In an interview(Wednesday) with WNPR’s John Henry Smith, Connecticut Public Media CEO Mark Contreras said there are no plans for “the next year or so” to make programming changes or layoff employees after Congress voted to gut funding for public media nationwide.
The interview aired during All Things Considered.
Contreras said the federal cuts present a “challenge” that he and Connecticut Public’s leadership are working to address. The federal cuts will pull about $2 million from the Connecticut Public budget, which amounts to about ten percent of all spending. Contreras said he is confident it is a reduction that can be overcome. However, he said many public media stations in other parts of the country rely on federal funding for up to seventy-percent of their operations, and that Contreras said, represents an “insurmountable” loss.
