WCMU Public Media faces funding cuts but finds strength in donors

“It’s always been the mission.” 

That’s the immediate reason Rick Westover, general manager of WCMU Public Media, gives when asked why he’s spent his entire career working to make Public Media possible in central and northern Michigan.

“We’re impacting people’s lives every single day with new information,” he continues. “We’re teaching their kids … We’re providing lifelong learning to folks that you know might not have another outlet. We can bring the opera to their living room, and we can bring incredible news reporting to their homes, to their cars, where maybe they don’t even have a newspaper in the community anymore. So, I mean, on so many levels, we impact people’s lives every single day.”

In fact, according to their website, WCMU has impacted the residents of 42 Michigan counties for over 50 years. That’s over 2 million people relying on both the television and radio stations for a variety of services every day.

On WCMU Public Television, viewers find national favorites like NOVA, Antiques Roadshow, Masterpiece, and a wide array of award-winning programs for children with the PBS Kids line-up.

 WCMU Public Radio offers listeners nationally-acclaimed news and information programming like Morning Edition,  All Things Considered, This American Life, and Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me! in addition to a channel of all-classical music through the WCMU Mobile App.

But WCMU isn’t only a venue for national Public Media programming. The heart and soul of the station can be found in locally-produced programming. 

For WCMU Public Radio, it’s award-winning local news and information, on everything from the latest updates with lawmakers in Lansing to Great Lakes State weather reports and breaking news stories in the communities the station serves. Locally-produced music shows include fan-favorites like The Juke Joint, bringing blues, soul, R&B, gospel, and zydeco to the airwaves; and Homespun, offering modern folk and traditional fare. 

WCMU Public Television’s award-winning Destination Michigan series brings TV cameras into communities around the state to tell the stories found there; Quiz Central invites regional high schoolers into the WCMU studio to compete for Central Michigan University (CMU) textbook scholarships; Ask the DNR  gives viewers the opportunity to ask their questions of experts from Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources; and Pressing Matters explores critical issues facing Michigan.

As a service of Central Michigan University, WCMU as a whole receives around 16% of its budget from CMU, along with a percentage of administrative support services from the university. In turn, WCMU is a “learning lab” for CMU student journalists and future broadcasters, giving them the opportunity to work in the Mt. Pleasant television and radio studios, as well as participate in summer internship partnerships with community newspapers like the Traverse City Record Eagle and Alpena News.

Up until this year, WCMU also received around 19% of its funding through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a non-profit corporation authorized by Congress in 1967. According to their website, the CPB has defined itself as being “the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting and the largest single source of funding for public radio, television, and related online and mobile services.”

However, the Rescissions Act of 2025, introduced to the House and Senate this summer, included the following change: “Amounts made available for ‘Corporation for Public Broadcasting’ for fiscal year 2026 by Public Law 118–47 are rescinded.” The Act proposed rescinding the funds for 2027 as well. 

Westover says he watched real-time coverage of the official Rescissions Act vote in July, knowing the impact the loss of funds would have on WCMU.

“It was certainly disheartening,” he says.”I was up in the middle of the night to watch that vote by vote by vote, and just hoping that the work that had been done through an advocacy group was enough to see us through.”

The Rescissions Act of 2025 was, however, signed into law on July 24. In August, the CPB announced that it would be closing down its operations on January 1, 2026. 

“For WCMU, this is roughly $1.6 million for each of those two years,” Westover says. “October 1 is when the Treasury would have normally released the appropriations for this year … For WCMU, this is a cut of about 19% of our annual budget.”

But Westover also says that WCMU viewers and listeners have stepped up during this time of uncertainty.

“Fundraising has been strong and our audience is motivated to see our station and the system continue,” he says.

“We are up 77.7% year over year [in fundraising], which is phenomenal. Revenue per donor is up 48.8%,” he explains, noting that increase, if sustained, helps cover the first year’s funding loss. “So if we were to have everybody that gave last year increase their gift by 50% that [next year loss of] $1.6 million can be covered.” 

“Now, we’re one quarter into the year,” he adds. “That’s a long time to sustain that, but right now we’re on target.”

“It is so appreciated by everybody here,” Westover adds when asked what message he’d like to share with donors who have contributed since the news about the CPB funding cuts came in. “Anybody in the community that watches or listens or turns on the WCMU app or asks their smart speaker to play WCMU or goes to Passport to watch a show: you’re making it possible. Day by day by day.”

“Every donation that comes in, and everybody that’s taken the time to increase their sustaining gifts—so many have offered some substantial increases to see us through this. It is really amazing to watch every day,” he says.

Thanks to the generosity of donors and careful planning, Westover says that, right now, there are no plans for staff cuts or layoffs at the station. 

“We’re doing everything we can to keep these jobs in place for these folks,” he says. “We can’t lose these people because we can’t create the local content that everybody’s looking for without them. Once you lose that, you’re just a pass through for the National Network—which is good quality programming—but we need people on the ground reporting on our communities and telling the stories from our communities and highlighting cultural elements that make this home for us as Michiganders.” 

“So without them, this station begins to be a pale shell of itself, and I don’t want to see that happen. So I feel that pressure every day to make sure we’re making the right choices and taking the right steps to keep it all going,” Westover says.

“The great thing about Public Media is that it is a public resource,” he adds. “And it is free for anybody to access, anywhere, anytime. It does take voluntary gifts to keep it going, but if and when you have the opportunity to offer your support, we welcome it when you can. And when you can’t, it’s going to be there for you. Watch, enjoy, listen, that’s what it’s for.”

“There are people, I’m sure, that have listened for a year, five years, 10, 40, 50 years, that maybe haven’t made a donation, but they can do that now, and there is no need to feel embarrassed by that fact. We look to celebrate that gift whenever it comes in,” he says.

“I see a positive future for our station,” Westover concludes. “We’re kind of still absorbing the shock of it all and just figuring out different aspects of it day by day. We’re fortunate to see our fundraising numbers where they are. People are coming through that’s been phenomenal to watch. We are having new donors find us and respond with support, which is incredible.” 

In the meantime, concerned community members can reach out to their state and local representatives, as well as connect with the advocacy group, Protect My Public Media, for resources and the opportunity to share how Public Media has impacted their lives. In addition, monetary donations can be made to WCMU Public Media by visiting their website.