Sage Smiley (left), news director at KYUK, and Morris Alexie visit Nunapitchuk village in Alaska. Alexie manages relocations caused by climate change.Katie Basile
When a typhoon hit Alaska, public radio station KYUK was on the air, broadcasting critical information about conditions, evacuations, and search and rescue operations. An estimated 1,600 people were displaced, and many were saved in the biggest airlift operation in state history.
“The work that we do in terms of public safety communication literally does save lives,” said Sage Smiley, KYUK’s news director.
KYUK is small, scrappy, and bilingual. It broadcasts in English and Yugtun, the language of an Indigenous population that lives in villages along two massive rivers. The station airs NPR content, but also high school basketball games, local call-in talk shows, and even a show hosted by the volunteer search and rescue team, answering listeners’ questions about ice conditions and safety. The station is a lifeline for this unique region.
KYUK covers an area the size of the state of Oregon, but after Congress passed the Rescissions Act over the summer, it lost 70 percent of its operating budget. Republicans have targeted public media since its inception in the late 1960s. But this is the first time they have successfully ended the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, wiping out more than $1 billion in funding for public media.
This week on Reveal, we take listeners inside KYUK as it grapples with this new reality. Host Al Letson sits down with Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski to discuss how the cuts are affecting her state. And we take a trip to WQED in Pittsburgh for a look back at how Fred Rogers, the host of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, defended public television throughout its decadeslong struggle to survive Washington politics.
