What could a non-commercial community radio station that broadcasts “a diverse and vibrant program schedule” to rural Southeast Alaska and a public broadcast service in one of America’s largest markets have in common?
Each are receiving a significant sum of money from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to upgrade their equipment to provide enhanced emergency alerting.
Such funding is significant, despite an effort championed in the Senate by John N. Kennedy (R-La.) to defund CPB for its ties to PBS and NPR, which are viewed by many conservatives as liberally biased in their news and public affairs coverage.
In Sitka, Alaska, KCAW-FM 104.7 and K221BG at 90.1 MHz, branded as “Raven Radio,” is eligible to receive up to $313,203 to upgrade equipment allowing the station to increase coverage of its broadcast signal to underserved areas, adding redundancy to make their service more reliable.
Concurrently, Clark Atlanta University-owned WCLK-FM 91.9 in Atlanta is able to pocket up to $195,331 to replace and upgrade aging equipment to address broadcast interruptions and improve the station’s emergency alerting system.
With these grants, CPB has awarded funding to 40 public media stations in 22 states so far for the Next Generation Warning System (NGWS) grant program, funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
“Public media stations play a vital role in emergency alerting in communities across the country,” said CPB President/CEO Patricia Harrison. “The Next Generation Warning System grant program helps public media organizations, especially in rural areas, to replace and upgrade their infrastructure so that they can continue to keep their communities safe.”
The NGWS grant program, which prioritizes public media stations, provides funding for media organizations to upgrade their equipment and receive training to enhance alerting and warning capabilities. So far, 40 grants have been awarded in the initial round of funding, which drew from the $40 million allocated by Congress for Fiscal Year 2022. Congress subsequently appropriated $56 million in funding in FY 2023, and CPB received approximately 170 station applications requesting more than $109 million in the FY2023 round of NGWS funding.
FEMA recently announced that CPB will administer a third round of funding from the $40 million Congress approved in FY 2024.
“FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) is dedicated to enhancing resilience by quickly sharing emergency communications with the public through various integrated channels,” said Manny Centeno, Director of FEMA IPAWS. “IPAWS offers a range of tools and resources that enable local authorities to effectively communicate emergencies to the public. We are continuously working on developing the Next Generation Warning System concept, improving continuity, and using advanced television and radio technologies, to ensure that we can reach the public wherever they are.”
