COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — Nearly a month since Congress passed its rescission package defunding public media, and President Trump signed it into law, local public radio stations in Colorado are still navigating uncharted waters as they determine what the future holds.
KCME in Colorado Springs has been playing classical music over the airwaves since 1979. Found on dial 88.7 FM, KCME also broadcasts in rural counties like Chaffee, Summit, Fremont and elsewhere. They also transmit Jazz 93.5.
“Our budget is only about a million dollars, and we run two full-time stations on that million dollar budget,” said Stephanie Horton, general manager for KCME and Jazz 93.5. “It's a very lean budget. And therefore any impact is serious for us.”
Horton said they have money in reserves to get them by for another year or two, but then they’ll have to look into other ways to make up the budget lost from the rescission package.
In July, Republicans in Congress clawed back $9 billion in previously allocated funds for public media and foreign aid. $1.1 billion of that claw back was through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The move cut all federal support for PBS, NPR, and their member stations.
Republicans and President Trump had complained that the publicly-funded media outlets like PBS and NPR were biased against them. Shortly after, the CPB announced it would wind down its operations.
However, those in public media have said it's the smaller member stations that will bear the brunt of the cuts while NPR will be able to continue on.
For Stephanie Horton and KCME, the cuts amount to over 10% of their annual budget. She said they don’t plan to cut any of their staff, but will rely on donors and listeners now more than ever to get through.
“It is hard, of course, for our staff, right? They're concerned about what that looks like for them personally, as well as what it looks like for the station that's been around 45 years,” said Horton. “And can we be around for another 45 years? My answer today is yes, but that's going to take a lot of work.”
She said she hasn’t had to have the hard conversations for the worst case scenario just yet, but she feared the service to more rural areas could be disrupted.
Horton emphasized the community value KCME and other public media stations bring to their areas, especially in the form of local arts support and musical education.
They’ve already launched new funding drives and Horton said all staff members are going to be relied upon as fundraisers, too.
“We are looking to bring in 100 new sustaining donors, $10 a month as a sustaining member. In that way, we can help build the new member file, which is really important,” she said. “Because everybody is stretched thin right now, and so we can't keep continuing to go over and over to our current donors, they can only give so much.”
Elsewhere in Colorado, KRZA in Alamosa said the cuts amounted to almost half of their operating budget and they’ve already had to let one part-time staff member go.
KRZA’s budget is about $270,000 every year and they lost around $120,000. KRZA General Manager Gerald Rodriguez said they’ll also have to cut some NPR programming and pull back on other projects they were working on.
He hopes they won’t have to let any more staff go while seeking new funds from new donors, underwriters and grants.
For Aspen Public Radio, executive director Breeze Richardson has grave concerns about emergency alert notifications for everything from wildfire evacuations to blizzard closures and more.
“Right now, the Lee Fire is burning within our broadcast footprint. That's now been named the fifth largest fire in Colorado history. There are roads that are closing, there's air quality conditions, there's evacuations and a very complicated zone system that needs to be communicated,” said Richardson. “And so for a local station like ours, and we're the only public broadcaster in Pitkin County, Colorado, we’re relied upon to get the word out if a wildfire is closing down on one of our communities on evacuation orders.”
Richardson said the city of Aspen and Pitkin County have reached out asking how they might be able to help Aspen Public Radio keep these services going, but the discussions aren’t finalized.
She’s worried other, more rural stations like KRZA in Alamosa won’t have that kind of local governmental support.
“There is just some core infrastructure that has to be purchased, maintained, repaired, improved upon with technology and just modernization,” said Richardson. “Those are all things that are very much at risk. And stations who rely on federal funding even more than we do are going to struggle even more with how their basic operation can even be maintained.”
Richardson also expressed disappointment in Republican Congressman Jeff Hurd, whose district represents Aspen and more community radio stations in Colorado than the rest of the state combined. Hurd, like Colorado’s other Republican leadership, voted for the rescissions package.
“The listenership turned out in droves to communicate with the representative’s office about their reliance on these radio stations and how they serve the communities in which they operate,” said Richardson. “And unfortunately, he completely disregarded what his constituencies were saying and chose to vote in favor of the federal administration’s decision that this $1.60 per American that has funded this system for over 50 years wasn't needed. And the consequences are going to be dire.”
Richardson, like Stephanie Horton with KCME, said the future for community radio now rests with loyal listeners, loyal donors and public awareness.
Regardless, the radio stations expressed concern that the cuts will lead to community events, announcements, and stories that will now never be told or shared with their audiences.
Email Senior Reporter Brett Forrest at brett.forrest@koaa.com. Follow @brettforrestTV on X and Brett Forrest News on Facebook.
Brett can also communicate via encrypted apps like Signal. Due to the sensitive nature of ongoing reporting from federal actions, he is willing to take steps to protect identities.
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