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Native American radio stations at risk as Congress looks to cut $1B in public broadcasting funding

Native American radio stations at risk as Congress looks to cut $1B in public broadcasting funding

NBC News11 hours ago
OMAHA, Neb. — Dozens of Native American radio stations across the country vital to tribal communities will be at risk of going off the air if Congress cuts more than $1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, according to industry leaders.
The U.S. Senate is set to vote this week on whether to approve the Department of Government Efficiency's plan to rescind previously approved public broadcasting funding for 2026 and 2027. Fear is growing that most of the 59 tribal radio stations that receive the funding will go dark, depriving isolated populations of news, local events and critical weather alerts. The House already approved the cuts last month.
'For Indian Country in general, 80% of the communities are rural, and their only access to national news, native story sharing, community news, whatever it is, is through PBS stations or public radio,' said Francene Blythe-Lewis, CEO of the Lincoln, Nebraska-based Native American video programming producer Vision Maker Media. 'If the claw back happens, I would say a good 90% of those stations will cease to exist.'
Native American communities rely on local radio stations
Local radio plays an outsized role in the lives of many who live in Indigenous communities, where cable television and broadband internet access are spotty, at best, and nonexistent for many. That leaves over-the-air TV stations — usually a PBS station — and more often local radio to provide local news, community event details and music by Indigenous artists. Sometimes the news is delivered in Indigenous languages.
'It means we're not going to hear our language on the radio,' Blythe-Lewis said.
Flagstaff, Arizona-based Native Public Media, which supports the network of 59 radio stations and three television stations serving tribal nations across the country, said about three dozen of those radio stations that rely heavily on Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding will be the first to go dark if funding is cut for the coming fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.
Loris Taylor, CEO of Native Public Media, said in an op-ed that the tribal stations reach more than 1.5 million people and 'may be the only source of locally relevant news, emergency alerts, public safety announcements, language preservation, health information and election coverage.'
Republicans face pressure to pass the cuts
GOP senators are under pressure from President Donald Trump, who promised last week on his Truth Social platform that any Republican who votes against the cuts 'will not have my support or Endorsement.'
Many Republicans say the public media system is politically biased and an unnecessary expense. Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Republican from Missouri, recently defended the cuts as necessary to hack away at the nearly $37 trillion national debt, adding, 'It is critical in restoring trust in government.'
But some Republicans have pushed back, such as Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who questioned the proposed cuts last month during a Senate committee hearing. She said that while some of the federal money is assigned to National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System, most of it goes to locally owned public radio and television stations.
Tribal stations provide lifesaving alerts
Jaclyn Sallee is president and CEO of Koahnic Broadcast Corporation and KNBA, its radio station in Anchorage, Alaska. Koahnic produces National Native News, a five-minute daily newscast that features headline news from across Indian Country, and Native America Calling, a daily hourlong call-in program, for about 190 stations across the nation. It also produces Indigefi, a music program in Indigenous languages.
KNBA is on Native Public Media's list of those stations that would be most affected by the federal funding cuts — a concern Sallee confirmed, as 40% of the station's funding comes from CPB.
'What we're really worried about are the rural stations in Alaska where they may be the only station in the community,' she said. 'The people that live there depend on the station for vital weather alerts, emergency alerts; it's the local hub of the community where people share information. So that is very troublesome because people's lives are at risk without this service.'
It's currently fishing season in Alaska, she said, 'which means getting out in the ocean or in rivers and going long distances to subsist, and so they really rely on weather reports.'
Having the news reported in a tribe's language isn't just about preserving that language, she said. Sallee spent summers in Nome with her mother's family. Her grandmother, she said, spoke only Inupiaq.
Loss of small stations could hurt the larger system
New Mexico PBS's signal reaches all but one of the more than 20 tribes and pueblos in the state. It also has signed an agreement with the Navajo Nation, which has the largest reservation of any tribe in the U.S., that allows the tribe to carry the PBS signal and programming on the Navajo Nation Television network, New Mexico PBS general manger Franz Joachim said.
'It's no question in my mind that, you know, immediately some stations will pretty much go dark,' Joachim said.
When those first stations fail, it won't take long for others to follow, Joachim said. And as they do, it will mean fewer and fewer stations left to pay membership dues that also help fund all of the stations.
'So now the whole system starts to fracture,' he said. 'So for me, the federal funding is really about the system as a whole that keeps us in place.'
That funding also helps produce national content that groups like Vision Maker Media produce. Those include Native American documentaries shown on PBS like 'Mankiller,' the story of Wilma Mankiller who became the first woman elected principal chief of the Cherokee Nation.
Blythe-Lewis compared the potential loss of tribal stations to the country's past attempts to erase Native American cultures, such as through federal boarding schools where Indigenous children were sent for generations to assimilate them into white society and where systemic abuse of Indigenous children was carried out.
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Trump can't stop MAGA from obsessing about the Epstein files
Trump can't stop MAGA from obsessing about the Epstein files

