Calls persist to defund NPR: Here’s more on STLPR’s response and what listeners can do to help

Here's the humble truth. STLPR assumes that efforts to defund public media will be ongoing. In that case, our funding may very well be impacted as soon as the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2025.

Our promise to you during these challenging weeks ahead, is that we will continue unphased. Each day, our newsroom recommits to providing the St. Louis community with the rigorous news gathering, fact-checking, and fearless reporting that has made us a reliable and trusted resource for more than fifty years.

Regardless of what happens with public funding, we will continue to fulfill our mission: To inform and provide a deeper understanding and appreciation of events, ideas and cultures for a more inspired and engaged public.

Here's what you can expect from STLPR in coming months:

• Important local information to help citizens make informed decisions during weather emergencies, health crises, and other times of need.
• Produce reliable resources like voter guides to inform your civic duties, and holding local power to account without fear or favor.
• An emphasis on public service over profits, offering rigorously reported, fact-checked information on health, safety, and science; finances; democracy; education; and the future of our region.
• Award-winning journalism about the circumstances facing our neighbors and our neighborhoods, serving the needs and interests of our local community.
• Local stories that matter, with editorially independent work guided by a strong code of ethics.
• New voices telling St. Louis stories that amplify the spirit of our communities - from small scrappy nonprofits, to local businesses and everyday citizens.
• Familiar voices, starting your day with news that keeps you informed, not overwhelmed.
• St. Louis arts, streamed to the world through live performances of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and The Next Set from Jazz St. Louis from the Ferring Jazz Bistro stage.
• Local musicians and artists and the engaging local newsmakers regularly featured on St. Louis on the Air who make our city exceptional.
• Connection and community building through in-person local events like Best of Shorts and the Theatre Showcase, First Mondays with the Arianna String Quartet, the STL Story Collider, STL Welcome Kit happy hours, and MetroQuest, where we can all gather over a brew and love for our community.
• This good work is free to all, without a paywall, thanks in great part to the generosity of local supporters.
  

As declared in STLPR's response to defunding, at a time when we see the work of NPR journalists politicized and public media funding under attack, it's important to see the full picture of what local public radio brings to the table, for over half-a-million people in our region each month.

News has always been essential to democracy. It's not a nicety, but a necessity. News that operates independently without profit motive is an especially precious element of a healthy society. Together, we can keep our communities informed and local news thriving.

Here's how you can support a free press in St. Louis

Continue to advocate for public media funding. Use your voice to tell Congress you believe in the value of public media. The cost to the public (roughly $1.60 per person) generates a world of good in your community, and each public dollar generates nearly $8 in local funds.

You can use tools at ProtectMyPublicMedia.org to contact your members of Congress by email and by phone, and encourage others to do the same.

If you're able, start or deepen your gift of support for STLPR.

Many STLPR members have reached out in recent weeks in search of ways they can help. We are deeply grateful and more than a little touched by every new gift or note of encouragement.

Members can increase their gift by clicking the Donate button on any stlpr.org page. Just look for the "Increase Sustaining Gift" tab to the right. You can select an increase of any amount, even $1.

To make a transformational gift in these urgent times, consider enjoying the extra perks of becoming a Cornerstone Society member. You can also explore other novel Ways to Give to support STLPR, from asking your employer to match your gift, to donating an unused car.

Reach out to others. Share your passion for public media.

You do this every time you share a link or a driveway moment. Young and young-at-heart listeners are also invited to build community with our Generation Listen young friends group, as they plan events and community actions to support and defend public media.

QUICK-TAKE: What you can do, in 4 steps:

1. Donate or increase your gift of support to STLPR. If federal funding is blocked, it is not expected to return, so consider a monthly sustaining donation.
2. Stay informed on the CPB's role in public media funding. You can help answer questions and share how these cuts will impact STLPR and neighboring stations
3. Tell a friend in person or on social media and stay in touch with Generation Listen events.
4. Send a message to Congress at ProtectMyPublicMedia.org
   
   
   
   

More on public media funding: