Congress Kills Funding To Wyoming Public Media

Billions of dollars earmarked for Public Media (TV, Radio, and Websites) have just been cut by Congress.

The bill now moves on to the White House for the President's signature.

What this means for Public Media in Wyoming is roughly $1.2 million a year less in their budget.

That is about 1/3 of the money Wyoming Public Broadcasting takes in every year.

Changes are coming, unless they can find a way to fill the gap.

Much of the argument for defunding Public Media was over their hard left-leaning bias in news and other programming.

But it goes beyond that.

Public Media tried to make the case that they are a necessary part of the community, especially when it comes to emergency broadcasting.

But today's technology rendered those services obsolete a long time ago.

Emergency information, including severe weather advisories and Amber alerts, are now sent directly to the public over that device that almost everybody carries today, the cell phone.

Folks who live in the most rural areas use those little satellite dishes you see on their homes for internet, phone, and television.

Local city council and county commission meetings, as well as Wyoming house and senate meetings, are carried on the internet, which can be accessed in rural areas by those small satellite dishes you see on home rooftops.

Few rural dwellers consume what Public Media puts out.

Favorite shows like Sesame Street are already on TV channels like Netflix.

The cuts that are being made were carved out of the existing budget.

Congress has two years to put that money back into the new budget or make the cuts permanent.

The total amount of money cut from public broadcasting, specifically the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), is $1.1 billion.

This cut is part of a larger rescission package of $9 billion that also includes cuts to foreign aid. The CPB provides funding for NPR, PBS, and their member stations

Wyoming Public Media operates Wyoming PBS and Wyoming Public Radio, which include several broadcast frequencies across the state.

Wyoming PBS is broadcast from full-power transmitters in Lander/Riverton, Laramie/Cheyenne, and Casper.

Wyoming Public Radio has a statewide network with frequencies like 91.3 FM in Casper and others for different regions.

Wyoming Public Radio has a network of frequencies, including:

• KUWC 91.3 FM: Casper, WY 
  
• KBUW 90.5 FM 
  
• KUWA 91.3 FM 
  
• KDUW 91.7 FM 
  
• Classical Wyoming: 88.5 FM in Laramie and Rock Springs, and on HD2 radio in Laramie, Cheyenne, Casper, and Jackson. 
  
• Jazz Wyoming: 90.1 FM in Laramie.