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time25 minutes ago

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Trump can't stop MAGA from obsessing about the Epstein files

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'But at least it's a transparency that we don't have currently because of the awful memo that was sent out,' he added. Megyn Kelly, a high-profile conservative commentator and Trump supporter, agreed. 'There are some right-wing pundits online now who are saying 'no one cares about Jeffrey Epstein,'' she said on her show Tuesday. 'And, uh, that's just not true.' Kelly was at a Kirk-hosted conference in Tampa over the weekend where she spent most of her time on stage focused on Epstein and trashing Bondi. Newsmax, a conservative TV network, has also continued to focus on the issue, hammering Bondi's role even after Trump has publicly supported her. On Tuesday, host Rob Finnerty blasted Bondi and said if she does not offer more information, the network will call on her to resign. 'Either the people Donald Trump appointed to get to the truth are actively covering up a child sex ring and know they are doing it, and in the process of doing it they are protecting very powerful, very wealthy people, or Pam Bondi very simply and very plainly overpromised, then underdelivered,' he said. 'It's Epstein, over and over again' Trump's message over the years has been inconsistent on Epstein, who was accused of running a sex trafficking network. Trump called him a 'terrific guy' in 2002, but said in 2019 that they had a 'falling out a long time ago.' He has insisted he had no knowledge of what Epstein was doing. Trump helped fuel conspiracy theories about the Epstein files, saying as a candidate that he would release more documents. As president, Trump has said that there are no more documents to release and that the issue is over. At other times, he has said that the files exist, but claimed they were forged by Democrats and his political enemies, so they should not be released. 'For years, it's Epstein, over and over again. Why are we giving publicity to Files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, [former FBI director James] Comey, [former CIA director John] Brennan, and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden administration,' Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday night blaming the files on Democrats. Fanning the flames of the Epstein files helped Trump build his base, but now that he has pulled the rug out from under its feet, it is proving to be a challenge for a president who famously said that essentially nothing could make his loyal supporters leave him. 'The administration perpetuated much of this narrative from the outside, and there remains many legitimate questions. But once in power, they continued to feed the monster and the monster is now feeding on the administration's credibility. 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John Cornyn appeals to Trump as he faces primary headwinds
John Cornyn appeals to Trump as he faces primary headwinds

NBC News

time26 minutes ago

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John Cornyn appeals to Trump as he faces primary headwinds

