WTIP faces first day without federal funding from CPB, fall membership drive nears

On Oct. 1, small public radio and media stations across the country faced their first day without financial support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

For some stations, operations and programming carried on with little immediate change, while others were forced to announce staff layoffs.

Congress established the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) through the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. The corporation provided funding to independent public radio and television stations, enabling them to offer local news, emergency coverage, and educational programming.

In April, the CPB announced it would close, following congressional approval and President Donald Trump’s push to eliminate its funding.

CPB funding was previously distributed to more than 1,500 local public radio and television stations nationwide, including WTIP Community Radio.

For the first time since it went on the air, WTIP did not receive funding from the CPB as of Oct. 1. The funding rescission means WTIP will lose $170,000 from its 2025 budget.

In 2026, WTIP Community Radio will lose $238,000 in federal CPB funding, or about 25% of its annual budget.

“It really creates an imbalance that we’re looking to navigate,” said Katie Belanger, WTIP’s development director.

Many small radio stations across the U.S. from Kentucky to Alaska are also navigating the loss of federal funding. WKU Public Radio in Bowling Green, Ky. announced yesterday on its Facebook page that with the loss of funding, the station had to lay off one-third of its staff. The staff cuts included six full-time and two part-time positions.

In Alaska, dozens of public media stations prepared for budget restraints due to the loss of federal funding. Recently, some of the stations received some welcomed news that the Bureau of Indian Affairs will provide temporary funding for 14 Tribal and Native public broadcasting stations in Alaska.

During debate on the recessions package, numerous members secured an agreement from the Trump administration to reallocate approximately $10 million in existing BIA funding to support threatened Tribal and Native serving stations, according to a press release from U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). The one-time funding will help the 14 stations close the gap for the 2025 budgets, but future funding shortfalls still remain. Alaska Public Media reports that with the government shutdown as of Oct.1, the timeline for the distribution of the funds is now unknown.

Closer to northern Minnesota and the Iron Range, KAXE in Grand Rapids continued operations and programming as relatively normal, but with an awareness and recognition that the significant loss of funding may change things in the near future. “The dollars matter, yes. But it’s the people behind them who lift us up. The generosity of what keeps us moving forward, finding new ways to fund people-powered radio,” Heidi Holtan wrote in an Oct. 1 article.

With the loss of funding for the remainder of 2025 for WTIP and a more significant loss of the annual budget in 2026, Belanger said, “We are looking for ways to be planful, mindful, and strong into the future.”

To offset the loss, WTIP is seeking annual community support. The fall membership drive, launching Oct. 5, will emphasize the need to sustain operations, programming, and staff.

“The community support is more important than ever,” Belanger said. “And this drive will continue. We have to think of our drives and our fundraising going forward as a marathon, not a sprint.”

The fall membership drive, themed Hear the North Shore, will take place from Oct. 5 to Oct. 11 and will kick off with classic country, featuring WTIP volunteer Carl Solander.

Belanger said the theme of the fall drive reflects what WTIP does best. The fall membership drive will feature the voices of friends and neighbors, the sounds of nature, the Grand Marais harbor, music from local and regional artists, and more. “So just the sound of WTIP, the sound of the North Shore.”

WTIP’s Kalli Hawkins spoke with WTIP’s Development Director Katie Belanger live on Daybreak on Wednesday, Oct. 1, the first day that WTIP did not receive CPB funds. The audio is below.

Kalli Hawkins October 1, 2025