“There is no way that we can fill that hole in our budget with local fundraising.”

“It keeps me up at night to think about what could happen.”

ANCHORAGE, AK, July 24, 2025 – Days after Senator Dan Sullivan voted to gut the public media stations that keep Alaskans informed during natural disasters—even as his constituents were sheltering in place during an active tsunami warning—Alaskans across the state are slamming the decision as dangerous and out of touch. 

Here’s what they’re saying: 

Alaska’s News Source: Public Radio, Television Stations Concerned About Funding Cuts

• Congress passed a list of budget cuts last week that included billions slashed from public media funding. Just a week out from that, we’re seeing the first big impacts. 

• What you’re seeing now is a station transmitter for KCHU […] with the federal cuts, KCHU is calling on the public to help by donating.

• Referencing the 1964 earthquake, [KCHU News Director James Devins says] “there was a tidal wave, both in Valdez and Cheniere, and the tidal wave killed dozens of people.”

• “And the difference that day between the people that lived and the people that died was where they happened to be standing when the wave hit because they had no warning at all. And today the warning that they would have would come from KCHU public radio. Without that signal, it keeps me up at night to think about what could happen.”

Alaska’s News Source: Federal Lawmakers Considering Cuts to Public Broadcasting Funding

• Federal lawmakers overnight passing $9 billion in cuts to global aid and broadcasting with the Senate’s vote on the Recessions Act of 2025. 

• Here in Alaska, with cuts looming, local stations such as the public outlet in Unalaska stand to lose a lot of money. 

• Alaska Public Media tells us the state could lose some $30 million in funding for stations like KUCB, which issued urgent alerts during yesterday’s earthquake and during that tsunami scare. They could lose access to hundreds of thousands of dollars. In Unalaska, they’re looking at $290,000 in cuts, their General Manager, Lauren Adams, told us today. That’s 43% of their budget. I asked that they would be able to continue giving out potentially life saving information. The funding isn’t there. Adams said she wasn’t sure.

• “So we’re going to look very different. It’s going to have to be a collaborative effort with our community and our board of directors to find a way to move forward, but there is no way that we can fill that hole in our budget with local fundraising. We’re a very small community, and our community already gives a lot to not only us, but to all the nonprofits.”

Juneau Empire (Opinion): Begich and Sullivan Failed to Represent Alaskans

• […] Dan Sullivan and U.S. Rep. Nick Begich had the opportunity last week to say no to Trump’s proposal to rescind two years worth of federal funding for public radio and TV in this country.

• The measure before Congress yanked roughly $30 million from public radio in Alaska. That’s no small number: Of the 27 public radio stations in the state, 11 receive more than half their budget from the federal Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In Wrangell, federal funding covers close to half of KSTK’s annual budget.

• This is not a trim, it’s a hatchet job.

• [Senator Murkoswki]: “My colleagues are targeting NPR (National Public Radio) but will wind up hurting — and, over time, closing down — local radio stations that provide essential news, alerts and educational programming in Alaska and across the country.”

• Sullivan, who often mimics the president’s misleading and dishonest rhetoric, didn’t say anything. His spokesperson said the senator had warned public media that their “biased reporting” could cost them money. 

• Voting against the recissions package would have been a big help, but that option just wasn’t on Sullivan’s dial.

Anchorage Daily News (Opinion): Letter: Where’s the engagement with Alaska from Sullivan and Begich? 

• Every time I read about the reaction to questions sent to Dan Sullivan and Nick Begich regarding their votes, I read “their office didn’t reply” or “no comment at this time”. 

• The only communication we seem to get from them are bland, one-sided editorials filled with hyperbole and misinformation. 

• As elected officials, Duck and Cover Dan and No Comment Nick need to make themselves available to answer their constituents’ legitimate concerns.