This story was originally posted on MyNorthwest.com
Cascade Public Media, the Seattle-based PBS affiliate, is laying off 16 employees after suffering a $3.5 million annual loss in federal funding.
In total, 19 positions were eliminated, including three that were still unfilled. Additionally, Cascade PBS will no longer produce local long-form journalism online. Crosscut, a nonprofit news website, became the home for this style of journalism after it merged with the PBS station KCTS 9 in 2024, joining Cascade Public Media.
“With the loss of federal funding for public media, we have been forced to make some hard choices about where we will invest our reduced resources for a sustainable future,” Cascade CEO Rob Dunlop wrote to staff on Monday in an email shared with KUOW. “Sadly, we are joining public radio and television stations around the country who are making similarly difficult choices.”
Congressional defunding of public media hits Cascade PBS
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced it is shutting down in August after it was defunded by Congress. CPB has been responsible for producing educational programming, cultural content, and emergency alerts. CPB received annual funding from Congress for the last six decades, distributing funding to more than 1,500 locally owned public radio and television stations, including PBS and NPR stations.
President Trump has called the CPB biased and has said that no media outlet has a constitutional right to taxpayer subsidies.
With CPB dismantled, Cascade PBS lost 10% of its funding — $3.5 million.
“While we had prepared for this possibility, it is still a significant blow to our organization and to public media nationwide,” Dunlop stated, according to PubliCola.
What will remain at Cascade PBS?
Cascade PBS will continue its multiple video series, including Mossback’s Northwest, The Nosh, Nick on the Rocks, Out & Back, and Art by Northwest, while also expanding production of The Newsfeed to five days per week.
The station will also add three new positions, Dunlop stated.
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