Month: May 2025

NPG Content Share

var cachebuster = Math.round(new Date().getTime() / 1000); var player = new Playerjs({id:”player_kyma”, file:”https://abc17news.b-cdn.net/abc17news.com/2025/05/KOPN-April-5.jpg”, poster:”https://abc17news.b-cdn.net/abc17news.com/2025/05/KOPN-April-5.jpg”, label:”Local public broadcasters look ahead following Trump’s executive order announcing funding cuts” , vast_replace:{“[wpcategory]”:”spanish”,”[wprand]”:””+cachebuster+””}});

Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order ending federal funding for NPR and PBS, public broadcasting stations in Mid-Missouri stations are bracing for impact.

Trump alleged in Thursday’s executive order that public stations were biased and “government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.”

Under the order, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting board will stop direct funding to NPR and PBS and will stop any future funding to the organizations. This includes any remaining grants or contracts. A legal battle lies ahead.

“We are currently exploring all options to allow PBS to continue to serve our member stations and all Americans,” PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger said in a statement Friday.

NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher in a statement called the order an affront to the First Amendment.

“With the creation of the Public Broadcasting Act, Congress explicitly forbade ‘any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over educational television or radio broadcasting,’” Maher said in a statement posted to NPR’s website. “This independence has informed the role of public broadcasting in the American interest for more than half a century.”

Public broadcasting in Mid-Missouri includes radio stations KBIA and KOPN in Columbia and television station KMOS in Warrensburg. KBIA reportedly has 30,000 listeners per week, KOPN reaches around 200,000 people and KMOS reports reaching nearly 1 million people, each station reports.

Both NPR and PBS are considering legal action as both entities are private and protected from government interference, CNN wrote on Friday. According to CNN, the CPB disburses $535 million in taxpayer funds to public radio and TV stations. This is first approved by congress and typically done a year in advance.

A 2023-24 financial statement reports that the KMOS’s total operating expenses for the year were a little more than $3 million. The station’s financial reports found that more than $1 million in their funds was from public broadcasting entities like CPB and fewer than $200,000 were from state departments. More than $400,000 were from subscribers.

General Manager of KMOS-TV Josh Tomlinson said the station is currently not seeing any impacts, but worries for the long-term.

“We also represent a largely rural area, our coverage area, 15% of it is in communities of 2,500 or last,” Tomlinson said. “While they’re give as much as possible and we’re grateful for every dollar of it, if we were to lose our federal funding, it would be devastating to KMOS because there is not a source of income within our viewing area to replace that money.”

Along with airing some nationally distributed PBS programs, KMOS also produces Missouri-specific shows that touch on local culture as well as politics.

“We may not have something for somebody all of the time, but we definitely have something for everybody at some of the time,” Tomlinson said. “We carry a show called ‘This Week in Missouri Politics’ that is produced by the Missouri Times and it is all about Jefferson (City), the legislature in Jefferson City, and some people perceive that as a right wing show but it’s only because we have a Republican super majority.”

A major concern Tomlinson has is the possibility of weather coverage being impacted.

“We cover a broad swath of central Missouri in Missouri, in 33 counties, nearly a million people and we have automated weather alerts that go out whenever there’s a tornado or a thunderstorm,” Tomlinson said. “In some of those areas where the only station that they can get, and so that would be one of the areas that was impacted.”

Tomlinson said that the station is currently making plans for future funding.

Executive Director of KOPN Dylan Martin said that he expects the station to stay afloat despite any impending cuts. He credits listener support with more than 50% of the station’s budget coming from public donors. The station also has a contingency plan with its board.

“I’m confident that we can weather the storm, but it’s going to hurt the public radio system as a whole and definitely create some some stresses here,” he said.

Martin similarly shared concerns for communities needing weather coverage and hearing from those in the area.

“These stations are the only source of not only news, information, culture, even entertainment, but they are also the outlets for the emergency alert system, those the tornado warnings and flash flood warnings that that people need to stay safe,” Martin said. “We reach a lot of those small communities and what we offer is, it’s right in our mission, we want to give a platform to underrepresented voices.”

KOPN similarly runs nationally distributed programs, as well as local shows.

“We’re providing options and we’re providing different ideas, different perspectives, and definitely don’t all align, they, they often contradict each other,” Martin said. “On Wednesdays at 10 a.m., we have a show called’ Open to Debate’ that actually spends an hour presenting a moderated debate between people with two totally different points of view on a subject.”

Martin added he is most concerned about the station’s volunteer training program possibly being impacted.

“That’s one of the things I’m most proud of about KOPN and one of the things that I would be most sad to see lost is just our volunteer training program. We sort of specialize in training people in… putting people in the broadcasters and training them  to become broadcasters,” he said.

“That is one of the most impactful things we do, is just providing that just sort of bootstrap kind of education, I guess you’d say, teach people (the) art and science and the law of radio.”

