As the NPR article explains, the difference is that non-commercial broadcasters have to disclose their financial statements. A broadcaster which legally qualifies as a "church" does not.
NPR said:
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FCC Opens Investigation into NPR and PBS
- Thread starter xmtrland
- Start date
I would love to click 'Like' on this because I do sense that religious broadcasters enjoy some unfair advantages, but EMF (still called that before the its name change to K-Love Inc this year) was, in fact, filing 990 tax forms each year. I don't know about other religious broadcasters, though.
Educational Media Foundation - Nonprofit Explorer - ProPublica
Since 2013, the IRS has released data culled from millions of nonprofit tax filings. Use this database to find organizations and see details like their executive compensation, revenue and expenses, as well as download tax filings going back as far as 2001.
projects.propublica.org
Cold Coffee
Banned
For most not for profits it takes about 2 minutes to file the 990n with the IRS.
I know, right? Wealthy executives want their tax cuts and don't want to contribute a penny to things that benefit society and the arts, even if their careers have benefited from them. But then they enjoy the quality of life that comes from living in those states so much that they don't leave. Such a dilemma.
Cold Coffee
Banned
The tax rate for wealthy individuals is 37%.
That’s not always true. Some non-federal government entities (like Philadrlphia) have a tax on gross receipts in addition to profits or net profits.
That’s true if you are a smaller nonprofit (gross receipts under $50,000) but for larger nonprofits, especially those whose gross receipts are over $200,000 the 990 is a very long tax form to complete.
The CPB Board of Directors met April 1 & 2. Current.org reported on comments made regarding the hearings last week about funding cuts:
current.org
They are obviously very concerned about retaining their funding, and said they will step up engagements with congress in the coming weeks.
CPB leaders react to House hearing, federal funding threat
“There’s nothing more American than public media,” said Chair Ruby Calvert at Tuesday’s CPB board meeting.
current.org
They are obviously very concerned about retaining their funding, and said they will step up engagements with congress in the coming weeks.
Also the funding to CPB goes up to 2027. Whatever Marjorie Taylor Greene had in mind during the last congressional hearing about Public Media will not go the way she wants it to go before the 2026 elections.The CPB Board of Directors met April 1 & 2. Current.org reported on comments made regarding the hearings last week about funding cuts:
CPB leaders react to House hearing, federal funding threat
“There’s nothing more American than public media,” said Chair Ruby Calvert at Tuesday’s CPB board meeting.
They are obviously very concerned about retaining their funding, and said they will step up engagements with congress in the coming weeks.
CPB Statement on Congress’ Approval of Continued Funding for Public Media
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 14, 2025) — Patricia Harrison, President and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), issued the following statement today after the House and Senate approved a Continuing Resolution (CR) for Fiscal Year 2025, extending funding for public media. The...
The sale was thought to result in much more liberal talk, not less of it. LMN is financed by Soros.
Which was thought to be true. The actual result is that it resulted in less... much less... audience.
And he... and the newsreader from AZ... are proving themselves to be more incompetent than we thought. MTG deserves her own wing at the asylum.
On the other hand, ones like K-Love have enormous transparency and more "disclosure" than even critics need.
That's why I was surprised when he bought it up, especially since he's going after Soros at Audacy. He seems to adjust his reasoning to serve the narrative he wants to perpetuate. That's what ideologues do, and why he is so different from every other person who's had this job. He can't focus on the facts and the law. He has to always resort to the ideology.
Study finds conservatives and liberals want similar things from public media - Current
When asked about news attributes they value, people from opposite ends of the political spectrum aren’t that far apart, according to new audience research.
current.org
Americans more likely to support than oppose continuing federal funding for NPR and PBS
Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to support ending federal funding for public media.
www.pewresearch.org
Here is another study on Public Media and yes it has some stuff that both conservatives and liberals want from public media are similar when it comes to news content.
Keep in mind that not all conservatives are MAGA. The current FCC is run by MAGA. What conservatives want is free and fair reporting. MAGA wants the media to basically support the administration. Two different things.
FCC's Carr has responded to a letter from dem senators claiming his 8 investigations are weaponizing the FCC. He blames it all on Biden:
www.insideradio.com
If so, how did NPR and PBS benefit from the FCC during Biden? Funding was always bi-partisan. How does he explain entering his own personal opinion about federal funding into a letter that was mainly about non-commercial stations airing commercials? What does this have to do with NPR? No answer.
