Congressional defunding of public broadcasting has created challenges for many stations, but KVPR is using the cuts as a catalyst for growth.

It has been just over a year since the Republican-led Congress cut federal funding for public broadcasting, citing allegations that PBS and NPR stations exhibited a liberal bias. The intent was clear: to silence these stations. That effort has not succeeded, but the loss of federal funding has weakened some public broadcasters, particularly those serving rural communities.

But in the San Joaquin Valley, the region’s NPR station has turned the funding challenge into an opportunity to broaden its reach. Since the defunding, KVPR has expanded its fundraising efforts, strengthened its local programming, and brought more journalists into the newsroom.

On a pleasant summer morning last week, the Valley Public Radio staff invited its major donors and other supporters to its broadcast center in Clovis to thank them for helping the station overcome the funding crisis and increase its membership footprint in a seven-county region that runs from Merced County to Kern County.

Joe Moore, KVPR’s president and general manager, told the group that membership is up 40 percent since the federal funding reduction. Wow. That’s a remarkable show of commitment from KVPR’s listeners, and a clear indication that they value the station, even if those in Washington, D.C., don’t.

“The challenge though is that the defunding was not just a one-time occurrence,” Moore said. “We now have to do it all over again. We know we won’t continue to grow at 40 percent a year, but we want to ensure the sustainability of operations in this new era.”

That’s the important point. KVPR saw an increase in fundraising after the defunding vote, but will the region continue to send enough money each year to make up for the lost funding? Those donations can’t simply be a short-term response to the vote in Congress.

Moore and his staff point to several indicators that suggest the positive trend will continue. KVPR’s audience is also up 40 percent, with much of the growth among younger listeners, particularly Millennials and Gen Z.

“This is the next generation of public radio listeners and supporters,” Moore said. “In Spring 2026, 35 percent of our audience was 34 or younger, compared to 15 percent two years ago.”

There also is another huge milestone for KVPR’s finances. On Aug. 5, the station paid off the remainder of its loan on the $6 million broadcast center, which was $650,000. That will allow the principal and interest on the loan to be put back into operations for programming and news coverage.

The Valley’s public radio station, established in 1978, is entering a promising new chapter.

“KVPR isn’t going anywhere,” Moore said. “We may have been defunded but we are not defeated, and our commitment to serve the Valley has never been stronger. In addition to our acclaimed national shows from NPR and others, we’re increasingly focused on bringing local content to our listeners.”

KVPR has started the Central Valley Daily podcast and broadcast series, added The Arts Angle with Donald Munro, and a new local history series, Central Valley Roots, hosted by Moore. They’ve added The Maddy Report, giving local public policy discussions from the Maddy Institute, and KQED’s weekly look at California politics and policy.

The station has restarted its internship program with Fresno State, and Moore said the station has retained three students after their internships ended. I’m proud to say that all three were my students, and I can personally vouch for their abilities, work ethic, and commitment to quality journalism.

At this point, I should note, for the sake of transparency, that the Institute for Media and Public Trust at Fresno State, where I serve as executive director, has a partnership with KVPR. The station will co-sponsor our Constitution Day event on Sept. 17, as well as a Sept. 30 talk featuring New York Times journalist Manny Fernandez, who broke the Times’ stories about the sexual abuse allegations against farm labor leader Cesar Chavez.

Moore told the audience last week that to be sustainable without federal funding, the station needs more supporters willing to help financially.

“For years we had a little less than 4,000 members,” he said. “Now we’re approaching 5,000. We’d like to get that to 6,000 or more. We need to broaden the base of support. We need new, younger members, connecting with that new audience that we are seeing in the data.”

KVPR is on track to hit these goals. The defunding in Washington has gotten the attention of public broadcasting supporters, and that’s a good thing, especially in an era when politicians in power seem intent on punishing the voices they’d rather keep quiet.