President Donald Trump’s annual budget proposal eliminates public media funding.

Specifically, the budget eliminates funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which distributes critical seed funding to local public radio and television stations.

Here’s why the President’s call to eliminate public media funding is a dangerous proposal:

• Studies confirm there is no replacement for federal funding.
• If federal funding for public media is eliminated, local stations could be forced off-air or to cut valued programs and services.
• Rural communities could lose their only source of local media.
• Low income families with preschool age kids could lose their children’s only source of educational media.

Here’s what you should know:

• Public media funding amounts to about $1.35 per American.
• Public media funding represents roughly .01 percent of the federal budget.
• Cutting public media funding would have no impact on the federal deficit, but would destroy the public media system.

There have been calls to eliminate public media funding before. However, we have successfully overcome those challenges by making our voices heard on this important issue.

What you can do right now:

• Call or email your lawmakers in support of full public media funding, including Interconnection.
• Text Public Media to 52886 or go here to sign a petition calling for the President to reconsider his position on public media funding.
• Join a positive social media conversation on the value of public media. The hashtag is #IValuePublicMedia.

Sign up for our action alerts now, so you know how you can raise your voice in support of your public media stations.

Together, we can save our stations and programs.