The Radio-TV News Directors Association said Tuesday that noncom news outlets are critical to the providing information to communities. In a statement, RTDNA Chairman Mark Kraham (CQ) said that the organization recognized the need to balance budget needs and constraints, but said that "weakening" the public's access to information about issues was a "dangerous path" to be going down.
"While the federal contribution is relatively small when compared to local support," he said--about 15% of station's annual budgets, "the government shares in the vision of supporting access to the airwaves operated for the good of local communities. This is not the time to stray from helping citizens understand the issues in their neighborhoods, states and nation."
Noncoms have said that though government funding is a small part of the budget, it is an important one, particularly given drop-offs in pledges due to the economic slump. CPB has said that hundreds of TV stations could be hurt by the loss of federal funds, according to RTDNA.
