Commentary submitted by
- Franz Joachim, General Manager & CEO NMPBS KNME-TV
- Richard Towne, General Manager KUNM-FM
- Michael Brasher, General Manager KANW-FM KNME-TV Board Chair
- Porfirio Delgado, Director of Broadcasting KENW-TV
For the cost of one cup of coffee per person, per year—that’s about $1.60—American taxpayers have generously and continuously supported public television and radio for communities across the nation. In New Mexico, this investment in public broadcasting allows 12 radio stations and 3 television stations to provide critical educational services, vital public safety partnerships, and homegrown programming. For dozens of rural communities in our state, public radio and television provide their only free news and emergency alerts—a crucial communication and information lifeline for some of our citizens who need it the most.
Right now, however, this vital service is in big trouble. We strongly urge Congress to reject proposals to reduce or eliminate public funding for public TV and radio. Cutting federal funding would leave many Americans without the critical services that only local public radio and television stations provide—whether it’s lifesaving public safety services, proven education programs like Sesame Street or essential local news and information.
Cuts to public broadcasting funding would significantly jeopardize public safety across the country–and would be catastrophic in New Mexico. By partnering with federal, state, and local authorities, local public stations provide lifesaving safety communications and services in communities that may have no other local options.
New Mexico PBS, KRWG in Las Cruces, and KENW in Portales deliver live information to first responders across our state, in areas lacking cell service, two-way radio, or internet connectivity. When cell and internet services went down during the recent wildfires in Ruidoso, public radio—in this case KUNM—was there to connect families and provide first responders with vital information. KANW is the Primary 2 EAS station providing vital backbone support for radio emergency messaging to many rural New Mexico communities. Moreover, in the face of a local, regional, statewide, or national emergency, services like PBS WARN use public infrastructure to distribute Wireless Emergency Alerts, enabling cell subscribers to receive geo-targeted text messages, providing critical information in times of crisis. Eliminating funding for public radio and television eliminates these life-saving services.
For over 65 years, public media’s educational programming for young children, the hallmark of public television, has supported families with proven educational tools that have helped parents be their kids’ first teachers and prepared multiple generations to be ready to learn in school and succeed in life. NMPBS LearningMedia, with the help of stations around the country, provides online learning assets free to every educator and student, including home schoolers throughout New Mexico.
This public investment has paid dividends. The free, universally available content provided by public television has closed the achievement gap between children from low-income families and their more affluent peers. And parents love it; public media’s early childhood educational television programming—accessible for free every day in every household—is ranked #1 by parents for helping prepare children for school. Public television provides critical education resources for the more than half of 3- and 4-year-olds in the U.S. who do NOT attend preschool.
Those funding drives you see when watching the latest Ken Burns documentary on PBS only go so far. Federal funding for public media is irreplaceable and essential to New Mexico’s public television and public radio stations, and the existence of the public media system.
Public media has the broad support of the American people, regardless of political affiliation; according to a recent YouGov survey, 65% of people who voted for President Trump think public television is either adequately funded or underfunded. Such bipartisan support has been consistently reflected in Congress, which approved funding for public media just a few weeks ago in the final fiscal year 2025 funding bill.
We urge Congress to reject efforts to take back funds for public media, push back on this administration’s executive orders defunding public media, and continue to support local stations’ ability to provide lifesaving, life changing information to communities across the country.
Franz Joachim, General Manager & CEO NMPBS KNME-TV
Richard Towne, General Manager KUNM-FM
Michael Brasher, General Manager KANW-FM KNME-TV Board Chair
Porfirio Delgado, Director of Broadcasting KENW-TV
