Stephen Colbert Rallies Behind Public Media Groups Facing Major Funding Losses: ‘It’s Really Critical That These Stations Continue’

Public media is hastily bracing for a future without help from Washington.

In the wake of the Trump administration slashing more than $1.1 billion from public broadcasting, New York Public Radio has turned to private donors to fill the gap. The organization raised $1.7 million on Tuesday night at its Stand With Public Media gala, which honored “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert and his wife, Evelyn McGee Colbert, for their ongoing fight for free speech. Colbert says he hopes this erosion of federal support won’t continue under future administrations.

“I have no idea whether it’ll continue into the future, and I hope it won’t,” Colbert told Variety inside the gala. “So many people value what public media can give them. In a lot of communities around the United States, public radio is the only local news because local newspapers have failed. It gives people a sense of community, lets them know what’s happening in and around where they live. And so it’s really critical that these stations continue.”

But organizations like New York Public Radio, according to its president and CEO LaFontaine Oliver, have no choice but to prepare for a scenario where federal appropriations may never return.

“We have to look for new revenue pathways,” Oliver explained. “We have to connect to our communities and audiences in different ways. It means we’re looking for institutional funders and philanthropists to ideally step up. We’ll look for ways to monetize the content we produce. This is a time of reinvention for our system. And that spirit of reinvention will serve us, even if federal funding comes back in some slice or portion.”

In some parts of the country, the withdrawal of federal support has taken on urgent stakes. Local leaders in Alaska have described the loss of public media funding as “a life and death issue.” In dozens of remote communities with limited roads and broadband internet access, public radio is often the only conduit for emergency alerts and fast-changing weather conditions. Alaska station owners warn that they may lose 40% to 90% of their funding, and without backup revenue sources, are at risk of going dark.

At the same time, as trust in national and local news declines, surveys show Americans view public media more favorably and credibly when compared to for-profit outlets.

“I think people in the public media space are telling us the facts,” McGee Colbert said. “It’s really hard to go to places now that are unbiased, independent and purely factually-based.”

Colbert and McGee Colbert, self-described public radio loyalists, say they get most of their news from WNYC. “And because it’s commercial-free news,” Colbert explained, “you get a longer exploration of the story. “You could spend 20 or 30 minutes on a story, rather than 7 minutes. That’d be a long time on cable news. And I can also cook while I’m doing it. I don’t have to look at anything.”

Colbert’s appreciation for independent reporting arrives at a complicated time for his own relationship with broadcast television. CBS labeled the sudden cancellation of his late-night show as a “financial decision,” but several prominent media voices and organizations — including the Writers Guild of America — have questioned whether the move was connected to Colbert’s on-air criticism of Paramount’s $16 million “60 Minutes” settlement with President Donald Trump. Earlier this month, Colbert said it was “a reasonable thing to think” his show’s cancellation was a politically motivated decision, but it wasn’t “fruitful” for him to “engage in that speculation.”