{"id":46397,"date":"2025-07-07T16:28:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T16:28:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/46397\/"},"modified":"2025-07-07T16:28:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T16:28:20","slug":"jacksonvilles-wjct-asks-for-donations-after-gov-desantis-vetoes-public-tv-and-radio-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/46397\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville\u2019s WJCT asks for donations after Gov. DeSantis vetoes public TV and radio funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 A week after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed about $5.7 million in funding for public radio and television stations, Jacksonville-based WJCT Public Media called the cuts \u201cdeeply troubling\u201d and looked to its listeners to help make up the losses. <\/p>\n

According to multiple media reports<\/a>, DeSantis cut $1.3 million for public radio stations and about $4.4 million for public television stations when signing the state\u2019s 2025-26 budget.<\/p>\n

The budget bill<\/b><\/a> had $370,400 allocated to each public television station recommended by the Commissioner of Education, with radio stations slated to get $100,000 each.<\/p>\n

In an email sent to listeners on Sunday, WJCT Public Media said that the decision means an immediate loss of nearly half a million dollars annually.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis funding has long served as a critical foundation for our work. Along with federal funding, it helps sustain the essential public-private partnership that powers our mission,\u201d WJCT Public Media President and CEO David McGowan wrote in a statement. \u201cLet me be clear: this is not just a budget cut. It is a direct blow to the infrastructure that supports educational programming for children, non-partisan local journalism, public safety, and civic dialogue across the First Coast.\u201d<\/p>\n

McGowan said public funding has always been a bipartisan investment in the common good.<\/p>\n

WJCT is now turning to individual public donations,<\/a> which are already its largest source of funding. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you already support us, please consider increasing your gift. Your support isn\u2019t just helpful; it is essential to the future of WJCT Public Media and the vital services we provide for the First Coast,\u201d McGowan said. \u201cI don\u2019t make this request lightly. But I do make it with conviction: this is a community worth investing in. And WJCT is one of the few places where all voices, all ages, and all perspectives can come together\u2014regardless of means.”<\/p>\n

WJCT is an NPR member station, and NPR is also in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

In June, the House of Representatives approved legislation to eliminate the next two years of federal funding for public media outlets, including NPR and PBS<\/a>. The Senate still has to approve the measure. <\/p>\n

They are betting the cuts prove popular with constituents who view NPR and PBS as having a liberal bias.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 A week after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed about $5.7 million in funding for public…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":46398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,8314,3188,723,7310,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,36070],"class_list":["post-46397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-america","tag-duval-county","tag-fl","tag-florida","tag-jacksonville","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-wjct"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114812898807399341","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}