Indiana Public Broadcasting News, an Indianapolis-based team of journalists serving the state’s public broadcasting stations, will have “reductions” because of cuts in state and potentially federal funding for public media.
The announcement did not detail specific changes, saying they would be released in “the near future.” But IPB News staff members were notified Tuesday.
“This is an incredibly difficult decision, but with the loss of state funding, individual stations have to make some very difficult decisions to address funding shortfalls and are focused on sustaining services to their local communities,” said Mark Newman, Executive Director of Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations, Inc.
A news release from IPBS said the changes are “an immediate consequence of state funding cuts.”
Local WFIU/WTIU reporters are not affected by the proposed IPBS cuts. However, for more than a decade, the WFIU/WTIU Newsroom has been publishing and broadcasting stories produced by the IPB News team.
The two-year budget approved by the state legislature in April cut $3.6 million per year for IPBS, a consortium of 17 public radio and television stations established in 1979.
Proponents of public media point to trusted journalism, lifelong learning, and public safety information provided for free, often to places without alternatives for local news.
Critics of funding for public media, including the Trump administration, say it’s an outdated concept and that there’s a political slant in news coverage, something public media officials vehemently deny.
The House voted in favor of clawing back $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The Senate will consider the move later this month.