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About Keep Media Public

What This Is

Keep Media Public is a website that helps you identify and donate to public media stations in need. It makes it easy to support your local station as well as stations across the country most dependent on federal funding.

Why This Exists

On September 30, 2025, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) shut down after nearly 60 years of supporting public media. Over 1,500 public TV and radio stations that relied on CPB funding now face an existential crisis.

When CPB funding vanished, many people wanted to help but didn't know which stations needed support most urgently.Keep Media Public solves this by making station financial data accessible and actionable, helping donors direct their support where it's needed most.

How It Works

Enter your ZIP code or station call sign, and the site shows you:

  • Your nearest local stations with direct donation links
  • Stations in critical need across the country
  • Each station's dependency on CPB funding (when available)

Clicking “Donate Now” takes you directly to the station's donation page. All contributions go straight to the stations—Keep Media Public takes no fees or commissions.

How We Calculate Risk

Note: Risk profiles are currently estimated as we continue to gather and validate operational funding data from stations. We have confirmed CPB grant amounts but are still collecting total revenue figures needed to calculate precise dependency percentages.

We assess each station's vulnerability to the loss of CPB funding using publicly available financial data from station annual reports (fiscal year 2024). Our risk tiers will be based on:

  • CPB Revenue Share: The percentage of a station's total revenue that came from CPB grants (before the shutdown)
  • Geographic Isolation: Stations in rural areas often serve as the primary news source for their communities
  • Market Size: Smaller markets typically have fewer alternative funding sources

Planned Risk Tiers:

  • Critical: 50%+ CPB dependent - station survival uncertain without immediate community support
  • High: 35-50% CPB dependent - significant service cuts or closures likely
  • Moderate: 20-35% CPB dependent - major restructuring required
  • Stable: <20% CPB dependent - better positioned with diverse funding sources

Transparency

Keep Media Public is completely transparent about its operations:

  • No fees or commissions: 100% of your donation goes to the station. This site takes nothing.
  • Minimal data collection: We log only what's needed to ensure fair station exposure—no personal information, no tracking cookies, no data sharing.
  • Open methodology: Risk calculations and station selection algorithms are documented and verifiable.
  • Direct donations: Clicking “Donate Now” takes you directly to each station's own donation page.

The “Stations That Need Your Help” section uses weighted rotation to ensure equitable exposure. Stations that have received fewer recent impressions or donations are more likely to be shown, preventing any single station from dominating the list.

Data Sources

Our station financial data comes from:

  • Station annual financial reports filed with CPB
  • IRS Form 990 filings for nonprofit licensees
  • State and university budget documents for public licensees

Our current data is from fiscal year 2024 (the last full year before CPB's shutdown).

Who Built This

Keep Media Public was built by John Bear, a developer and longtime public media supporter. I grew up watching WEDH (CPTV) and GBH Boston; public media has been a constant companion in my daily life for decades.

Get Involved

This project is open source and community-driven. You can help by:

  • Contributing data: If you have access to station financial information, operational budgets, or other relevant data, please share it.
  • Improving the site: Visit our GitHub repository to contribute code, suggest features, or report issues.
  • Spreading the word: Share Keep Media Public with friends, family, and fellow public media supporters.
  • Supporting stations: Most importantly—donate to stations in need.

Questions, feedback, or data to share? Contact me at john@keepmediapublic.org.