It’s 9:30 on a fall Monday and The Current’s “The Morning Show” is pouring another coffee break for its legion of audiophiles craving caffeine and another shot at winning concert tickets.
Joel Sturgis from Minneapolis was the timely 10th caller who snagged two seats for Royal Otis at the Palace Theater and left host Jill Riley counting the ways she and her listeners could dominate a radio version of “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.”
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“Oh, I know him!” Riley says, to the feigned surprise of co-hosts Zach McCormick and Nilufer Arsala.
“Shocking,” Arsala giggles.
“Yeah, he graduated with my brother! I know he’s a regular listener. Good for Joel. Minnesota is such a small world. Really small.”
Joel from Minneapolis actually sounded less enthused to win than the No. 9 caller was disappointed at coming up just short in this daily game of speed-dialing for freebies.
“He was keeping his cool, but he was excited, for sure,” says Arsala. “It’s so funny. There’s this one couple, they call, like, almost every giveaway, but I don’t think they’ve ever won. You hear them go, ‘Ugh!’ whenever they aren’t No. 10.”
“Someday,” roots Riley. “Someday.”
These days, the certainty of such radio programming and community listening feels as vital and uncertain as ever. Questions about funding, relevance, and survival loom even larger after $1.1 billion in federal subsidies vanished last year, while the infrastructure that funded and distributed public media’s free content for a half-century was dismantled.
Under the umbrella of Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), The Current consistently ranks among the top 10 stations for numbers of listeners, with deep roots in the Twin Cities and a dedicated audience beyond. Inside its St. Paul studios, amid the water-cooler chatter and the D.C. drama, there remains a strong sense of mission and unwavering belief that their work matters.
“I see it as a place people can go for a break,” says Arsala. “We have wonderful camaraderie as a team, and we can lean on each other. We really lean into the music and how it can uplift and bring people together. People are drawn to joy and happiness because we need it.”
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That optimism is tested daily, but it hasn’t fractured, according to McCormick. He describes a recent team meeting where everyone was asked to share one word about how they were feeling.
“A lot of people said determined, resolute,” McCormick recalls. “There was this sense of, ‘OK, we’ve taken this on the chin. A big disappointment, a big challenge. But now it’s time to demonstrate our value even more. At this moment of critical inflection, how can we rise to that moment?’”
What could have been deflating instead became a rallying cry: to deliver an even better product for their listeners and communities. Riley, a central Minnesota native and former host at her college radio station, KVSC-FM at St. Cloud State University, started hosting “The Morning Show” shortly after The Current debuted in January 2005.
“Minnesota has long been a leader in strong public media,” she says. “People who value it are realizing, ‘Oh, I actually have to support it in order for it to be strong.’”
At the Minnesota State Fair and other community events since the funding cuts, Riley has noticed an urgent shift. “Until folks see the threat of something being less than what they expect, they don’t always act. Now they’re asking, ‘What more can I do?’”
She relayed a story of a friend who kept her late mother’s public television membership active as a way to honor her values. “There’s something generational about that,” she says. “When you grow up with shared values around public media, you feel obligated to take the torch.”
But how long will that torch burn after stations are forced to slash jobs and programming that seem certain to affect content quality and delivery?
MPR, Twin Cities Public Television (TPT), and their sister stations throughout the country are reeling after Congress choked off federal funding. In early fall, the Rescissions Act clawed back about $1.1 billion in appropriations to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) for the next two years, essentially shuttering the private nonprofit when the funding expired on Oct. 1. CPB has laid off about 70% of its staff and wound down existing contracts. President Trump also directed CPB to stop funding National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), an executive order the broadcasters are challenging in federal court.
The evaporation of their long-standing underwriter left 1,500 local stations—that relied heavily on CPB grants—scrambling to make up for the budget cuts. Some markets slashed payroll. Others consolidated operations or scaled back locally produced journalism and other original content for cheaper syndicated programming.
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Lakeland PBS lost 37% of its annual budget due to these cuts—upward of $1 million. As a result, the Bemidji- and Brainerd-based station canceled its long-running public affairs program, “Lakeland Currents,” and warns that Lakeland News and other essential services could also be in jeopardy. The station serves more than 380,000 viewers across central and northern Minnesota.
KQED radio in the San Francisco Bay Area wiped out about 45 jobs—15% of its workforce—including its video production unit. Layoffs and pay cuts at KSPS Public Television in Spokane, Washington, eliminated 12 of 35 positions. A $1 million budget shortfall at WFAE in Charlotte has forced the radio station to leave its station headquarters this year.
