KUAF waiting for answers as potential federal funding cuts loom
In June, the House voted on a rescissions package that would cut federal funding to public media, eliminating $1.1 billion previously approved for those across the Nation and is now passed off to the Senate.
In Fayetteville, KUAF is one of the many groups waiting for those answers.
KUAF general manager Clint Schaff says while $1.1 billion is a small amount on a federal level, to local radio stations, it's a large part of their fiscal budget.
KUAF first went on air in 1973, operating as a student radio station through the University of Arkansas.
After 51 years, the station now provides a 14-county area reach, including Northwest Arkansas and the surrounding region, serving as the only source of national and international news from NPR on air.
The mission of the station is to serve the audience with programs that challenge, entertain and educate, something Ozarks at Large's Kyle Kellams feels strongly about.
Construction soon to begin busy stretch of College Avenue in Fayetteville
'I think trying to create a show where you can come together and hear about things in your community and sometimes controversial,' Kellams said. 'Sure, sometimes you'll hear from people that you don't agree with. But I think coming together at one place is still valuable and necessary and important.'
Many staff members at KUAF said they are a lean body operating with only an 11-member team, making a potential hit like a rescission a tough cut to take over the past month.
Schaff said if the package is passed, it will cut 20% of the station's budget, which will take twice as much to build back up financially.
'Those licenses cost money. We don't have to go out and negotiate them ourselves. It's all done by the [Corporation for Public Broadcasting] when that's gone. Now we have to not only pay for those licenses ourselves, but we have to have the staff power to even figure out how to negotiate those licenses,' Schaff said. 'And then the cost for the public radio system overall will go up a lot, if we're even able to maintain them.'
Alongside the rescission conversation, timeline, and PR and PBS were blocked from receiving funding through the corporation for Public broadcasting due to an executive order made by the administration in May.
The rescissions debate is on the Senate floor this week, with a formalized package needing to be reached by Friday, July 18.
Otherwise, the package will expire, and funding to public media will be fully restored.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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