Highland Park neighbors -- I am encouraging everyone, as each of us is able, to support public media. Cynthia -----Forwarded Message----- From: Terry O'Reilly, President & CEO <members@wesa.fm> Sent: Mar 26, 2025 2:21 PM To: Cynthia <designlanguage@earthlink.net> Subject: A Critical Moment for WESA and Public Media 96 How You Can Take Action (https://wesa.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=48530b39f4b5ec726db407d4a&am...) --> Hi Cynthia, Listeners and readers like you have built WESA into a trusted source of journalism for southwestern Pennsylvania. Every day, we strive to fulfill our mission of community service by informing people in ways that engage and inspire them to create dialogue about community issues and stories. Today, our commitment to that mission continues—made possible in part by federal funding that breaks down to just $1.60 per American each year, compared to nearly $100 per person invested in the BBC by the government of the United Kingdom. At WESA, 5% of our annual operating budget comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Congress will soon begin debating fiscal year 2026 appropriations, and public media is under intense scrutiny. Today, March 26, NPR CEO Katherine Maher and PBS leaders testified before the DOGE Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives at a hearing titled: "Anti-American Airwaves: Holding the Heads of NPR and PBS Accountable." The hearing challenged the essential value of public media and the federal funding that helps to sustain it. This hearing has the potential to change the future of public media and how we prepare for what comes next. But our largest source of funding isn't federal funding—it's you. WESA is lucky that over half of our funding comes from you and others who donate to support local news and essential information for our community. You are our most stable and reliable source of funding. Please show that you value mission-driven public media like WESA by contributing now. Support Public Media (https://wesa.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=48530b39f4b5ec726db407d4a&am...) Your donation has a real impact. By donating to WESA, you'll help to safe-guard independent journalism's future in southwestern Pennsylvania. Every contribution strengthens public media's future and ensures that we can continue to deliver the trustworthy news on which you rely. We'll keep you updated on the hearing (https://wesa.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=48530b39f4b5ec726db407d4a&am...) and other ways that you can take action. Thank you for your partnership, P.S. - Now, more than ever, we want you to understand exactly what's at stake...and to understand how you can help. Visit Protect My Public Media (https://wesa.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=48530b39f4b5ec726db407d4a&am...) to send a message to your congressional representatives. 90.5 WESA | 67 Bedford Square | Pittsburgh, PA 15203 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update which emails you receive (https://wesa.us20.list-manage.com/profile?u=48530b39f4b5ec726db407d4a&id...) or unsubscribe from ALL WESA emails (https://wesa.us20.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=48530b39f4b5ec726db407d4a&am...). View this email in your browser (https://mailchi.mp/wesa.fm/we-were-unable-to-process-your-most-recent-donati...) ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