John Harris, president and CEO of Prairie Public Broadcasting, speaks March 7, 2025, during a legislative committee hearing about state and federal funding for the organization. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
By: Michael Achterling and Mary Steurer
BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – North Dakota-based Prairie Public Broadcasting may look and sound different over the next 12 months if Senate lawmakers proceed with expected funding cuts.
John Harris, president of Prairie Public, said Wednesday he is pessimistic about federal funds continuing to flow to PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting after Vice President JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote to advance a bill that claws back previously approved funding.
“It’s just a high potential that we’re going to take a significant hit,” Harris said. He said the elimination of the federal funds adds up to about $2 million of Prairie Public’s budget over the next two years.
Federal funding for three North Dakota tribal radio stations also was at risk, but a deal announced late Tuesday would set aside funds for some Native American radio stations.
Prairie Public has been saving money to blunt the impact of the federal budget cuts, Harris said. Potential changes to programming, staff and facilities may happen more gradually over the next year.
“Everything is on the table for consideration of what to do to balance the budget,” he said.
Harris said losing Prairie Public broadcasting coverage in rural parts of the state would be an “extreme” and he believes the organization would do everything it could to preserve its coverage area across North Dakota and western Minnesota.
North Dakota Sens. John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer were among Republican senators who voted yes to begin debate on the bill that would cancel $9 billion in funding for public broadcasting and several foreign aid programs.
“There’s a strong feeling that they should get their funding privately, like the other broadcasters do,” Hoeven said after a news conference last week in Bismarck.
Cramer said there may have been a time when Prairie Public needed federal funding to stay afloat, but he thinks that time has “long passed.”
North Dakota U.S. Rep. Julie Fedorchak, also a Republican, previously supported the bill.
“Public funds should support core national interests — not subsidize biased messaging or unaccountable programs,” Fedorchak said in a statement last month.
State lawmakers also took aim at public broadcasting funds this year. Gov. Kelly Armstrong included $2.9 million in funding for Prairie Public in his budget proposal for 2025-27, including $1.7 million in one-time funding for transmitter maintenance. However, that funding was reduced to $400,000.
Native American radio stations
As the U.S. Senate voted late Tuesday to advance the bill, South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds announced an agreement that would continue to fund some Native American radio stations, States Newsroom reported.
The agreement with White House budget director Russ Vought would move $9.4 million from an account within the Interior Department to Native American radio stations in North Dakota and 10 other states, according to Rounds’ office.
The budget request for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting lists three North Dakota Native American radio stations serving the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation and the Spirit Lake Nation.
Federal funding makes up a large share of the budget for KEYA, the public radio station that serves the Turtle Mountain Reservation, said program director Jarle Kvale.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting requested that KEYA receive $222,675 in federal money.
Kvale said “it would be difficult to survive” without that funding.
He described KEYA as an “old school” radio station that serves the Turtle Mountain community by broadcasting tribal council meetings, public service announcements and weather forecasts, among other news.
The station turns 50 years old in October. Kvale has been working there for 31 years, he said.
Cutting public broadcasting funding for tribal radio stations would be “devastating to Indian Country,” said Nicole Donaghy, executive director of North Dakota Native Vote.
“In rural communities, tribal radio is often the only trusted source for culturally relevant content, emergency alerts, civic updates and language revitalization,” Donaghy said in a Wednesday statement.
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