KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Local public broadcasting stations, such as Kansas City PBS, may soon feel the impact after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to cut $9 billion in public funding.
The cuts affect the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides essential support to stations nationwide.
At the Fiddly Fig, employees love public broadcasting. The flower shop has sponsored NPR for years.
"It's just a good, healthy place to watch TV," Michelle Giblin said.
"Oh, I love to listen to NPR in the morning when I'm getting ready for work," Andrea Young said.
These local stations will need increased listener support following the federal cuts, but KC PBS is not panicking.
Kliff Kuehl, president and CEO of KC PBS, said they had anticipated this cut. Federal funds make up 13% of their budget.
"We had passed actually two budgets this year in June," Kuehl said. "One with federal funding, one without. So we're obviously now deploying the one without budget, and that one has some belt-tightening."
The changes will primarily affect internal operations, such as cutting back on travel. Viewers shouldn't notice significant changes.
"Now, they will notice that we're going to be talking to them a bit more about fundraising," Kuehl said.
KSHB 41 reached out to Missouri legislators from both sides of the aisle for comment.
"Nothing is gonna change except the lives of small children and people in emergencies in the rural areas," said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D - 5th District), who voted against the cuts. "That's gonna be devastation for many of the small communities right now."
U.S. Rep. Mark Alford (R - 4th District) sent KSHB 41 a statement. He believes the programs show a left-leaning bias and that there are other options for kids online, adding, "It's time for Big Bird to leave the nest."
Despite the challenges, Kuehl noted they're already seeing increased community support.
"We had one of our former engineers bring a check in this morning," Kuehl said.
And the loyal listeners at the Fiddly Fig won't be changing the channel or radio station anytime soon.
"I just think we're so fortunate to have these in our community," Young said.
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KSHB 41 reporter Caroline Hogan covers development across the Kansas City area. Share your story idea with Caroline.
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