The race to rescue PBS and NPR stations

In June, on the eve of a House vote to strip $500 million in federal funding from public radio and TV stations, a group of philanthropists gathered in Philadelphia to brace for the worst.

They listened as Tim Isgitt, the head of a public media consulting firm, laid out the potential for what he called a doom loop — a catastrophic situation caused by the sudden elimination of federal funding. The closure of roughly 115 local radio and TV stations, he said, could result in fewer dollars in the public media system to pay for programming. And that, in turn, could eventually cause other local stations to close.

Now, some of those philanthropists are banding together in hopes of staving off that worst-case scenario by providing an emergency $26.5 million cash injection to stabilize the stations most at risk. The group is aiming to raise additional money for the fund and hopes to reach $50 million this year.

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