Two representatives of Buffalo Toronto Public Media will be at Lock City Books on Thursday to urge public support for public media in the face of possible federal funding cuts.
Jay Moran, the local host of National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, is expected to join Heather Hare, BTPM’s vice president of marketing and creative services, at the independent book store in the Bewley Building from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., to share information about how to contact federal representatives and distribute stickers, buttons, lawn signs and other “swag” that helps spread the word.
“Legislative changes and executive orders are making headlines almost daily, some of which could impact the future of public media stations like Buffalo Toronto Public Media,” Hare stated in a Monday publicity release. “Nationally, Protect My Public Media is a leading grassroots advocacy campaign focused on preserving essential federal funding for public media stations across the country and right now it is needed more than ever.”
Buffalo Toronto Public Media consists of three television stations (WNED PBS, WNED Create and PBS KIDS), four radio stations (WBFO, WNED Classical, WBFO The Bridge, and BTPM Radio Bilingüe), and digital platforms such as wned.org and the BTPM YouTube channel.
Public media provides no-cost, commercial-free, local, non-profit service in every American community, and it has an important role in emergency communications, Hare noted: providing access to its signal for local, state and national government emergencies to alert the community through short warnings to cell phones.
“Federal funding for public media represents a mere one-hundredth of one percent of the national budget. For about $1.60 per American per year federal funding ensures that stations like Buffalo Toronto Public Media can continue to serve essential educational, local, and cultural programming; trustworthy, in-depth news; and emergency and community-based services,” Hare stated.
Buffalo Toronto Public Media representatives are fanning out across the eight counties of Western New York on Thursday, meeting people in coffee shops, bookstores and other businesses, to enlist support. The full list of locations and times is posted at wned.org/community/protect-my-public-media.
Information about contacting members of Congress to discuss the importance of public media also is available at protectmypublicmedia.org.