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Tony Fabrizio, a top Trump pollster, is working directly with Cornyn's campaign. Paxton's vulnerabilities While Paxton has been trying to lob bombs at Cornyn from his right flank, Cornyn and his team are ready to exploit the attorney general's multiple controversies. 'The baggage that my opponent would bring into the election would make it likely that we would lose that seat to a Democrat if he were the nominee. So I'm not going to let that happen,' Cornyn said. Paxton was indicted on securities fraud charges in 2015 and eventually reached a deal to avoid a trial. But related allegations — plus accusations including bribery and misuse of his office — led the GOP-controlled state House to impeach him in 2023, though the state Senate acquitted him. Prosecuting Paxton on ethical grounds will be a centerpiece of Cornyn's campaign. He blasted Paxton's bid as a 'con man's vanity project' and launched a 'Crooked Ken' website detailing the impeachment and allegations of adultery that stemmed from that investigation. Paxton's pending divorce from wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, brought those allegations back into the spotlight. Angela Paxton posted on X last week that she 'filed for divorce on biblical grounds…in light of recent discoveries.' The day of Paxton's divorce announcement was his campaign's second-largest small-dollar fundraising day since his launch, according to a person close to the Paxton campaign. But Paxton's allies see those controversies as fueling his reputation as a fighter among grassroots Republicans. 'Ken has a strong 40, 45% of MAGA voters that won't leave him,' said Paxton adviser Nick Maddux. 'They've seen him fight, they've seen him in the trials and they like what he's done. And Cornyn's never done that. He doesn't have a hard base of support.' Paxton's campaign also raised $2.9 million from April through June, ending the quarter with $2.5 million in its campaign account. Cornyn's campaign raised $804,000 and ended the quarter with $5.9 million on hand, while his joint fundraising committee raised $3.1 million and had $2.7 million on hand. The Cornyn campaign's haul marked its second-worst quarter over the senator's past two election cycles on the ballot (2020 and 2014). But the campaign dismissed any concerns about his fundraising. 'Senator Cornyn is a very strong fundraiser, always has been and will continue to be,' said Cornyn campaign senior adviser Matt Mackowiack, who said focusing on the joint fundraising committee was a 'strategic' move to be able to access lower television ad rates. A growing field? While Cornyn and Paxton battle, it is possible the primary field could grow. Rep. Wesley Hunt told NBC News late last month he still hasn't made a decision about whether to run for Senate, but the two-term Republican notes he hasn't seen a poll showing Cornyn can beat Paxton in a primary. Asked if that's a concern in Texas, he told NBC News: 'It should be.' Hunt's House campaign committee recently launched a cable ad buy that reaches beyond his Houston-area district, into the Dallas and San Antonio media markets, according AdImpact. Hunt also shared a minute-long spot that features Trump praising him, and a pro-Hunt outside group, Standing for Texas, has also spent more than $2 million so far on ads boosting him around the state. GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson also told NBC News this week that he has not ruled out running for Senate and he is going to 'keep my powder dry right now.' 'A lot of people think Ken Paxton might have trouble in the general,' Jackson said, noting there are concerns among Republicans that a competitive Texas race would pull resources from other battleground states. That concern is partly why Senate Republican leaders, including Thune and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Tim Scott, are backing Cornyn. 'We need an electable candidate that can win not just a primary, but a general, and we believe there's a path there for Cornyn to win both,' Thune recently told NBC News. Democrats have long sought to turn Texas blue, but they have not been able to build on a narrow loss to Cruz in 2018. Trump won Texas by 8 percentage points last year, while Cruz defeated former Democratic Rep. Colin Allred nearly 9 points. Allred recently launched another run for Senate. Langston, the GOP strategist, didn't buy the argument that Paxton would put the seat at risk if he is the nominee, given the state's red hue. 'You would have to have almost 100% of registered Democrats coming out to vote, plus a good 10 or 12% of Republicans crossing over,' he said. 'It's just never going to happen.'