In his letter he repeats his false claim that rules were broken in the Audacy bankruptcy approval. The only thing that was different was Ted Cruz insisted that the full bank of commissioners rule on the bankruptcy, instead of having it done by the media bureau.
Carr Denies FCC Is Targeting Trump Critics, Blames Biden-Era ‘Weaponization.’
FCC Chair Brendan Carr denies using the agency to retaliate against media critical of President Trump, calling such claims “mischaracterized.” Responding to a Senate inquiry, Carr says actions under the
If so, how did NPR and PBS benefit from the FCC during Biden? Funding was always bi-partisan. How does he explain entering his own personal opinion about federal funding into a letter that was mainly about non-commercial stations airing commercials? What does this have to do with NPR? No answer.
In his letter he repeats his false claim that rules were broken in the Audacy bankruptcy approval. The only thing that was different was Ted Cruz insisted that the full bank of commissioners rule on the bankruptcy, instead of having it done by the media bureau.
For station drives, discussing funding threat appears to boost giving
"It's not that you can't talk about something that hasn't happened yet. It's how you talk about it if you decide to go there.”
current.org
Yes here is the current status on how local affiliates respond to the funding threat since the last congressional hearing involving NPR, PBS and their affiliates.
'All Funding Reconsidered': A station staff dialogue - Current
A fictional station meeting tackles the questions public media leaders can’t ignore.
current.org
Here is a situation describing local affiliates and productions of PBS and NPR response to Doge and how it affects their funding from CPB.
It's not clear how the numerous layoffs (near the end of the Biden administration) could be considered all that beneficial.
For station drives, discussing funding threat appears to boost giving
"It's not that you can't talk about something that hasn't happened yet. It's how you talk about it if you decide to go there.”
Yes here is the current status on how local affiliates respond to the funding threat since the last congressional hearing involving NPR, PBS and their affiliates.
I'll remind people since this most recent post addresses how stations would respond to and be affected by the funding cut.
KSKO would be toast piece 9J in the picture below..... cooked, done for, off the air permanently. We'd have enough money to keep operating for about 6 months before we shut off the transmitters and go home. We are advocating as best we can in our personal and professional circles.
I shared this on my personal facebook page today, but I'll share it here.. some are probably sick of hearing from me about it, but I'l lspeak up as loud as I can
Even with the advent of Starlink, KSKO is still very much vital, depended on and the only source of local information and provides life saving information.
What life saving info am I talking about? When the rivers start flowing again in spring and villages are under threat from flooding. During wildfire season when fire and smoke have threatened communities.
Corporation For Public Broadcasting funding is under threat and elimination of that would likely spell the permanent end of KSKO. The state used to provide some funding to public radio but has veto'd it for the last 10 years. Anyways, the stae funding would only be enough to operate KSKO for a few months.
KSKO launched in 1981 and had half a dozen staff. In 2006 it had 3 staff. In 2025, it has 1 full time person (me), 1 part time announcer, 1 part time office manager and 1 contract accountant. Yet., we somehow still manage to provide exemplary service to the western interior of Alaska because we know what our audience needs and depends on us for.
The best way to support is is to become a member and you can do that online at www.kskopublicradio.com anytime you want with membership levels to fit every budget. Memberships are the best way to measure the level of support we get.
This week alone, I'll be live in studio with two different clinic related staff.... today to talk about an ATV safety rodeo for middle and high school students, tomorrow I'll be talking to a nutritionist from the clinic about calories. I'll hopefully have someone from the tribal council on later this week to talk about jobs and next week I'll have an update from the local library about news/activities, etc.
I've had people walk in at random and I've stuck them on the air in 5 minutes or scheduled something for the next day. I've done numerous phone interviews relating to health, wellness, weather and other vital information.
Radio is still a very vital medium out here, trusted, needed and wanted.
We'd have to collect $100 every year from every single living breathing human being in our listening area to even being able to approach surviving without Corp. For Public Broadcasting funding while also cutting back services and taking money we use for other stuff and putting it towards the operating budget. We'd likely be in trouble if we had a major equipment failure; we'd be in jeopardy of not being able to afford to replace/repair.
The situation as it stands with specific relation to KSKO us how I understand the situation to be with regards to funding and operations, it is not necessarily the opinion or stance of our board of directors, but my observations of operations and funding.
My background isn't in public radio, I've been in commercial radio for 15 years. My background is almost entirely local radio, regardless of how/what/where it comes from. And I wouldn't be here for 5 years if I didn't stand behind the mission of KSKO.
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