By Ha Ta
By the numbers
• The INN Network includes 35 public media outlets, accounting for approximately 7% of all members.
• A majority of INN public media members (55% or 12 outlets) are local, serving large audiences. Of those, most (64%) target populations of 1 million to 10 million or more.
• All 22 public broadcasters participating in the Index indicated their organization experienced negative impacts resulting from the 2025 political climate, and all reported government and state funding reductions.
In 2025, amid reports of negative impacts from the political climate, several INN public media outlets posted record individual fundraising results in 2025, with some citing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) funding rescission as a catalyst for stronger donor engagement. INN’s NewsMatch campaign, supported by the MacArthur Foundation, provided additional momentum; outlets that participated in both 2024 and 2025 saw their total donor counts grow year over year.
This resilience came on the heels of an unprecedented year for public media funding. In July 2025, Congress rescinded $1.1 billion in federal funding from the CPB, ending federal support for NPR, PBS and member stations, followed by the agency’s closure in September. This year’s Index includes updated analysis of this small but critical subset of INN’s membership, building on our first dedicated public media analysis published last year.
The INN Network includes 35 public media outlets in 2025, accounting for approximately 7% of INN members. That year, 22 organizations participated in the Index. However, because many public media outlets cannot provide revenue and expense data specific to their news operations, they are excluded from the main Index analyses.
Most of these 22 public media member outlets are radio or digital organizations, and they represent a small portion of the estimated 1,500 locally owned and operated media stations. A majority of INN public media members (55% or 12 outlets) are local. They tend to serve much larger audiences than a typical INN digital newsroom, with 64% or 14 outlets indicating that they target populations of 1 million to 10 million or more.
Half of these public broadcasters (11 outlets) list serving communities of color as one of their several core coverage priorities. None of the 22 indicated that they focus primarily on serving communities of color.
People of color make up 35% of the staff employed by the 22 public media outlets, while women make up 54% of staff. This group produces a monthly median of 126 stories.
INN’s public media broadcasters report a median of about 167,000 average monthly unique visitors, up 14% from 147,109 the previous year. Newsletter subscribers grew substantially, rising 75% from 10,130 to 17,700. Podcast downloads, however, declined from 15,574 to 9,745 during the same period.
Public media broadcasters also emphasize building direct audience relationships: The median outlet derives 95% of its reach from its own channels.
Nonpublic media INN members are also forming meaningful republication relationships with public media broadcasters in general: 57% of members indicated that a public media outlet has republished their work in 2025.
Of the 22 public media outlets surveyed, 91% reported using AI in some aspect of their work, up from 81% in 2024; only two reported no AI usage. This is higher than the rest of INN’s membership, of which 81% reported AI usage. Transcribing or summarizing interviews is the most commonly cited use, followed by data analysis and drafting or personalizing emails to audience members or funders.
The rollback of federal support for public media and declining institutional trust created compounding challenges for many public media outlets — and the data reflects it. All 22 respondents indicated their organization experienced negative impacts resulting from the 2025 political climate, and all reported government and state funding reductions.
The second most frequently cited impact was growth of misinformation targeting their markets, which more than 1 in 3 respondents (8 out of 22) reported. Staff-related threats were another notable concern, with some respondents citing online harassment of and threats to staff.
Fewer outlets reported declining audience trust or engagement, and one flagged regulatory investigations targeting critical coverage. Small, independent local stations raised concerns about their audiences conflating them with national public media outlets — a distinction that became critical when opposition to national public media translated into reduced community support or endorsement of CPB cuts.
Revenue pressures were widespread, with both charitable and non-charitable revenue reductions appearing frequently, and often together.
In response to these challenges, many respondents turned to community fundraising to cover funding loss while using the crisis itself as a mobilizing message.
Many ramped up their fundraising efforts, launching emergency fundraising campaigns, reframing the case for support around funding loss and the disproportionate impact of CPB cuts on small, local stations. Alongside fundraising, outlets also doubled down on efforts to maintain their quality journalism, making commitments to unbiased, community-focused reporting, increasing transparency with their listeners/readers about their reporting processes, paying scrupulous attention to accuracy and using editors’ notes and targeted communications to address challenges to their coverage.
