CPB Funds Rural Radio News Expansion in Eight States

RADIO ONLINE | Thursday, December 4, 2025 | 2:52pm CT

Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) has awarded $4.4 million in grants to expand rural journalism, strengthening local news coverage across public radio and television stations in eight states. The new Rural News and Information Services initiative aims to boost reporting in regions that often lack consistent, community-focused media.

Several public radio organizations will build or expand collaborative newsrooms serving small towns and remote communities:

In Wisconsin, PBS Wisconsin and Wisconsin Public Radio are launching Rural Voices, a reporting project that will draw on local town hall sessions and existing rural bureaus to highlight concerns and solutions emerging from the state's most remote areas.

Ideastream Public Media in Ohio will add an Appalachian Reporter to its statewide Ohio Newsroom collaborative, covering five underserved counties in Southeast Ohio. The reporting will be shared with public radio partners as well as nonprofit and commercial newsrooms. A new Community Collaborations Editor will also work to deepen listener engagement through surveys and listening sessions.

Three Arkansas stations -- KUAR Little Rock, KUAF Fayetteville, and KASU Jonesboro -- are forming the Arkansas News Collaborative. The regional radio newsroom will spotlight rural economic development, quality-of-life issues, and major transformations underway across the state, from new steel plants in Osceola to changing land use in the Walmart-influenced Northwest region.

High Plains Public Radio will create the High Plains Civic News and Information Network, generating multi-platform reporting across an 89-county region spanning Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Nebraska -- an area averaging fewer than 10 residents per square mile.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting will grow its Inside Appalachia Folkways program, training local residents -- many new to journalism -- to report from within their own communities. Partnering with WEKU in Eastern Kentucky, the effort aims to fill emerging news deserts while elevating authentic Appalachian voices.

Nashville PBS will work to reach new rural audiences through Tennessee Crossroads and its digital-first series Jaunts. The station plans to collaborate with rural content creators across 72 counties, engaging social media influencers as on-the-ground storytellers and community liaisons.

In Michigan, WCMU Public Media will add a rural life and agriculture reporter to cover 35 counties and contribute to the CPB-funded Harvest Public Media collaboration focused on food systems and rural issues.

CPB said the grants underscore public media's mission to inform and connect communities that are often overlooked.

"Public media is rooted in community," said CPB COO Kathy Merritt. "These Rural News and Information Services build on that legacy by empowering stations to report on the stories, people, and innovations shaping rural life - ensuring that these communities continue to be seen, heard, and understood."

The announcement comes as CPB begins winding down its operations following Congress' elimination of its federal funding. Despite the loss of 70% of its staff, the organization says it remains committed to supporting essential services across the public media system during the transition.