Trump turns on MAGA members demanding more information about Epstein
Trump turns on MAGA members demanding more information about Epstein

Daily Mail​

time26 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Trump turns on MAGA members demanding more information about Epstein

President Donald Trump rolled out his toughest attacks yet on members of his own MAGA movement who are demanding more information about Jeffrey Epstein. Trump referred repeatedly to the 'Epstein hoax' when asked about the disgraced late sexual offender, and called out Republicans he said were being 'duped' by pursuing the matter further. 'I know it's a hoax. It's started by Democrats. It's been run by the Democrats for four years,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office while meeting with the Crown Prince of Bahrain. Trump brought up some of his favorite nemesis – the Russia probe he calls 'Russia, Russia, Russia' and former FBI Director James Comey – accusing Republicans demanding the release of Epstein files of participating in a partisan errand. 'Some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into that net, so they try and do the Democrats' work,' Trump said. Trump defended his AG Pam Bondi, and gave her verbal permission to release certain materials. 'Whatever is credible she can release. If a document is credible, if a document's there that is credible, she can release,' Trump said. 'He's dead. He's gone,' Trump said of Epstein, who Trump knew socially in Palm beach during the 90s before suffering a break. 'All it is the Republicans – certain Republicans – got duped by the Democrats. And they're following a Democrat playbook,' Trump said. Although Trump backed up Bondi, he didn't do the same for FBI Director Kash Patel, who like his deputy Dan Bongino helped fuel the Esptein controversy before joining the administration. 'I can't speak about him, but I can say that Pam Bondi, I really think that she's done very good,' Trump said. His comments are the latest effort to shut down the issue, amid a bubbling MAGA civil war over the topic, amid splits over his attack on Iran and sudden U-turn on arming Ukraine. Trump hasn't been able to make his most fervent supporters forget about his administration's Jeffrey Epstein files failure – no matter how hard he tries. The president insists Democrats are to blame for stoking conspiracies about the disgraced financier and convicted child sexual offender – even though his MAGA base is the most vocal in their claims about Epstein's suspicious death and the existence of a list of co-conspirators. Trump on Wednesday again begged his supporters to move on and said those giving into the 'Epstein hoax' are part of a group of his 'past supporters.' 'The Radical Left Democrats have hit pay dirt, again!' Trump wrote on Truth Social, likening Epstein conspiracies to their past capitalization on the 2016 election interference investigation and fake claims Hunter Biden 's laptop was a Russian disinformation campaign. The Justice Department and FBI released a memo this month concluding the initial findings that Epstein killed himself in prison are true and that there is no such list of clients who engaged in the child sexual trafficking ring. The MAGAverse immediately was up in arms over the Epstein files review, claiming it was a failure or even a cover-up within the DOJ to protect high profile individuals. Among the latest to turn against Trump is podcaster and comedian Andrew Schulz , who unleashed a viral rant against the president for his 'failed' Epstein promises. Schulz hosted Trump on his podcast in October in the weeks leading to the election, but is now admitting he's disappointed by his second term so far. 'I wanted something different,' he said. 'I was hoping for some sort of change.' In the week-and-a-half since the memo went public, Trump has repeatedly tried to get his supporters to stop demanding more answers about the investigation, claiming the case is closed. He has defended Attorney General Pam Bondi and said Democrats made up the conspiracies, which he now calls the 'Jeffrey Epstein Hoax,' to divide Republicans. 'These Scams and Hoaxes are all the Democrats are good at - It's all they have,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Wednesday. 'Their new scam is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my past supporters have bought into this '[expletive],' hook, line, and sinker.' Trump claims those who used to support him have been tricked by Democrats into believing Epstein conspiracies and are now working against him. 'Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don't even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don't want their support anymore!' Trump said. The president's base, including FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino, were among the pro-MAGA voices who pushed conspiracies that Epstein was murdered in jail and that he held a 'client list' that he used as blackmail. The Wednesday post comes after Trump made another lengthy plea on his Truth Social over the weekend for his 'selfish' supporters to move on. 'We're on one Team, MAGA, and I don't like what's happening,' the president lamented in the Saturday post. 'We have a perfect Administration… and 'selfish people' are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein.' Epstein died in prison on August 10, 2019. Trump said the Epstein 'hoax' was conjured up by Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan. He said it was up to them to release the files.

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