(Sue Matters)
Roundhouse Foundation announces more than $1.5 million dollars in collective support grants to Native Public Media and Public Media Bridge Fund, which are respectively championing funding relief for rural and Tribal public media stations impacted by the recent closure of The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
“Radio provides a resource that people can access for free,” said Sue Matters, station manager of KWSO 91.9 FM, a public radio station owned and operated by The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. “In rural America – there may be no other options for information at no cost.”
Public radio and television stations are community hubs — in a way, they’re ‘third places,’ just like local libraries, senior centers, or skateparks. “They’re places where the community can connect, speak freely, learn, and share knowledge,” said Roundhouse Foundation Executive Director Erin Borla. Roundhouse focuses its funding on rural, remote, and Indigenous community organizations, which receive philanthropic funding at a disproportionately low rate — only 7% of philanthropic dollars, nationally, goes toward rural America (FSG 2021).“What a way for philanthropy to help rural and Indigenous communities, by coming alongside community radio stations who are already loved, trusted and most importantly, doing the work on the ground.” Roundhouse Foundation is hopeful that other funders know they can support public media during their time of financial uncertainty.
Borla is also the host of Funding Rural, a podcast about how philanthropy can better serve rural communities and spark systemic change, where guests recently discussed the significance of public media. In this week’s episode, Matters noted the connection between Tribal radio stations and Native American culture. “Radio for storytelling, for language, for listening to the voice and the wisdom of elders… radio is perfect,” she said. “It’s an authentic way to continue the legacy of an oral tradition.”
In addition to being conveyors of culture and local pride, public media — especially in rural areas — has the capacity to save lives. During the 2020 COVID pandemic when Central Oregon had widespread wildfires, KWSO provided updates on the fires’ location and origin. “[It was like] that fire information board at the post office, but you just tuned into your radio,” said Matters. “I tried to get on the air live from a parking lot outside of fire management because I couldn’t get through [to the station] — the fire was between them and us.” Life-saving communications by public media outlets include local news, emergency alerts, weather warnings, missing person alerts, and natural disaster reporting.
Native Public Media (NPM) has established several funds to bolster the fiscal health of their 58 Tribal radio and 3 television stations, which are all located within 12 Western states. “The defunding of CPB could have been catastrophic without the friends of Native Public Media coming to our aid,” said NPM President and CEO Loris Taylor. “The support keeps isolated Tribal communities informed and safe; strengthens the civic health of Indian Country; and grows our Tribal Media Endowment Fund so stations can continue their service to Tribal communities far into the future.” Roundhouse Foundation’s giving will be directed to the Native Public Media’s Tribal Media Endowment Fund, and on-air Public Service Announcements at select stations that serve the northwest.
Public Media Company has also started a pooled philanthropic fund, The Public Media Bridge Fund, which is receiving $1MM from Roundhouse Foundation, and aims to use the funds to secure existing local public media services. They estimate more than 100 stations, collectively reaching 43 million Americans, are at risk of closing and going off-air. A large share of the stations at risk broadcast to rural, remote, and Tribal communities. “Our goal is to help the stations achieve sustainability over the next several years, even if public funding is not restored,” says Public Media Company Chief Executive Officer, Tim Isgitt. His organization will be working in parallel with other funds such as NPM, to fill the stations’ 25+% budget funding gap. The Bridge Fund hopes to raise $100MM to ease the sudden financial loss created when CPB shut down.
More private funding is needed to bolster the stations hardest hit and funders are being asked to donate to keep these critical stations on-air — and to elevate the voices of the communities in which they serve — because as NPM’s Loris Taylor penned it in an online post, “The cost of silence is too high.”
nativepublicmedia.org • publicmedia.co/bridge-fund • roundhousefoundation.org/grants