PBS Michiana – WNIT has gotten a grant to help offset the loss of state and federal funding. The public television station has gotten $694,000 from the Public Media Bridge Fund.
WNIT President and General Manager Amanda Miller Kelley says that’s a little more than half of what the station lost in the funding cuts. “We are still facing an uphill climb, in terms of budget and in terms of what the future will look like,” Miller Kelley said.
In August, WNIT cut staff and reduced local productions, in response to the loss of government funding. Miller Kelley said it’s still too early to say whether the grant could help bring those back, but it will give the station more “breathing room” to make the needed adjustments.
“It really lets us focus on our mission and what we do, instead of only panicking about the bottom line,” she explained.
At the same time, Miller Kelley said the station has seen an increase in viewer support, in response to the cuts. She said she’s been touched and pleased by the way the community has stepped up.
"It is for us, we feel, a real value statement of what we do and what we bring to this community," Miller Kelley said. "We are so pleased to be this area’s largest classroom and to be this area’s largest stage, and we’re going to be doing it for a long time."
The Public Media Bridge Fund was launched in August by the nonprofit Public Media Company, with funding from foundations and individual donors. The first round of grants focused on stations facing what it calls “an acute funding gap” that threatens their ability to continue operating. The Bridge Fund plans to work with grant recipients to help them put together “new operating models that secure their future.”
