As public media faces uncertain future, a roundtable of Maryland's nonprofit broadcasters

On today’s Midday, a roundtable on the future of public media in Maryland. The forecast is not pretty for PBS, NPR and its many, many local stations across the country. Shifting consumer habits have led to a decline in listenership and viewership. Economic uncertainty affects public broadcasting like it affects all businesses. Meanwhile, the Trump administration wants to eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which partially funds NPR and PBS. On Monday, Russell Vought, the head of the Office of Management and Budget, sent a memo to lawmakers requesting the rescinding of about two years of funding—more than $1 billion dollars. Our panel today includes three leaders of public media organizations representing a diverse range of programming and audience across the state. Steven Schupak is the Station manager at Maryland Public Television. He is to become MPT’s President and CEO in July. Jackie Jones is the Dean of the School of Global Journalism & Communication at Morgan State University, where she helps run WEAA. Bryan Russo is the Chief of Content and Operations at Delmarva Public Media, which runs three public radio stations at two universities on the Eastern Shore.