Hawaii’s public broadcasting stations are scrambling to make up for a sudden loss in federal funding — forcing Hawaii Public Radio to pull from reserves and hold an emergency fundraising drive, as PBS Hawaii said it remains committed to its community emergency preparedness mission despite the financial strain.
Congress on Friday slashed $1.1 billion in funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes 70% of its funding to more than 1,500 locally owned public radio and television stations across the country that serve as key news outlets and emergency lifelines.
The cut means Public Broadcasting Service Hawaii is losing 20% of its annual revenue, while smaller radio stations on neighbor islands like Kauai Community Radio are also left to make up for a 20% loss in overall funding.
Bill Dorman, vice president and news director for HPR, said it will lose at least $525,000 in CPB funding, a number that could grow.
“We will survive, definitely, but we will also absolutely feel the cuts if these go through,” Dorman told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Meredith Artley, CEO of HPR, wrote in a statement that the station will now have to “pull from reserves” in the budget, launching an emergency “Protect HPR campaign” for two days, on Wednesday and Thursday, seeking donations from the public to help support the station.
“HPR’s total loss could climb over $900,000 in increased programming and infrastructure costs, with other stations struggling to pay their share into an interconnected system,” Artley wrote. “This rescission is an attempt to weaken and destroy local public media across the nation.”
Ron Mizutani, president and CEO of PBS Hawaii, said that it will lose approximately 20% of its budgeted revenue.
“We projected 20% of our annual revenue in FY25 would come from CPB — which comes to us in a grant,” he told the Star-Advertiser in an email.
Mizutani wrote in a statement that the station has been faced with a choice, “to fold up the tent and go home or reaffirm our mission of public service by being a multi-media organization that informs, uplifts, and unites. We choose the latter.”
PBS Hawaii recently replaced its KMEB Maui transmitter — providing residents of Maui and Hawaii counties with programming and emergency alerts — which was funded through federal investments that “underscore public broadcasting’s continued relevance in public safety and emergency readiness,” Mizutani wrote, calling PBS Hawaii “encouraged by continued bipartisan recognition of public broadcasting’s value in emergency preparedness.”
The latest hit to public media has U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda worried about the financial stress that local broadcasts will face, as a key resource for communities across the islands.
“This is extremely concerning on a number of levels,” she told the Star-Advertiser. “This definitely puts them in a difficult position to try to make up for those critical resources that CPB has been providing for generations.”
Tokuda feels especially worried for smaller local stations that rely heavily on CPB funding to operate and said that for rural stations with a smaller audience, fundraising may be more dificult.
“These small local radio stations in these small rural communities across the country and in Hawaii, they’re gonna be impacted,” she said. “Whether it’s less staff or less transmitters or less programming, they are going to have to do much more with less resources to try to make up for that difference.”
Kauai Community Radio represents the only community public radio station serving communities on Kauai and will be left without at least $80,000 in yearly funding, 20% of its budget.
Anni Caporuscio, executive director of Kauai Community Radio, said there are only five staff members, with much of its on‑air delivery and programming handled by volunteers.
“We’re already a skeleton crew, we’re already doing as much as we can with a shoestring budget,” she said. “We have to look really long and hard at what services we are going to continue providing, there’s nothing that I want to stop doing.”
Caporuscio said that during emergencies, Kauai Community Radio provides up-to-date local emergency alerts, something that they brought to the island after Hurricane Iniki devastated Kauai in 1992.
“Everyone knows, on Kauai, that every 15 minutes you can tune in and hear the most current information about what’s going on and we are really faithful with that,” she said. “Our history was started after Hurricane Iniki to make sure we get localized factual information to people, prior to that any information came from Oahu.”
Kauai Community Radio will continue providing emergency alerts, as will the other stations across the island.
“There’s no chance that we’re going to stop that,” Caporuscio said.
Dorman said that radio plays a key role, informing the public during emergencies.
“The thing about radio waves is that they can get through at times when power is out, when cell phones can have problems with reception, radio waves are there in a way that is unique for delivering The Emergency Alert System,” he said. “The Emergency Alert System is something that’s crucial when it’s needed.”
The EAS represents a national public warning system that’s used by state and local authorities to deliver important emergency information, like weather and AMBER alerts, to communities.
Sandra Hee, director of merchandising and inventory at City Mill on Nimitz Highway, knows that crank- and solar-powered radios are a popular purchase for customers looking to create at-home disaster preparedness kits.
“Emergency radios are often in high-demand when there is a threat of a weather emergency,” Hee wrote in an email to the Star-Advertiser. “City Mill regularly stocks a variety of AM/FM radio options to ensure customers are prepared and informed during emergencies.”
Kathleen Pahinui has lived in Waialua on Oahu for the last 35 years and serves as chair for the North Shore Neighborhood Board. Pahinui will never get rid of her crank radio.
“I’ll keep it forever because you just never know,” she said. “All avenues for getting the word out during disaster are important.”
Pahinui remembers using her emergency radio when an earthquake shook Hawaii in October, 2006, knocking out power across the state.
“We had an island-wide power outage and I yanked it out and cranked it up and that’s how we got our information,” she said. “I remember it like it was yesterday.”
Tokuda admires that Hawaii broadcasters are dedicated to continuing providing coverage.
“Everyone is so committed to their mission,” she said “They are going to keep the programming running and alerts going, but it will be extremely difficult with the loss of these funds.”
Source: The Garden Island
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