You may have seen the news that a federal judge ruled President Trump’s 2025 executive order defunding NPR and PBS unconstitutional.
We want to be clear that the ruling does not restore federal funding to BPR or to any public media organization.
Congress voted in July to rescind $1.1 billion — the entire public broadcasting appropriation for FY 2026 and 2027 — defunding public media, locally and nationally.
For BPR, the financial picture remains the same: The $330,000 in annual federal funding we received is gone, this year and for the foreseeable future.
We depend on listener support to protect the service Western North Carolina depends on. This is why sustaining gifts are so important right now. Monthly contributions — at any level — give BPR the stability to plan responsibly and protect local service.
If you are already a sustaining member, thank you. If you are able to increase your monthly gift, or if you haven’t yet joined as a sustainer, your support today will directly help replace the federal dollars that disappeared.
Transparency builds trust, and you deserve to know exactly where things stand. BPR is committed to keeping our service strong, and we are deeply grateful that our community continues to stand with us.
