The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is a private corporation created by Congress through the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. It is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting and the largest single source of funding for public radio, television, and related online and mobile services in the United States. Its mission is to provide every American with free, over-the-air access to local public media.

CPB’s federal appropriation is modest: roughly one one-hundredth of a percent (0.01%) of the federal budget.

CPB is distinct from NPR and PBS and does not produce programming or own, operate, or manage any public media stations. It distributes more than 70% of its funding to more than 1,500 locally owned public radio and television stations.

Federal funding supports essential local journalism, information, and programs – available to everyone, every day, for free, everywhere they are. Rather than going directly to PBS and NPR, the vast majority of CPB funds go to public media organizations across the country, which are some of the few remaining locally-rooted media, particularly in rural, remote, and underserved communities. These organizations then decide how to best serve the public interest with those critical federal funds.

OPB and other public media organizations across the country play a crucial role in the Emergency Alert System (EAS), providing lifesaving public safety communications to the American people in times of national emergency, in partnership with federal, state, and local authorities.

OPB leads Oregon’s emergency alert system. On a voluntary basis, OPB serves as the ‘State Primary’ or ‘Primary Entry Point’ (PEP) station for the Emergency Alert System. Working closely with the state of Oregon’s Office of Emergency Management and other emergency responders in the event of a statewide, regional, or national emergency, OPB initiates messages informing other broadcasters (commercial and non-commercial), viewers, and listeners of a wide variety of emergencies.

Cuts to federal funding would hurt smaller, rural communities the most, where local public media stations are often the last locally operated and locally controlled media sources. These communities depend on public media for essential public services, from local journalism, education resources to public safety alerts and community connections.

By statute, CPB prioritizes funding for public media organizations serving rural and remote communities. For some smaller organizations, this support accounts for 30 percent (or more) of revenue. Such cuts would hobble beloved place-based institutions across the country.

Given the troubled state of the journalism ecosystem today, federal cuts would also accelerate the growth of news deserts. Nationally, and in Oregon, many news outlets have been decimated by cuts or have disappeared entirely. Others have survived through subscription models that limit information to only those who can afford it.

At OPB, federal support represents around nine percent of our operating budget. Our work is primarily funded by members, foundations, and sponsors based in Oregon and southwest Washington.

While OPB is funded largely through the generous support of our members, the funds we receive through CPB are an important part of our operating budget. Loss of federal funding would hinder our work, especially in serving a vast region across Oregon and Washington with journalism and programs that are freely accessible to all.