It’s up to us

HPPR’s plan for moving forward past the federal defunding of public media

HPPR has faced and managed through many challenges across its 45 years of serving the High Plains. Now it faces its greatest challenge. The federal defunding of public media in July means a significant loss of funding for HPPR as well as the disruption of the entire public media system that supports HPPR and public radio stations across the country.

Since congress voted to defund public media in July, we’ve been working through what it means for HPPR and continued public radio service on the High Plains and have developed a comprehensive plan for moving forward amid these new realities. The plan includes four elements:

Assess the situation: its full impact on HPPR and immediate adjustments needed
Bridge through the next two years by raising the funds to fill the gap left by the loss of CPB support
Build HPPR’s local and regional news and information services to widen its audience and grow its base of support
Realize the full potential of HPPR and its mission by developing the next generation of civic media service to the High Plains

Details of each element of this plan are provided in the sections that follow.

ASSESSING the full situation and its impacts on HPPR
In early July, Congress approved a rescission request from the White House to take back $1.1 billion of already appropriated funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for FY26 and FY27. CPB is now shutting down and ending its grant support to local stations effective September 30, 2025. The vital shared services that it had provided to stations will also no longer be supported. These include the satellite system HPPR uses to gather programming from around the world and link our studios to your local station, the royalties for every piece of music you hear on HPPR, the software that powers hppr.org and the development of advanced emergency warning systems.

The financial impact on HPPR is consequently two-fold: the loss of expected operating grant funds for two years and the projected added expenses of helping to fund the shared services once support by COB. Together, HPPR estimates the loss at $550,000 over two years, starting October 1, 2025.

In addition to assessing the financial impact of defunding, we’re adjusting and adapting to the changed circumstances. This includes working closely with NPR and other national organizations to ensure the shared services formerly provided by CPB can continue so our services are not disrupted in the near term. Internally, we’ve also been limiting expenses wherever we can and tightening operational policies, practices and workflows to operate as efficiently as possible.

BRIDGING the funding gap
The $550,000 loss in support from CPB amounts to just over 15% of HPPR’s annual budget. It’s a large enough share that the funding gap can’t be covered by just trimming budgets around the margins, certainly not for an operation like HPPR that already runs very lean and with minimal staffing for the scope of its operations. So, we have taken a close, cold-eyed view of the large cuts that would need to be made to cover the gap through budget cuts. Such cuts would require shutting down or lowering the power of stations, dropping national programs and network affiliations, cutting or dropping state and regional news coverage, and/or reducing or eliminating local programming.

While the numbers on a spreadsheet can be made to work to balance the budget by slashing expenses, in reality such cuts start the scenario of a downward spiral. Shutting down a transmitter means some current supporters are no longer served. Eliminating programs that listeners enjoy and rely on undermines HPPR’s value to them and their reasons for supporting HPPR. They also diminishes HPPR’s mission of enriching and supporting the civic, educational, cultural and artistic lives of individuals and communities all across the High Plains region.

Analyzing and seeing what closing the gap by cutting HPPR services would mean, is what has given us the determination to close the gap by raising additional funding through our Up to Us campaign. We believe it can be done and hope you'll share this belief and determination.

The goal of the Up to Us campaign is the full $550,000 in support HPPR was expecting to receive from CPB over the next two years, before the take back of funding in July. It is a special campaign to provide additional support needed, beyond the existing annual and monthly contributions we receive from supporters. It can be viewed as a capital campaign, except in this case it isn’t about brick and mortar, it’s actually about capital itself, the “bridge” financing we need to continue our current services to you and your community and give us the time needed to adjust smartly to all the new realities facing public media.

The goal is also to raise the a$550,000 by the end of this year. Even though it's two years of lost funding that needs to be raised, we want to do it within the four months of September through December so that we can move forward, focus on our service to you and not be continually preoccupied with raising it in increments over the next two years.

