Keeping Public Media Strong in Minnesota
Public broadcasting matters in Minnesota. From city neighborhoods to small towns and tribal communities, it’s a vital source of news and programming that keeps Minnesotans informed, safe, and connected.
Recent cuts to federal funding have created a crisis. With Congress defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting this summer, 16 local TV and radio stations across Minnesota face a combined shortfall of $17 million a year. Some will lose up to half their funding. These stations include local NPR and PBS affiliates, as well as independent community and tribal radio stations that are part of AMPERS, the nation’s largest association of community radio stations.
The Minneapolis Foundation is stepping up to help. Recognizing the importance of public and community media in our state, we are granting $75,000 from our OneMPLS Fund to Save the Signal Minnesota, a new statewide effort to protect the future of public media. This initiative is led by Press Forward Minnesota, a movement to re-center local journalism as a force for community cohesion, civic participation, and government accountability.
Save the Signal will provide emergency financial support to public media stations impacted by this summer’s federal funding cuts. Funds will be distributed based on the percentage of CPB loss and focus on saving critical infrastructure, prioritizing the most affected stations and those with significant community impact. This is important because many of the hardest-hit stations are in rural and tribal communities that depend on them for trusted news, emergency updates, community connection, and more.
“Public media is essential to our civic infrastructure, and we must act now to protect it,” said May Yang, Senior Manager of Policy and Partnerships at the Minnesota Council on Foundations and staff lead for Press Forward Minnesota. “These stations provide critical emergency alerts and are often a vital source for local news in their regions.”
The elimination of federal funding for public broadcasting affects radio and TV stations serving rural, urban, and tribal communities statewide.
An Investment in Communities Statewide
The Minneapolis Foundation started the OneMPLS Fund in 2018 to create a pathway for people and businesses across our community to pool their resources and address urgent and emerging local needs. Since then, we have distributed more than $6 million to address issues ranging from affordable housing to the economic effects of the pandemic.
This is the first time OneMPLS funding will be used beyond the Minneapolis-St. Paul region—a reflection of the interconnected nature of public media and the communities it serves. Minnesota’s public stations form a close-knit network, sharing knowledge and technical resources, backup systems, and programming that no single station could provide alone. More important, we believe everyone benefits when all Minnesotans have access to local news and information, no matter where they live.
“As individuals and communities, we rely on each other. That’s also true of our public media stations—and today they need support from all of us.”
In addition to our investment in Save the Signal Minnesota, the Minneapolis Foundation will make a second OneMPLS grant of $30,000 directed specifically to Minnesota Public Radio—a recognition of the important role of public media in our home city.
Both grants align with other investments we’re making to ensure Minnesota’s news ecosystem continues to thrive. These include convenings like Wednesday’s Minnesota Meeting, where we brought our community together to hear from local and national leaders who are shaping the future of journalism. They also include our ongoing collaboration with Press Forward Minnesota, which is housed at the Minnesota Council on Foundations. As a former journalist, I have been proud to serve on one of Press Forward’s governing committees (though not the one that makes grant decisions).
As individuals and communities, we rely on each other. That’s also true of our public media stations—and today they need support from all of us. This fall, your donation to the OneMPLS Fund—in any amount—will help keep the signal strong across our state.
Want to help?
- If you have a Donor Advised Fund at the Minneapolis Foundation, log in to DonorView and click on the “Inter-Account Grant” button on the Fund Information page.
- Make a tax-deductible credit card donation.
