Frank Lanzone, president and general manager of KCBX-FM Central Coast Public Radio, recently sent an urgent appeal to local supporters that bears repeating to a larger audience.
His message, in part, pointed to the Trump administration’s recent attacks on public media by attempting to remove three board members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and planning to send proposals to Congress to completely defund CPB. This would “effectively dismantle the public media ecosystem,” according to Lanzone. “If funding is eliminated,” he says, “KCBX will need to replace $420,000 in annual funding to continue with the same level of programming.”
He says that federal funds account for 12% of KCBX’s annual budget, and the station receives in-kind resources toward satellite interconnections, emergency alert systems, and music licensing.
You can show your support for KCBX by taking a stand for local public stations and programs. Go to Protect My Public Media for ways to take immediate action. Keep up to date on what’s happening by visiting KCBX, Public Media and Federal Funding.
In this era of continuing attacks on local and national news sources that are striving to keep us informed, we can’t afford to let these particular assaults stand.
Please do what you can to support KCBX and other trustworthy local media outlets who provide us in-depth news, cultural programming, emergency information, and community-based services every day of the year.