Local PBS stations fear loss of federal funding

If the federal government yanks funding for public broadcasting, central Virginia's Community Idea Stations, and the three TV stations and public radio it owns, stands to lose more than $1 million.

The Richmond-based division of Commonwealth Public Broadcasting receives $1.12 million in federal money, which represents about 14 percent of its budget, according to Curtis Monk, president and CEO of Commonwealth Public Broadcasting.

That money could be in jeopardy.

There's talk anew of pulling federal funding after the release of a secretly taped video showing a National Public Radio executive criticizing the tea party and others. The CEO of the company resigned after release of the video.

The incident followed an earlier controversy over NPR's firing of analyst Juan Williams for saying on Fox News that he worries when he gets on an airplane and sees people in Muslim garb.

The criticism of Williams for his remarks was matched by criticism of NPR for his firing. Conservatives saw it as an example of bias.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-7th, called for an end to federal taxpayer funding then, and after the video was released, he noted that the executive on the tape said NPR doesn't need taxpayer funding to survive.

"The truth finally came out," Cantor said. "We are going to proceed along those lines."

And, if Gov. Bob McDonnell has his way, the stations could lose state funding, too.

The governor tried this year for the second time to cut funding to public broadcasting. The GOP-controlled House of Delegates also wanted to slash the spending but compromised with senators on a 10 percent cut to the overall funding. McDonnell could try to amend the budget to change that.

Urchie Ellis of Richmond, a retired lawyer-lobbyist who — as a community activist — closely monitors public spending, says that Virginia government support for public broadcasting is money well spent.

"The state contribution is leveraged very heavily," Ellis said. "It generates a lot of private contributions above and beyond public contributions. You don't have people making contributions to a lot of the other things the state does."

As for criticism, particularly from conservatives, that public broadcasting is biased, Ellis, who describes himself as a conservative, said, "I don't find the accusation about ultraliberal point of view as credible."

Community Idea Stations owns public television stations in Richmond and Charlottesville. WCVE Public Radio spans Richmond, Heathsville, Chase City and the surrounding communities.

Community donations account for more than federal funding as a share of the organization's budget, Monk said, but losing north of $1 million would be significant.

"It would present a tremendous challenge," he said. "Whether we could generate from our community the funds to replace a major loss of funding like this is a question that remains to be answered."

omeola@timesdispatch.com

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