March 19, 2026

Mr. Rogers and the Fight for Public Media

Take a trip to Mr. Rogers’ real-life neighborhood in this special episode that celebrates the life and work of public media’s most famous defender.

A black and white photo of Fred Rogers, wearing a sweater, button-up, and tie, with his arms crossed and resting on his neighborhood trolley.

Family Communications Inc./Getty Images

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On the anniversary of Fred Rogers’ birthday, we take a trip to Mr. Rogers’ real-life neighborhood in this special episode that celebrates the life and work of public media’s most famous defender.

Reveal’s Michael Schiller visits WQED in Pittsburgh for a look back at how Rogers, the host of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, championed public television throughout its decades-long struggle to survive Washington politics.

Find Reveal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Pandora, or your favorite podcast app, and don’t forget to subscribe.

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Owned by no one—except you.

We just keep seeing it happen: Newsrooms owned by billionaires and corporations are spinning their own narratives, overwriting the truth, following only stories that keep them in the pocket of those with even more power.

Not here. We’re not owned by anyone. We’re not part of any cult that demands our allegiance to a bottom line. We’ve spoken up and spoken out while other newsrooms changed their stories—or cut them altogether—to keep the C suite happy.

Our mission is to find the truth and amplify it. That’s why we’re independent, nonprofit, and, crucially, funded by readers. The investigations on our website will always be free to read, watch, and listen to, but our newsroom is powered by readers who pitch in what they can so we can keep asking the hard questions.

Can you chip in today?

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