Some pursued longer-term revenue strategies including major donor campaigns, planned giving, and capital campaigns. Some have had to restructure budgets and expenses to adapt to reduced government funding, with some undertaking formal strategic assessments to chart a path toward long-term sustainability. Not all challenges were as easily addressed: A number of outlets noted difficulty replacing underwriting revenue, citing corporate sponsors pulling back to avoid association with public broadcasting controversy.
When asked to rank their top fundraising priorities, 17 out of 22 public media outlets responded. Six respondents cited major donations as their top priority. Five outlets ranked small donations as their top priority, and three gave mid-level donations their top ranking. This pattern holds when using a weighted scheme, with the first priority given three points, two points for the second and one point for the third. Major donations ranked first (29), followed by mid-level (23) and small donations (22). Foundation revenue appeared across rankings.
Individual fundraising emerged as a bright spot in 2025, with many outlets reporting record results despite — and in many cases because of — the federal funding crisis. The CPB rescission galvanized donor communities across the membership: Outlets that had invested in fundraising infrastructure and donor communications were well-positioned to convert the moment into meaningful revenue, with some reporting their best individual fundraising years ever and single-month donation records. While individual giving remains a long-term structural challenge, 2025 demonstrated that readiness and clear donor messaging can turn a funding crisis into an opportunity.
Many public media outlets within INN membership delivered record-breaking individual fundraising results in 2025. The Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corporation called it their best year of individual fundraising ever, crediting a strong community response after losing federal funding in July. That loss triggered momentum that carried through fall and into December, becoming their single best fundraising month on record.
“The message that we are now 100% community funded has worked exceptionally well with our fundraising efforts,” they noted.
Similarly, WFAE, a public radio station in Charlotte, North Carolina, and CoastAlaska found success by linking donor outreach directly to the CPB funding retraction.
PBS News pointed to tactical improvements, such as making monthly giving the default on donation forms, adding EFT or digital payment options, and integrating QR codes into YouTube videos to drive stronger and more sustainable individual giving.
For KOSU, an Oklahoma-based public radio network, preparation yielded positive results: “We had positioned our organization to take advantage of individual giving in the event that funding was rescinded,” they explained, adding that clear, multi-channel donor communication made the difference when the moment arrived.
In 2025, INN organized a dedicated public media partner fund in its annual NewsMatch campaign, a national matching program that incentivizes individual giving to nonprofit news organizations. The fund, supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, was designed to generate support for NPR and PBS affiliates in the wake of the CPB funding rescission. Community members responded strongly, and public media outlets that participated in NewsMatch in both years saw their total donor counts grow between 2024 and 2025. A total of 23 of INN’s 35 public media member outlets received support through the fund.
A small portion of the broader public media field is represented in the Index, but their participation highlights the vital role public broadcasters play in the nonprofit news ecosystem.
INN PUBLIC MEDIA MEMBERS (AS OF MAY 2026)
| Abridged by PBS KVIE | PBS NewsHour |
| Center for Broadcast Journalism and WEQY POWER104.7FM | WESA |
| Connecticut Public | The World |
| WTIP North Shore Community Radio | WABE 90.1 FM |
| Delaware Public Media | WHAVWavelengths |
| Jacksonville Today | Radio Catskill |
| KOSU | Red Canary Magazine |
| KPBS | Science Friday |
| KPCW | Tulsa Flyer |
| KQED | WCBU 89.9 FM and WCBU.org |
| PBS39, WLVR 91.3 | WFAE |
| KHNS News | WGLT 89.1 FM and WGLT.org |
| Mendo Local | WXPR Public Radio |
| MPR News | WHRO Public Media |
| Nevada Public Radio (KNPR 88.9, KCNV 89.7, Desert Companion Magazine) | WHYY News, BillyPenn at WHYY, Plan Philly |
| KERA | WITF |
| KAXE | WVIA News |
| Northern Kentucky Tribune |
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