Charleston, Wash. - After Hurricane Helen destroyed Asheville, North Carolina, residents gathered on a street at the top of the ridge last fall, the sound from open car windows, which was Blue Ridge Public Radio. The latest news they hear at the station is a topic of frequent talk when they stand on water or in food.
Lisa Savage said: “Public radio is reminding people of what’s going on.
Now, President Donald Trump is cutting public radio stations. This week, he signed an executive order aimed at cutting public subsidies to NPR and PBS and accusing "bias" in broadcasters' reports.
During natural disasters, public radio stations have been the lifeline that occupies electricity, the Internet and cellular towers. In many remote and rural areas of the United States, they can be the only source of local news.
After a week of volunteering in the Asheville area, Savage recalls driving through another tough neighborhood and hearing the latest news on Blue Ridge Public Radio that residents can get water.
“It’s crucial,” Savage said.
In the West Texas desert, Marfa Public Radio provides listeners with a mix of local and national news and music. It is located in Marfa, a city of about 2,000 that attracts visitors to its art world.
"Marfa public broadcasting is the only broadcasting service in many of the geographical areas we cover," said Tom Livingston, interim executive director of the station. "So, it's really critical for whether there are news events, security incidents happening in the community."
Trump's order directed the company to conduct public broadcasting and other federal agencies to "stop federal funding for NPR and PBS" and further required them to work to provide indirect sources of public financing for news organizations. The broadcaster has received about $5 billion in public funding through a private CPB, which said it was not a federal executive under Trump’s order.
The heads of PBS, NPR and CPB all suggested Friday that the order was illegal and that the court battle seemed inevitable.
The White House also said it would ask Congress to withdraw funds as CPB as part of the $9.1 billion cut. Local radio combines a combination of government funding, donations and charitable grants, while radio stations in smaller markets are particularly dependent on public funding.
WMMT, located in the eastern community of Whitesburg, can be heard in part of five Appalachian states. Teddy Wimer, the station's general manager, said listeners "want to hear people who sound like people they know from Appalachia" and are currently running the station by the renovated Winnebago relying on CPB funds.
“We are in the economically disadvantaged group of the country,” Wimmer said. “Most of the listeners we really rely on are not funding to increase their support.”
Livingston said about 30% of their funds come from the CPB. It is too early to know whether the cuts will actually happen, or if they do pass what it will affect.
Along the West Virginia-Virginia border, more than three hours from Washington, D.C., residents can pick up signals from the radio station. But those “no we would have the local flavor and influence,” said Scott Smith, general manager of Allegheny Mountain Radio. “This is the only thing in town.”
Smith said at his base in Monterrey, Virginia, that there is about a four-square-mile cell-covered area with a cell tower above it. As it turns out, the site is an important source of information during natural disasters. In 2012, residents relied on it after 680,000 West Virginia customers phased out electricity, and it took nearly two weeks for some areas to resume services.
"Yes, we play music. Yes, we're on the air, kidding," he said. "But we're here to provide our community with information, basic services for emergency information, emergency information, similar things. As part of that, we're in the emergency alert system in the field."
Smith has 10 people on the Allegheny Mountain radio station, which accounts for 68% of the CPB annual budget.
"The biggest funding for CPB is small rural broadcasting," Smith said. "When you take 60% of your income away, it's not easy or easy to replace."
Smith called it a "waiting game" of whether Congress will take action on CPB funding.
"The answer to our move forward is vague," Smith said. "We will continue to be here as long as we can."