Why trusted, non-commercial media still matters, and what we risk without it

Long before I understood what “public media” meant, Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, and The Electric Company were teaching me what it meant to learn, care, and belong. And as I’ve grown older, I’ve seen those same values echoed across the public media landscape.

Morning Edition and All Things Considered bring clarity to my mornings. Frontline and PBS NewsHour challenge me to think more critically. PBS Kids shaped my daughters’ earliest learning, just as it once shaped mine. Great Performances and American Experience bring history and the arts into our home. And Antiques Roadshow reminds me that everyone — and every thing — has a story, even if my husband doesn’t always understand the appeal.

Public media’s purpose is to inform, teach, inspire, and ground us in something bigger than ourselves. It’s one of the few places that remain where fact-based journalism, passionate storytelling, and shared culture are freely available, without the pressure of profit and clicks.

That’s why the elimination of federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (and, by extension, NPR & PBS) is so deeply concerning. As Margaret McConnell, WDIY’s Executive Director, put it: “[These cuts] dismantle a system and an infrastructure that has long worked to ensure access to reliable, non-commercial information and cultural programming for communities large and small.”

Here in the Lehigh Valley, we’re fortunate to have two stations that center local stories and connect us to the nation and world: WDIY and PBS39/WLVT. And they do so with integrity, not for profit.

As a media literacy educator, I ask my learners to think critically: Who created this message? What voices are missing? Whose values are reflected (or ignored)? And when they ask, But who can we trust? I often point to public media. Not because it’s perfect, but because it’s principled. It is built on editorial independence, public accountability, and the belief that access to trusted information is a public good. (And, that an informed public is, in fact, good.)

These cuts aren’t just about budgets. They’re about deliberately weakening a system that keeps people connected, informed, and engaged. What we will see is that without access to reliable media, misinformation spreads faster, division runs deeper, and our democracy suffers.

So what do we do?

We speak up. We contact our representatives. We support our local stations. We tell the stories of why public media matters. And, yes, we donate whenever we can.

And, we stay with the work. We teach media literacy in our schools and communities. We show our children what it means to read, watch, and listen with care and curiosity. And we vote for leaders who believe that access to trustworthy information is indispensable in a healthy democracy.