<\/p>\n
The very first thing I heard upon landing in D.C. in March 2020 was Donizetti. The Flute Sonata in C, I think. Whatever it was, I took it as a good sign.<\/p>\n
It was just a standard afternoon selection on public radio, specifically WETA, the classical station that would become my local, assertively ringing from the rear speakers of our Lyft. When I piped up to ask the driver about the station, he added that it was the only thing he listened to. Then we swerved into another lane to avoid hitting someone. \u201cIt helps me relax!\u201d<\/p>\n
This is how many people \u201cuse\u201d public radio: My dentist runs it softly in the background like air conditioning. During the pandemic and the shutdowns that immediately followed that ride from the airport, WETA became something akin to a utility in our home, as vital to one\u2019s upkeep as hot water or indoor light \u2014 and thus, easy to take for granted.<\/p>\n
Back in July, the Trump administration clawed back some $1.1 billion in funding<\/a> for public broadcasting, effectively shuttering the Corporation for Public Broadcasting<\/a>, which for nearly 60 years appropriated federal funds to organizations such as PBS, NPR and other member stations. This move was paired with a complete congressional wipeout of federal funds<\/a> for public media going forward.<\/p>\n This predicament has put listeners who depend on public radio for news and information \u2014 especially in rural and remote areas \u2014 in a precarious position. It also has stations across the country scrambling to fill funding gaps<\/a> left in the wake of this withdrawal of federal support. Depending on the station, these funds can account for around 5 percent to 50 percent or more of the operating budget. Rural stations with fewer private funding options are particularly hard-hit.<\/p>\n On Oct. 1, these funding cuts officially landed, forcing dozens of stations to cut hundreds of jobs, and putting vulnerable outlets at high risk. Last month, WPSU, a public radio station based at Penn State, became the first casualty of the cuts, announcing that it would \u201cwind down\u201d after decades of service<\/a>.<\/p>\n In addition to local, regional and world news and other educational and cultural programming, those two dozen mostly rural Pennsylvania counties served by WPSU also lost hours of classical music \u2014 a sizable portion of the station\u2019s daily programming.<\/p>\n For classical music lovers, this minor-sounding closure should strike an ominous chord: When you consider that some 96 percent of the classical music on U.S. radio is broadcast over public airwaves, a single loss feels like the tip of a particularly perilous iceberg. The potential closure of public radio stations threatens the availability of free, over-the-air classical music for millions of people.<\/p>\n Moreover, many stations \u2014 such as Washington\u2019s own WETA \u2014 are closely interconnected with their respective region\u2019s classical music scenes, maintaining long-term partnerships and symbiotic relationships that increase the visibility and viability of local arts economies. WETA has been recording and broadcasting the National Symphony Orchestra for 18 years. And the very first broadcast by the Boston-based GBH (formerly WGBH) was a performance by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1951. (The station\u2019s classical arm, CRB, continues to carry regular broadcasts from the orchestra\u2019s homes at Symphony Hall and Tanglewood.)<\/p>\n