Wyoming Public Media Faces Deep Cuts as Lawmakers Push to Pull State Funding

The original story by Kate Meadows for Cowboy State Daily.

Wyoming Public Media is staring down a financial cliff after state budget writers voted last week to cut off its state funding – a move supporters call devastating and backers say is long overdue.

The Joint Appropriations Committee voted to eliminate state support for Wyoming Public Media, setting the stage for an $800,000 annual hit if the full Legislature signs off during its budget session next month. That cut comes on top of a $500,000 loss the organization absorbed last summer after Congress defunded the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

If the cuts stand, Wyoming Public Media would lose about 17% of its annual budget in one stroke.

The move reflects the Wyoming Freedom Caucus’ broader push to shrink government spending. At least five members of the conservative bloc sit on the House Appropriations Committee, which is now shaping the state’s two-year budget. Wyoming Public Media is one of several entities targeted as lawmakers look to pare back Gov. Mark Gordon’s proposed spending plan.

Rep. Ken Pendergraft, R-Sheridan, voted in favor of the cut and said he doesn’t believe funding public media is a proper role of government.

“I believe it is important for journalism to be independent of government tethers,” Pendergraft said. “Defunding public media has been a conservative ideal for many, many years.”

Others on the committee strongly disagreed. Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, voted against the cut, calling it “crippling” and warning it could ultimately “haunt the state.”

Wyoming Public Media, which has been based at the University of Wyoming since its founding nearly 60 years ago as Wyoming Public Radio, receives its state funding through UW’s block grant. The committee’s vote is part of a broader package that could reduce the university’s funding request by about $61 million over the next two years.

General Manager Christina Kuzmych said the station is disappointed but not giving up.

“We will continue to present our case to legislators,” she said in an email, pointing to audience data showing thousands of Wyoming residents rely on public media for news, cultural programming and emergency alerts.

Through the university funding, Wyoming Public Media supports eight staff members who produce local programming and help operate 50 transmission sites across the state. Those jobs would be at risk if the funding disappears, Kuzmych said, adding that the organization has already trimmed operations significantly after the federal cuts.

“There’s no ‘fat’ left in our budget,” she said.

Supporters of the cut argue Wyoming is simply following the federal government’s example. Congress voted last year to eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and House Appropriations Chair John Bear, R-Gillette, said that decision prompted a closer look at state funding for public media.

“Replacing the funds of the federal government is not a state taxpayer responsibility,” Bear said.

The committee, however, chose to continue $3 million in base funding for Wyoming Public Television, a separate entity based in Riverton. While Wyoming PBS also took a hit from the federal cuts, lawmakers declined its request for increased state funding to make up the difference.

Pendergraft argues that public media should survive – or not – on its own merits.

“If public media outlets are as good as they say they are, they can stand alone in the free market,” he said.

Former Wyoming Public Radio News Director Bob Beck, who spent 34 years at the station, says that argument misses the point.

“It’s not a level playing field,” Beck said.

Unlike commercial outlets, public media can’t sell traditional advertising and instead relies on a mix of donations, underwriting and government support.

Kuzmych said individual donors account for about 41% of Wyoming Public Media’s funding, with corporate underwriting adding another 7%. If all government funding disappears, the station would face a 51% budget gap.

After the federal cuts, donors stepped up enough to stabilize the station for now. But replacing another $1.6 million over the next two years would be a tall order in a state with fewer than 600,000 residents.

“Colorado stations might be able to do that,” Kuzmych said. “Wyoming can’t.”

Supporters of Wyoming Public Media warn the cuts could push the state closer to becoming a news desert, especially in rural areas where the station is often the only source of radio news and emergency information.

Beck said losing the station would be “a huge loss,” particularly for statewide reporting efforts like Open Spaces, the long-running weekly news program.

Pendergraft disagrees, saying the station’s disappearance wouldn’t necessarily harm Wyoming’s news landscape – and might even open the door to a more competitive media environment.

“If that tether is gone, they’re free to sell advertising and do whatever they need to do,” he said.

Kuzmych counters that without staff and infrastructure, services like statewide news coverage and cultural programming simply wouldn’t be possible.

“If Wyoming is to have good services, it needs to harness individuals, institutions, the federal government and the state,” she said.

Last week’s vote only advances a draft budget. The full Legislature will take it up when the budget session begins Feb. 9, with opportunities for amendments before the bill heads to Gov. Gordon’s desk.

“There’s a lot of ballgame left,” Beck said.

University of Wyoming officials say they’ll ultimately follow whatever direction lawmakers choose.

“We are not going to defy the Wyoming Legislature,” UW spokesperson Chad Baldwin said.

For now, Wyoming Public Media is bracing for a fight – and hoping lawmakers decide its statewide service is worth the price tag.