Click here to follow the original article.

Click here to follow the original article.

CNN Newsource

By Lauren Mascarenhas, Pete Muntean and Rene Marsh, CNN

(CNN) — More than a week of delays at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey were caused after air traffic controllers lost communication with aircraft they were supposed to be controlling, and as a result took leave government employees use after experiencing traumatic situations.

The controllers in Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control, which coordinates planes arriving at Newark, “temporarily lost radar and communications with the aircraft under their control, unable to see, hear, or talk to them,†on Monday April 28, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said in a statement shared with CNN.

The connectivity between Federal Aviation Administration radar and the frequencies that air traffic controllers use to manage planes flying in and out of the airport “completely failed,†a source with knowledge of the situation said.

At least five FAA employees took 45 days of leave as a result of the incident, sources tell CNN.

On Monday, the FAA acknowledged that the agency’s “antiquated air traffic control system†is affecting its workforce.

“Some controllers at the Philadelphia TRACON who work Newark arrivals and departures have taken time off to recover from the stress of multiple recent outages,†the FAA said in a statement.

The FAA also said it is updating its automated system to be more resilient and is working to safeguard telecommunications equipment in the New York area.

The staffing delays have pushed into an eighth, and unprecedented day.

“While we cannot quickly replace them due to this highly specialized profession, we continue to train controllers who will eventually be assigned to this busy airspace,†the FAA said.

By Monday afternoon, more than 150 flights into or out of the airport were canceled, with more than 250 flights delayed, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.

The FAA issued a brief ground stop at Newark Airport early Monday morning due to low cloud cover, which has since been lifted, but the agency is still forecasting nearly four-hour delays for inbound flights.

The FAA has indicated it expects more delays at the airport Monday due to the air traffic control staffing issues.

The nationwide air traffic controller staffing shortage was compounded by over 20% of FAA controllers who “walked off the job†at Newark Airport, according to a statement Friday by United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby.

The comments angered some in the aviation community.

“The controllers did not “walk off the job†as it has been reported by the media,†the controller’s union responded Monday. “Due to the event, the controllers took absence under the Federal Employees Compensation Act. This program covers all federal employees that are physically injured or experience a traumatic event on the job.â€

“The controllers didn’t just walk off the job they were traumatized, their equipment failed,†the source with knowledge of the situation said. “It’s written in the regulations if they experience a traumatic event —they can take time off to go see psychiatrist.. the people working that day did that.â€

On Monday, Canadian travelers Greg Marszalek and Stephen Lance were grounded at Newark Airport by multiple delays on their way home from celebrating their fortieth birthdays in Manhattan.

After two flight delays before early afternoon, they told CNN’s Brynn Gingras they might forgo air travel altogether if they face another.

“We can rent a car and just drive up to the border. Ottawa’s pretty close to the border,†Marszalek said.

Peter Goelz, former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board, said the situation at Newark airport is “ridiculous.â€

“We have a very safe system, but anytime it’s stressed like this, where you have controllers who are feeling under maximum pressure, it impacts safety – and people have a right to be concerned,†Goelz told CNN.

“I’m not sure I’d want to fly out of Newark over the next week or 10 days. I might choose an alternate route, because you cannot expect humans to function at their highest level for sustained periods of time with this kind of pressure on them,†he added.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, from New York, said Monday he directed the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General to look into the issues at Newark before they extend across the nation.

“The chaos at Newark could very well be a harbinger if issues like these aren’t fixed, and if the FAA can’t get real solutions off the ground,†Schumer said.

Schumer cited firings at the FAA due to cuts by the Trump administration and said the agency has had little response to his concerns.

“We’re here because the FAA is really a mess. This mess needs a real forensic look, a deep look into it,†Schumer said, adding that Newark’s air traffic controllers have long warned the FAA of problems at the airport.

Old technology is another reason for the airport’s recent obstacles, according to Schumer, who cited burnt copper wiring as an example.

“Why are we using copper wire in 2025? Have they heard of fiber?,†Schumer said.

About 225 flights into or out of Newark Airport were canceled over the weekend, with more than 950 flights delayed, according to FlightAware.

Multiple factors have come together to create a nightmare travel week at the airport, including an air traffic controller shortage, a walk-off by air traffic controllers last week, runway closures and outdated equipment.

Many of the affected flights have been through United Airlines. Kirby addressed the challenges in a statement Friday.

The control facility responsible for traffic at Newark has been “chronically understaffed for years,†Kirby said.

Kirby also said technology used by FAA air traffic controllers to manage planes coming in and out of Newark failed on multiple occasions last week, resulting in delays and cancelations that left thousands of customers with disrupted travel plans.

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said Friday the outdated air traffic control system used by the airport contributed to the delays, pledging to implement a new system – one that could take three to four years to get working.

The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Chris Boyette, Carolyn Sung and Zoe Sottile contributed to this report.

Click here to follow the original article.