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If you, like me, grew up without cable, then you know the value of public broadcasting. While other kids were enjoying the slapstick humor of SpongeBob SquarePants and the Fairly OddParents, my television hallmarks were shows like Between the Lions, Sesame Street, and Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. They were sweet, quiet shows with an emphasis on education and kindness.
Don’t get me wrong: It sucked not understanding the references my classmates would make on the playground. But as an adult, I can now fully understand the importance this accessible programming had not only in my life, but in the lives of millions of children.
Public media networks like PBS and NPR fill such an important gap, providing kids with lessons on important hard skills like phonics and math, as well as introducing them to more complex emotional truths, such as the importance of tolerance and coping with grief.
However, public broadcasting offers more than just formative information for young people. For many in rural America, the information shared by these networks is lifesaving. That is the case in remote Alaska.
When a typhoon hit the state, public radio station KYUK provided critical information about weather conditions, evacuations, and search and rescue operations. However, after Congress pulled over $1 billion in federal funding for public media over the summer, which slashed 70 percent of KYUK’s operating budget, the scrappy radio station is not sure how it’ll survive.
This week on Reveal, we take listeners inside KYUK as it grapples with this new reality and take a trip down memory lane to observe how the aforementioned Fred Rogers defended public television throughout its decadeslong struggle to survive Washington politics.
It’s an episode you won’t want to miss. Listen here.
-Arianna Coghill
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