St. Louis Public Radio has received an outpouring of support last in the wake of federal public media funding cuts imposed by President Donald Trump.
The local National Public Radio affiliate embarked on a one-week fundraising campaign last week to offset a $575,000 loss in annual funding, Congress revoked on July 18, rescinding previously approved funding for public media over the next two years at Trump’s request.
In seven days, nearly 2,500 donors raised more than $800,000.
“This campaign wasn’t just about filling a funding gap,” said St. Louis Public Radio Interim General Manager Jess Luther in a report about the outcome of the campaign. “It was about showing that public media still has many people in its corner — people who believe that accurate journalism is a public good and that news from the St. Louis region should not be commodified.”
St. Louis Public Radio’s success story stands out as a bright spot amid the uncertainty and hardship facing public media, which prompted the flash fundraising campaign.
Less than 48 hours after the organization shared the news of their awe-inspiring results, The Corporation of Public Broadcasting announced on Friday that it was shutting down due to Congress and the Trump administration eliminating its federal funding. CPB was a key subsidy for PBS and NPR. Audiences expressed concerns about what CPB’s closing will mean for beloved programming such as PBS’s Sesame Street and NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series.
“I’ve heard from many friends, family and audience members who are worried that NPR/Tiny Desk is shutting down. It is not,” Bobby Carter said via Instagram.
The St. Louis native hosts and produces the recurring live performance program presented by NPR that became a global phenomenon soon after its inception in 2008. Carter has been a part of the Tiny Desk team since 2014. “Unfortunately, CPB is shutting down,” Carter added. “I encourage everyone to support Public Media and donate.”
St. Louis Public Radio has been a staple in the region for more than a half-century. It first arrived on the airwaves via 90.7 KWMU FM in 1972 as a licensee of the University of Missouri Curators. Programming includes locally produced shows and original podcasts, NPR content and live broadcasts. The station — as well as Jazz KWMU-2 and Classical KWMU-3 — is also available online via streaming. In 2013, KWMU merged with The St. Louis Beacon, a fellow nonprofit news organization that expanded its digital content footprint. The station is also a St. Louis American content-sharing partner.
For more than a decade, St. Louis Public Radio has been a leading news source thanks to strong and balanced reporting via audio and multimedia journalism. It covers everything from business and politics to arts and culture. In recent years, it has had a key presence in an array of St. Louis stories that struck a chord with the nation — and the world. The station was on the frontlines of the Ferguson uprising in 2014. More than 10 years later, St. Louis Public Radio illustrated the devastation from the tornado that touched down in the region two months ago. It saw the recent campaign support as the region’s way of thanking the station for its service.
“What an incredible week for St. Louis Public Radio,” said Jeremy Goldberg, Associate Development Director-Major Gifts. “This grassroots response, including 750 new supporters, demonstrates how much St. Louisans value trusted, local journalism. We’re deeply grateful to our listeners and this entire community for stepping up when it mattered most. This is what community support looks like.”
The $575,000 annual revenue once provided through federal funding will need to be replenished annually. But the success of the campaign provides optimism and a sense of promise.
“This wasn’t a top-down rescue mission,” said David Hutchison, Chief Development Officer at St. Louis Public Radio. “This was the people of St. Louis making it clear what kind of future they want — one where their story isn’t just preserved, but propelled forward. We’re not here to retreat or shrink. We’re here to grow, to innovate and to show what’s possible when a public media organization is truly powered by the public.”
The campaign came months after The University of Missouri-St. Louis announced that the governance of St. Louis Public Radio will transition to an independent nonprofit. There will be a need to lean more heavily on donors as a support system for the organization, but the station sees the campaign as evidence that the region will rise to the challenge.
“In just one week, thousands of people raised their hands to say that local journalism matters — not just as a news source, but as a public service, a community service,” Hutchison said. “The overwhelmingly grassroots nature of the campaign — with gifts ranging from a few dollars to a few thousand — underscores just how deeply St. Louisans value access to independent, fact-based reporting rooted in their own communities.”
For more information about St. Louis Public Radio, visit https://www.stlpr.org/.