Federal cuts hit public media jobs and member stations

WBUR | By Here & Now Newsroom

Published October 1, 2025 at 8:42 AM PDT

The headquarters for NPR. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Wednesday marks the end of federal funding for public media.

For the first time in more than 50 years on the airwaves, National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service are without government support, after Congressional Republicans voted in July to claw back $1.1 billion in public media funding.

Hundreds of layoffs across dozens of member stations have already been announced.

Here & Now‘s Scott Tong speaks with NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik about the fallout.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Here & Now Newsroom