WMUK weighs next steps after federal funding for public broadcasting slashed

“We may have to change some of our programming — we may have to opt for programming which is less expensive,” WMUK Content Director Gordon Evans said in an interview with Watershed Voice this week.

WMUK, a public nonprofit radio station based in Kalamazoo, reaches roughly 37,000 listeners per week. It’s now bracing for a $356,000 loss or about 7–10% of the station’s annual operating budget due to federal funding cuts, according to General Manager Stephen Williams.

The cuts are part of the Rescissions Act of 2025, which passed Congress earlier this month and slashed $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The decision will affect NPR, PBS, and hundreds of member stations nationwide.

Representatives Tim Walberg (MI-5) and Bill Huizenga (MI-4), who represent parts of Southwest Michigan, voted in favor of the bill. Watershed Voice reached out to both of their offices but did not receive a response.

The station has not yet made any final decisions about its next steps. But Evans laid out possible changes if replacement funding falls short.

“One thing that could happen is we keep some shows, but you hear them more often,” he said.

Evans emphasized that WMUK already operates with a lean staff. While that gives them some flexibility in the short term, further cuts could jeopardize day-to-day operations and long-form reporting.

“If we have to cut staff that would make it very hard to maintain the level of quality we currently do,” Evans said.

Evans pointed to recent reporting that made an impact in the region. Earlier this year, WMUK published a three-part investigation into living conditions at Fox Ridge Apartments in Kalamazoo. The station also reported on domestic violence allegations involving the interim president of Southwestern Michigan College, which led to a petition calling for his resignation. 

“If there’s one less person,” Evans said, “does someone have time to make those phone calls and get a police report?”

WMUK’s role comes into sharper focus when viewed against the backdrop of declining local journalism. In Michigan, the number of newspapers has fallen from around 280 in 2005 to just over 200 today — a 40% drop. Over the same period, the state has lost 58% of its journalism jobs, according to Northwestern University’s Medill Local News Initiative, as reported by Thumbwind.

Nationally, more than 3,200 newspapers have closed since 2005, and over one million Michigan residents now live in areas with limited access to local news, according to the Medill State of local news 2024 report.

In this context, WMUK remains one of the few Southwest Michigan outlets producing original civic and enterprise journalism.

“That’s why we go into journalism — to tell good stories,” Evans said. “But we also want to hold people in power accountable.”

When asked where WMUK falls on the political spectrum, Evans pushed back.

“Truth is more the thing that I think we should be judged by, rather than some sort of question of balance,” he said.

He reflected on the danger of “false balance” in journalism, or giving equal time to viewpoints regardless of factual grounding. “We got somebody from this side, so we’ve got to get somebody over here — even if what that person is saying isn’t really true,” he said. “We still gave them airtime in the name of fairness.”

For now, WMUK is holding steady. Evans said the station is financially stable and is taking time to assess its options.

“The next six months will tell us a lot, maybe the next year,” he said. “If we’re able to replace that funding and keep our staff intact, I think we can stay on that path. But if we’re not, it’ll be much tougher, and it doesn’t mean we won’t do good work, but it will be harder to maintain the volume.”

As the station braces for uncertainty, Evans said WMUK will continue doing what it does best.

“We’re still here. We’re still doing our jobs,” he said. “I’ve worked here for 29 years and I think we’ve got a good story to tell. I think people who haven’t paid much attention to us, if they take a look or listen, they’ll see we’re worth supporting.”

Maxwell Knauer is a staff writer with Watershed Voice.