Latest news with #WHYY
Axios
18-07-2025
- Business
- Axios
NPR and PBS affiliate WHYY faces future without federal funding
Philadelphia's public media affiliate WHYY is planning for a future without federal funding. The big picture: The U.S. House voted early Friday to give final approval to legislation clawing back $9 billion in federal funding for the Public Broadcasting Service, National Public Radio and foreign aid programs. Zoom in: WHYY is not expected to cut programming or staff in the wake of any federal funding loss, WHYY CEO Bill Marrazzo tells Axios. Yes, but: The outlet could see higher costs acquiring content, or declining revenues from licensing its shows to other stations that are also facing cutbacks. What they're saying: Marrazzo says WHYY has worked to "build a strong financial and market position to weather disruptions." "We have grown our audiences across all our platforms and, with it, our contributed income from growth in voluntary contributions of support," he says. How it works: The GOP's rescissions package takes back money that has already been appropriated by Congress and signed into law by the president. By the numbers: WHYY received 7% of its budget from federal funding in 2024, or roughly $3.8 million. Meanwhile, member contributions account for the outlet's largest share of revenue (44%). State of play: WHYY — which serves about 3 million households spanning Philly and its Pennsylvania suburbs, Delaware and most of New Jersey — has seen membership growth amid consistent declines in federal funding in recent years. The outlet's membership base rose 7% over the past year and now stands at 139,000. Zoom out: The federal cuts could have dire effects on other public stations across Pennsylvania:
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kendrick Lamar's Music To Be Studied In New Course At Temple University
Temple University is set to offer an in-depth exploration of Kendrick Lamar's music and legacy in a new course launching Fall 2025. Titled 'Kendrick Lamar and the Morale of M.A.A.D City,' the class will be taught by Timothy Welbeck, Assistant Professor in the Department of Africology and African American Studies. A lawyer, scholar, and Hip-Hop artist in his own right, Welbeck brings a multifaceted perspective to the curriculum, which aims to examine the Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper's impact on Black culture, identity, and resistance. 'Kendrick Lamar is one of the leading voices of his generation, with a keen ability to articulate various dynamics of Black life and the quest for self-actualization — particularly capturing narratives of marginalization and the resilience to rise above it,' Welbeck shared on Instagram. According to WHYY, the course will 'take an Africalogical approach, examining Lamar's life through an Afrocentric lens. It will explore the socioeconomic and cultural conditions of his hometown, Compton, California, and the urban policies that shaped the stories in his music.' This isn't Welbeck's first time teaching Hip-Hop at the university level. He previously helmed the course 'Hip-hop and Black Culture' at Temple, and his work continues a growing academic tradition of studying Lamar's artistry. Similar courses have been taught at prestigious institutions such as Georgia Regents University, where his album To Pimp a Butterfly was dissected in a sociology class, and Harvard University, which included Lamar's work in its 'Hip-Hop Archive & Research Institute.' The announcement comes as Lamar continues his Grand National Tour alongside SZA, following the explosive momentum of his recent chart-topping single 'Not Like Us' and acclaimed GNX album See Timothy Welbeck's Instagram post below. More from Taylor Rooks Addresses If She's The Mystery Woman Drake Mentioned On His New Song Skepta Challenges A$AP Rocky To Rap Battle In U.K. Versus U.S.A. Hip-Hop Clash Drake-UMG Court Hearing Dives Into Context And Success Of Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us"
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
ICE Detention Center in Full Revolt as Four Detainees Escape
A revolt at a controversial New Jersey ICE facility morphed into a jailbreak late Thursday. Four detainees were unaccounted for at Delaney Hall detention center after about 50 captives pushed down a dormitory wall in protest of their living conditions, an immigration attorney representing one of the men told NJ Advance Media. Detainees were starving, reportedly having been made to wait hours for their next meal, when the literal pushback began. 'It's about the food, and some of the detainees were getting aggressive and it turned violent,' the lawyer, Mustafa Cetin, told NJ Advance Media. 'Based on what he told me it was an outer wall, not very strong, and they were able to push it down.' But the crowd was not alone in their protest—instead, a gathering of people outside of the facility mobilized to block ICE activity, barricading the gate to prevent more officers from entering the center. Amy Torres, executive director of New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, told NPR affiliate WHYY that officers had used 'pepper spray and tackled and dragged protesters away from the facility.' 'She said some protesters had minor injuries, but no one was hit by the vehicles,' WHYY reported. Delaney Hall is run by a private prison company, GEO Group, that made $2.24 billion in revenue in 2024, according to its fourth-quarter earnings report. The company currently has a $60 million contract with the Trump administration to hold up to 1,000 people in the New Jersey detention center. Shortly after the ICE facility reopened in May, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and New Jersey Representative LaMonica McIver were arrested and charged while touring the facility. The lawmakers were reportedly visiting the facility to serve a summons for code violations to a Geo Group representative. The charges against Baraka were dropped weeks later. 'I have serious concerns about the reports of abusive circumstances at the facility,' McIver wrote in a statement late Thursday regarding the break out. 'Even now, as we are hearing reports from news organizations and advocates on the ground about a lack of food and basic rights for those inside, the administration appears to be stonewalling efforts to learn the truth.' Dozens of anti-ICE protests have spread from coast to coast, with gatherings in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, San Francisco, San Diego, Denver, Seattle, Las Vegas, Raleigh, Columbus, Oklahoma City, Washington, D.C., and others. But Donald Trump is still having a difficult time believing that his nativist agenda is facing such widespread opposition: On Wednesday, the president torched a Fox News reporter when she informed him that the protests had spread outside of Los Angeles, spouting from the Kennedy Center's red carpet that he simply didn't believe her while patting his administration on the back for its military intervention in the City of Angels.
