As 2025 closes, one thing is now unmistakably clear: the public media system many of us built our careers inside no longer exists in the way it once did.
That shift did not happen slowly. It happened through a series of deliberate policy actions that moved from proposal to implementation in less than a year. As documented in Poynter’s reporting on Project 2025 — “Here’s how many of Project 2025’s media proposals were implemented in 2025” (https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2025/project-2025-actions-against-press/) — roughly half of the media-related goals outlined in Project 2025 were enacted in 2025 alone — with public broadcasting among the first and hardest hit.
For community radio — and for organizations like NFCB that exist to support, strengthen, and stabilize stations — this marks a structural break, not a temporary disruption.
The old system is not coming back.
What changed in 2025
At the center of the shift was the formal defunding of public broadcasting:
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting was stripped of $1.07 billion in already-appropriated funds for FY26–27.
Federal support for NPR, PBS, and more than 1,500 local stations ended through congressional action — not executive order.
Parallel actions dismantled federal media infrastructure, restricted press access, escalated surveillance of journalists, and positioned the FCC as both a deregulation engine and enforcement tool.
Taken together, these moves eliminated the federal hub that once anchored public media’s funding, infrastructure, and political insulation.
Why this matters for community radio
Even stations that never relied on CPB funding are affected.
For decades, CPB functioned as:
– A firewall between politics and stations
– A coordinating body for infrastructure and interconnection
– A backstop for music licensing, emergency alerting, and compliance
– A shared point of leverage in negotiations and standards-setting
With that hub gone, community radio now operates in a fully decentralized, politically volatile environment — one where independence does not equal protection.
What this means for NFCB and peer organizations
For management support and capacity-building organizations, the work ahead is not about preservation of the old system. It is about helping stations survive — and adapt — in the system that now exists.
That reality brings a distinct set of challenges:
-Infrastructure without a federal anchor
-Shared services, interconnection, emergency alerting, and music rights coordination must now be built and defended outside of government.
-Regulatory and legal exposure
-Increased scrutiny of underwriting, noncommercial status, and station operations places new compliance and risk burdens on already-lean stations.
Fragmented funding pathways
Government funding is no longer a stabilizing force. Philanthropy increasingly asks for credible post-federal strategies, not stopgap solutions.
Higher stakes for management capacity
Station leaders are navigating governance, finance, labor, and compliance decisions without the buffers that once existed — often with minimal staff and volunteer leadership.
A sharper need for collective action
No single station — and no single organization — can replace what CPB once provided alone.
The opportunity inside the disruption
At the same time, the civic value of community radio has not diminished. In many places, it has become more visible.
Community radio continues to:
– Serve rural, Tribal, and underserved communities
– Provide trusted emergency and local information
– Offer non-algorithmic, relationship-based media
– Operate as cultural infrastructure, not just content producers
What has changed is that these roles must now be intentionally supported, collectively resourced, and strategically defended.
Looking ahead to 2026
For NFCB, this moment calls for clarity rather than nostalgia.
We are not rebuilding the system as it was.
We are helping stations operate inside the system that exists now.
The next chapter of community radio will not be federally guaranteed. It will be built through collaboration, adaptation, and a clear understanding of risk — alongside an equally clear commitment to the communities stations serve.
That is the work in front of us in 2026.
