KCUR rallies local support as federal funding cuts loom
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KCUR staffers in the Up To Date studio. Photo: KCUR
KCUR has been preparing for financial strain amid major cuts to the main funding source for many local public media stations.
The big picture: KCUR general manager Sarah Morris said the station, which provides trusted news and cultural programming, will rely even more on its local audience to keep operations running.
Catch up quick: Congress voted last week to eliminate nearly $1.1 billion in public media funding across fiscal 2026 and 2027.
- Local stations are bracing for the financial impact, though the funding cuts will not fully take effect immediately.
- President Trump signed the cuts into law on Thursday.
Zoom in: In the days following the announcement of more than $1 billion in cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, KCUR raised $500,000 via an emergency fundraising drive to prepare for future budget gaps.
- Morris said nearly 3,000 people contributed, including hundreds of new donors and monthly gift increases.
Zoom out: Kansas City PBS told Axios it now faces a 13% budget shortfall as a result of the funding cuts.
Between the lines: Morris told Axios the station has historically used its federal funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to pay for national programming.
- "In our world, that money was always predominantly spent directly on national programs," she said. "It allowed us to spend local contributions to produce local service."
- Morris said those national programs, including "Morning Edition," "All Things Considered" and "BBC Newshour," make up much of KCUR's daily schedule, offering international reporting and investigative journalism.
- She said KCUR will now have to rely more heavily on local dollars to keep those shows on the air, which could limit resources for the station's own reporting, podcasts and community work.
What they're saying: "Our fate is in the hands of the people of KC, and there's no better place for us to be in this moment," Morris said.
- She said the station began planning for this possibility earlier this year.