated funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
- May 2: Trump submits executive order to Congress to “cease federal funding for NPR and PBS.”
- May 27: NPR and Colorado member stations sues the Trump administration over funding cuts, citing “ that the federal executive order “violates the expressed will of Congress and the First Amendment’s bedrock guarantees of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of association."
- April 29th: This Federal administration removed three board members from CPB. CPB has filed a lawsuit challenging this unprecedented move that defends its independence.
- May 30: PBS launches an additional lawsuit against the federal administration’s executive order limiting funds.
Our Solidarity with Public Media Stations
KALW stands in solidarity with NPR in their lawsuit against the recent executive order targeting the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, NPR, and PBS. We remain committed to standing with our public media affiliates in our fight for democracy. We know you care about independent journalism, so now is the time to join us in the fight.
KALW's work—like the work of local stations across the nation—is embedded in our local community, delivering breaking news, expertise, and stories that you can’t find anywhere else. We applaud NPR for standing against the executive order, which seeks to dismantle public media and threaten the longevity of local stations like KALW.
With the threat of the rescission of funding for public media becoming more likely, it’s never been more important to fight for YOUR local media. The fragility of democracy is evident in moments like this. We must stand together.
What is the CPB's role in public media?
CPB is distinct from both NPR and PBS. It is not a broadcaster but an independent, nonprofit organization created by Congress in 1967 with two primary functions: to serve as a firewall between partisan politics and public broadcasting and to help fund programming, stations, and technology.
CPB is a private, nonprofit corporation authorized by Congress in the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. Congress has provided — with bipartisan support — funding for public broadcasting for more than 50 years. The two-year advance appropriation to CPB ensures the independence of the public media system by insulating it from political interference, and it is the basis for a longstanding public-private partnership in service to all Americans.
The annual federal investment in public media through CPB is foundational for the public media system. CPB’s mission is to ensure universal access to noncommercial, high-quality content and telecommunications services. Distributed according to a statutory formula, approximately 70% of all federal funds for CPB’s two-year advance are distributed to eligible public media stations across the country — noncommercial educational licensees who serve in the public interest.
The CPB is responsible for allocating their funds from the federal budget in any way that fulfills their mission: To ensure universal access, over-the-air and online, to high-quality content and telecommunications services that are commercial free and free of charge.
What is KALW doing to survive this loss of funding?
KALW is bracing for this moment with steadfast commitment to the Bay Area communities we serve. We are planning a communications, programming, and budget strategy to ensure that, even in the face of federal cuts, we will continue delivering cultural programming and news you count on every day.
This includes ramping up our fundraising strategies, identifying cost-saving measures that preserve our programming, and accelerating efforts to develop and deepen strategic partnerships to deliver on our mission. While we hope that the Bay Area will respond, we do know how important this funding is to us, and that if it is cut, we will have to make some very difficult decisions here that would limit our ability to invest in local, national, and global news.
As the federal government contemplates turning its back on public media, we promise to continue to do our best to continue to deliver free, community-informed, and transparent journalism and cultural programming that the Bay Area has expected from us for over 80 years.
Our Promise to Remain Independent
With the number of local journalists declining nationwide and media increasingly biased by corporate and political interests, KALW remains fiercely independent. Our strength comes from our community. As a public media station, we are not e influenced by commercial interests and swayed by current or future federal administrations. At a time when media giants are consolidating power, trust is eroding, and democracy is on the brink, KALW stands firm. We are the homegrown, independent voice in the Bay Area — fearless in truth-telling, relentless in our pursuit of justice, and rooted in the real lives of our community.