Succeeding in this campaign will require added support from everyone at every level, from a $5 or $10 increase in monthly giving as an HPPR sustainer to major gifts or two-year pledges of $25,000 or $100,000.

You can additional support now will move the Up to Us campaign and HPPR forward:

There also additional ways you can help reach the campaign goal. Beyond individual support, HPPR is seeking business support for the campaign through new program sponsors (underwriters). If you know of a business that could be a potential sponsor and you can provide HPPR with an introduction to, click here. Similarly, if there is foundation that could make a “bridge grant” to HPPR that you have connections to, please let us know.

BUILDING HPPR’s regional news and information service
While the Up to Us campaign is the essential element of HPPR’s plan for moving forward past defunding, it is not enough. We can’t simply “bridge” back to the very same point we are now. We need to build HPPR’s service to the region in ways that grow the audience and widen our base of support so our operations are sustainable past the two-year bridge.

This is something we’ve been planning, working on and seeking funding for over the past year, well before the defunding of CPB was on the horizon. The idea we’ve developed is the High Plains Civic Media Network, a region-wide collaboration of individuals and organizations working together to provide local and regional news and information of interest and significance to audiences across the High Plains. Through this network we could greatly increase the regional news, information and cultural programming HPPR provides – and make better use of the broadcast, digital and organizational infrastructure that HPPR already has in place.

Back in March we submitted an application to Press Forward, a nonpartisan philanthropic initiative working to strengthen communities by reinvigorating and reimaging local news. The grant round we applied to was highly competitive, with 560 applications submitted from leading media organizations across the country. Only 22 grants were awarded, with HPPR being among them. The grant provides $750,000 over the next three years to support building the High Plains Civic Media Network. It’s announcement by Press Forward came at the very same time as the defunding vote occurred and was a very good piece of hopeful news.

Because the grant is for HPPR’s forward looking initiative to create the High Plains Civic Media Network, none of its funds can be used for existing HPPR expenses or to bridge the CPB funding gap. But it gives us the means to be "building" HPPR’s service while we are “bridging”, and that is very good news for “moving forward”.

REALIZING the potential of HPPR
As you’ve often heard, we’ve long described HPPR as an “ear to the world” and a “voice of the High Plains”. As we bridge and builds to the next generation of civic media service to the High Plains, these fundamental elements of our mission will not change.

Through the Up to Us bridging campaign we will continue to be an ear to the world by providing the region with:

Factual, in-depth national and international news from NPR, the BBC and other trusted sources with the highest journalistic standards;
The best in music, arts, culture and storytelling programming from the leading public radio producers; and
Two 24/7 programming services: HPPR Mix (news, information and diverse music) and HPPR Connect (all news, information, discussion, storytelling and other spoken word programming)

And by simultaneously building the High Plains Civic Media Network we can become a far greater “voice of the High Plains” by providing:

Ongoing coverage of topics of region-wide interest given our common geography, environment, economy, history and cultures
Greatly increased regional content on the digital platforms people use to get their news and information
Greater coverage and promotion of the programs and events of community organizations;
More direct ties into more communities; and
The source to seek to know what’s happening of interest and significance across the High Plains.

By increasing the news and information relevance and value to residents across the region through the High Plains Civic Media Network, HPPR will then be able to grow its audience reach, engagement and base of support.

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While the defunding of CPB presents great challenges for all of public media, we see it as an impetus to reimagine HPPR’s service to the region at a time when so much has changed in the media environment. When HPPR began operating in 1980 there was far less media across the region (few FM stations, limited cable TV and no internet) and a great felt need for public radio service. Today there are far more media sources available from outside the region but an even greater need for media that is civil, thoughtful, informative, factual and genuine – and that remains owned and operated within the region and entirely dedicated to serving the region.

Your extra measure of support at this critical point in time will ensure HPPR’s continued service to the region and enable it to realize its full potential.

Should you have any questions or thoughts about HPPR’s plans for moving forward past the defunding of public media, please feel free to contact Quentin Hope, HPPR’s Executive Director at qhope@hppr.org.