The claw back
Trump's cuts leave KSUT, others, facing massive budget holes

President Donald Trump is not the first Republican in office to go after the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Kennedy-era nonprofit that manages federal funding for thousands of local TV and radio stations. But he is the first one to succeed.

On July 18, Congress approved a $9 billion rescissions “claw back” of $1.1 billion in CPB funding, eliminating all federal support for NPR and PBS – which Trump has repeatedly called politically biased – and inflicting collateral damage on hundreds of local member stations.

“Federal funding has had bipartisan support for almost 50 years because of senators understanding the importance of public TV and radio to their very rural communities,” Tami Graham, executive director of KSUT, said. “They get it. I mean, they got it. They got it until now.”

KSUT was one of the first radio stations in the nation to be founded by a Native American tribe, the Southern Utes, and has continually focused its coverage on Indigenous affairs for the Southern Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, Jicarilla Apache and a large portion of the Navajo Nation. The radio is an important resource for connecting tribal nations in the region, Graham said, while also providing hyperlocal news and emergency alerts.

Graham runs one of 52 stations in Colorado that had its federal funding revoked, with many looking at their next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, with a sudden shortfall. KSUT will be down $330,000, or about 20%.

Nearby KDUR, located on the Fort Lewis College campus, is also slated to lose about 20% of its operating budget. And KSJD, in Cortez, lost one-third of its budget.

At KSUT, the 20% reduction means they have to reconsider national news segments, like “Morning Edition” and BBC news, as well as local programs like Native Voice 1, an hourlong call-in talk show that focuses on Indigenous issues. Tribal stations reportedly have an opportunity to retrieve the revoked funds through a carveout in the bill, but Graham is skeptical that it will amount to anything. 

“It’s sort of, at best, a Band-Aid, and at worst a backroom deal to get this bill to pass,” Graham said. “Even though we’re on that list, I doubt we’ll ever see funds.”

In May, KSUT along with Colorado Public Radio and Aspen Public Radio sued Trump over an executive order to cut funding, arguing it violates free speech. 

“It’s especially difficult (with Native Voice 1) because, I mean, talk about an underserved community,” Graham said. “People in these areas don’t get their voices elevated nearly enough as they should.”

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