Axios
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
The Ones List with Philly radio personality Tonya Pendleton
Tonya Pendleton's two-year reign as host of WURD Radio's "Reality Check" ended last week, but she won't be off the airwaves for long. Why it matters: Pendleton, WHYY's "Things to Do" curator and one of Philly's enduring journalists and broadcasters, is already cooking up her next adventure. We caught up with Pendleton in our latest edition of "The Ones List" series. The interview was condensed for clarity: What's one story you tell about why you got into radio? While interning in college at WILD Radio in Boston, the music director left and I took her spot at 22 years old. Radio made me happier than anything else. Who's one person you grew up admiring in media? Charlie Rose. It was just him, the person at a table, and no fancy backdrop. Your one can't-break rule in radio: Respect the audience. There's somebody who may have woken up that day just to hear your voice. What's one daily ritual you can't do without? Meditation. I'm a fan of Insight Timer. What's one podcast you can't do without? Steven Bartlett's "The Diary of a CEO." What's one habit you wish you could break? Procrastination. Your one favorite person in Philadelphia: Rapper Chill Moody. He put the "E" in entrepreneur. Who's one person you interviewed who you still think about? Prince. The paramount thing to know about him: He cared about his craft. What's one thing you're going to miss about "Reality Check" and WURD Radio? Connecting with an audience that cares about our community.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Teens Who Fled War Are Now Graduating from U.S. School and Remembering Family They Left Behind
A group of teens who fled the war in Ukraine are graduating from a performing arts school in Philadelphia As they plan their futures, they also reflect on the loved ones they left behind 'I never could possibly imagine that I would be in America and graduating school here," a student saidA group of teens who fled the war in Ukraine are celebrating their graduation in Philadelphia, even as they miss the family and pets they were forced to leave behind. 'I never could possibly imagine that I would be in America and graduating school here,' Oleksandr Melenchuk, an 18-year-old who moved to the United States in 2023, but continued taking classes at his previous school in Khmelnytskyi, told NPR and PBS affiliate WHYY. 'It was in my dreams just to come to America, but finishing school here and knowing English and graduating, that's really fun.' Melenchuk is one of seven students from Ukraine who will graduate from Philadelphia Performing Arts, along with about 150 other students, this spring, WHYY reported. The campus is one of three in Philadelphia run by String Theory, a nonprofit education organization, which has accepted 88 Ukrainian students since Russia invaded the smaller country in February 2022, according to the outlet. The school did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. 'I knew like zero English, and teachers helped me a lot to learn it,' 18-year-old Olesia Skorets, who fled Ukraine in 2022, told KYW Newsradio. 'Ukraine is more home for me, but America is home too.' In February 2023, a year after about 60 Ukrainian students had arrived on campus, Daniel Betekhtin, an English as a second language teacher, told KYW that staffers realized the new arrivals would need extra help. "They, I think, were so moved by the events that we saw starting last February that everyone realized it's like, now is the time for all of us to step up to the plate,' he said at the time. Counselor Susan Thomas admires the focus and dedication of the Ukrainian students, she told WHYY. 'They did have trauma in their background. Many teenagers have trauma, whether you grew up in Ukraine or the United States,' she told the outlet. 'We work with mental wellness. We moved forward and got them into a plan step by step.' Skorets, who plans on becoming a dermatologist, is set to attend Holy Family University in the fall. But she doesn't know when she'll return home, according to KYW. Her classmate, 17-year-old Sofiya Ionina, will also attend the same university to study graphic design, but is worried about her grandmother. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 'I called my grandmother a couple of days before, because some bombs were just next to her. Like, it's two houses away from her,' Ionina told the outlet. 'Of course, I cry sometimes when I think about this. Or, just, I'm very worried about her.' She hopes to see her grandmother and the cat she left behind this summer, but also wants to stay in the U.S., according to the report. Mykola Peredruk, 18, arrived with his mother and sister. His father was injured defending Ukraine. 'Of course it makes me feel bad,' Peredruk told KYW. 'My dad is a soldier. He used to be in the war, but then he got a lot of traumas, and he's a veteran right now.' He will attend Penn State Abington in the fall, while Melenchuk will go to the Community College of Philadelphia to learn about video production. Read the original article on People
