Congress’s resolution to remove greater than $1 billion in funding for public broadcasting is greater than a budgetary blow — it’s a direct hit to stations like KTSU 90.9FM, the center of neighborhood radio at Texas Southern College.
For 53 years, the station has delivered jazz, blues, gospel, and hip-hop to Houston’s airwaves, amplifying Black voices, preserving tradition and offering trusted information protection. Now, it’s going through a 20% working price range lower that would silence its signature sound.
A menace to neighborhood voices
“We’re already engaged on a shoestring price range,” mentioned KTSU Basic Supervisor Ernest Walker. “These cuts will harm. Not simply us — however the communities we serve.”
Final yr, KTSU obtained $203,000 from the Company for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a significant complement to its $2 million working price range. The station is amongst 14 HBCU-run public stations nationwide that depend on CPB funding to stay on the air.
Now, that cash is gone — together with greater than $17 million in CPB grants despatched to public TV and radio stations throughout Texas in 2024. The defunding invoice, handed by the Home 216-213 and backed by all 25 Texas Republicans (together with Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn), advances to President Donald Trump’s desk for remaining approval.
Most public media grants will finish by October.
Cuts to tradition and protection
KTSU’s attain extends far past the TSU campus. With streaming audiences in Los Angeles, New York and even overseas, the station serves as each a cultural archive and a significant information lifeline for underserved communities.
“We’re right here to serve the individuals. That’s what public radio is,” Walker mentioned. “But when the individuals don’t assist, we’ll need to make robust selections — together with slicing workers and canceling the applications that folks love.”
The price of working KTSU’s two stations, year-round programming and quite a few neighborhood occasions relies upon closely on listener and grant help. With out it, the award-winning protection, native music curation and public service bulletins that listeners have come to rely on are in danger
‘You may give one thing’
Walker is urging the neighborhood to step up.
“Everyone can do one thing,” he mentioned. “Some may give 1000’s, others $5 or $10 a month. Each greenback counts.”
Donations go immediately towards programming, expertise, personnel and outreach — the issues that hold KTSU’s mission alive. And it’s a mission that’s deeply private for a lot of.
“Once I consider 53 years, I keep in mind listening as a toddler, particularly on Gospel Sundays. KTSU was a practice in our home — and in so many others,” mentioned Walker. “We will’t quieten our voices proper now. We’re right here to serve the underserved communities, and that’s what KTSU is actually about. We protect our heritage, our tradition, we educate, encourage and entertain all on the similar time.We will’t let that legacy die.”
A legacy price preserving
For comic and proud Houston native Ali Siddiq, KTSU is greater than a station — it’s household.
“You don’t overlook who poured into you,” he mentioned, in a message of help for the station that helped form his profession.
The station is looking on TSU alumni, native listeners and public radio supporters nationwide to assist fill the funding hole.
“We will’t quiet our voices now,” Walker mentioned. “We protect our heritage, our tradition. We educate, encourage and entertain — and we do it for the individuals.”
How one can assist
Listeners can help KTSU within the following methods:
Textual content DONATE to 713-313-4354
Go to ktsuradio.com and click on the “Stand With KTSU” banner on the homepage
Share the message on social media utilizing the hashtag #StandWithKTSU
Encourage native companies to sponsor programming or underwrite occasions
KTSU’s survival now is determined by the neighborhood it has served for greater than 5 many years. As Walker put it: “The phrase ‘public’ in public radio means the individuals. We’re asking the individuals to face with us.”
