07/18/2025
Via radio speakers and TV screens, Ozarks Public Broadcasting has been a regional point of connection for years. You may know of it by other names – like KSMU, the local NPR affiliate that broadcasts news and programs like “Sense of Community,” in-depth looks at regional issues. Or Ozarks Public Television, home to kids’ programming and documentaries (like the ones shown in this photo) that share regional culture, as well as its long-popular OzarksWatch Video Magazine.
I bring up these stations today because it looks like these community resources may change.
Funding cuts on the federal level may remove funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, an entity that was authorized by Congress in the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. And that directly ties to the Ozarks through OPT and KSMU, which receive $1.3 million annually to support their work.
It’s about a quarter of the funding those two local stations count on as part of their collective budget, and they will lose it all — direct funds already approved for them to have over the next two years — if the cuts move forward.
Public media funding has become a political issue in our divisive world, but taking back that funding doesn’t hurt anyone but us.
“Across the Ozarks, more than 32,000 people listen to KSMU each week,” Rachel Knight, general manager at Ozarks Public Broadcasting, tells me. “More than 340,000 watch OPT each week, including 90,000 children aged 2-12 years old.
“Public television is often referred to as America's largest classroom. That makes sense when you consider that more children tune in to OPT each week than walk through the doors of the 15 largest local school districts combined.”
One of Ozarks Alive’s underlying principles is a commitment to journalism, and I have shared stories over the years about threats (and moments of celebration) when it comes to local coverage. Today, I feel like the region should know about what these national decisions mean on a local level, and that if funding is cut there will be changes.
“We're not ready to announce specific cuts. I will say that we already operate efficiently, so there aren't easy cuts to make,” Knight says.
“We use our federal funding to pay for the production of local programming, acquisition of national and regional programming, outreach to our community, and station operations. We'll have to make cuts in all those areas due to the loss of federal funding.”
I believe these platforms bring value to our region. I was a kid who watched PBS, and moments from those programs like Sesame Street still stick with me. They are a resource for local arts and culture programming. The stations also provide services during emergencies: “Public television system is a key part of the transmission path for the emergency alerts they receive on their cellphones,” Knight says.
On a personal level, I am grateful for the work of OzarksWatch, which has created a wonderful library of programs relating to local culture and history. And for KSMU, which has partnered with me multiple opportunities to share Ozarks stories.
It's clear that these stations bring value to Ozarkers, as more than half of the stations' funding currently comes from local businesses and members. We will need to step up to help if these cuts come to fruition.
But I don't think this situation equates into a "you pay if you use." Part of the mission and beauty of public media is that it's available to everyone, and in my opinion that's part of the reason why federal funding has been a key to its success. I'm glad my tax dollars went to help support this work.
The long-term impact of these cuts won’t be seen right away. It may be difficult to quantify at all: Sometimes you never know what could have been if things were different. But I share all of this today to help us understand what this means, here, in the Ozarks.
“We contribute to a sense of place in the Ozarks,” Knight tells me. “Telling the region's story is a primary focus of our local programming. As you know well, it isn't easy to quantify the value of that sense of place and preservation of history. Despite that, it is a critical aspect of a thriving region.”