Meanwhile, South Dakota Public Broadcasting announced it would slash its news staff from 11 reporters to four, while canceling its daily “In the Moment” hour-long program.
In July, MPR laid off 30 employees—almost 8% of its workforce—to help close a $6 million budget gap. As of Nov. 11, there were 17 open jobs at MPR and American Public Media (APM) in St. Paul, six of which are internships.
Meanwhile, in the MPR newsroom, there are six openings, including two reporters in Fargo-Moorhead. Other jobs include managing editor and two deputy managing editors, one for investigations and another for culture and community. And they recently hired a Rochester-based reporter to cover health care in southeast Minnesota and another in Fargo-Moorhead to cover agriculture. As of press time, TPT’s vice president of marketing, communications, and brand strategy, Kelly Bigler, declined to comment on TPT’s workforce and budget in the wake of layoffs and funding cuts.
MPR president Duchesne Drew says his organization must accelerate its digital transformation and recalibrate without abandoning its strategic plans. MPR, Drew says, is doubling down on its Minnesota roots, adding reporters in Rochester and Moorhead, expanding digital production, and focusing coverage on rural health care, agriculture, and housing.
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“This isn’t all sunshine or all clouds,” he says. “We’re holding the line on broadcast while getting better in digital spaces. That’s where the future of media is going.”
It’s part of a long-term strategy Drew insists remains on track despite major funding losses and painful layoffs.
“We lost 30 people… that hurts,” Drew says. “But at the same time, we’re hiring for key roles, investing in training and tools to help us get to higher ground.”
Looking ahead, Drew says MPR’s focus is on expanding membership and developing smarter audience engagement, with an ambitious goal of doubling the number of financial supporters by converting engaged listeners and event attendees into donors. He goes on to say that MPR is investing in data-driven strategies to understand and reach different audiences across platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. Not by “contorting ourselves,” he says, but by “showing the sides of ourselves that resonate.”
“We’re not talking about maybe one day becoming a different organization,” Drew adds. “We’re in the transformation zone right now. And we’re swinging.”
Stations in larger markets like MPR and TPT have a deeper bench of donors to tap for survival. However, robust local support is scarce for rural outlets, many of which relied heavily on CPB funds to subsidize up to a third of their operating costs.
In August, philanthropic heavyweights like the Ford, Knight, and MacArthur foundations stepped up to support struggling stations with a Public Media Bridge Fund. The coalition of nonprofits committed $37 million of emergency relief in the form of low-interest loans and grants. A proverbial drop in the bucket compared to sustainable funding public media desperately needs.
“We’re holding the line on broadcast while getting better in digital spaces. That’s where the future of media is going.”
–Duchesne Drew, MPR President
The hit to arts and cultural programming that defines MPR, especially in rural markets, has been “heavy,” acknowledges David Safar, managing director of The Current. But as a community-driven, listener-supported station—where voluntary donations, not subscriptions, keep content free and accessible—the organization is working hard to protect what it can.
There is a resilience in this market, he says, because the community believes in the mission. “Classical music and local music have always been where public media steps up when commercial models retreat,” Safar says. “People are inspired to support organizations that stay independent and focused on the mission. That’s part of the DNA of this place.”
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The Current continues to nurture local artists and talent, staying rooted in Minnesota voices and venues. “The majority of our programming is created here,” Safar adds. “We’re not just broadcasting to the community. We’re part of it. If we keep doing the work the right way, the audience will be there supporting us.”
With so much skin in the game, nurturing and growing audiences is no longer just table stakes. And playing at this level right now means doing it without knowing exactly what the rules of the game will be.
“We’re not just broadcasting to the community. We’re part of it. If we keep doing the work the right way, the audience will be there supporting us.”
–David Safar, The Current Managing Director
The future of public media is being tested not just in living rooms and newsrooms, but in a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C. A lawsuit filed by NPR has the network on a collision course with the Trump Administration, raising questions about presidential power, press freedom, and who controls the nation’s public media infrastructure.
NPR alleges that the White House retaliated against its journalists’ critical reporting by attempting to interfere with the network’s funding and editorial independence. In its lawsuit, the network argues that President Trump’s executive order directing the defunding of the CPB violates the First Amendment and unlawfully intrudes on Congress’ constitutional power of the purse. NPR frames the action as political retribution for unfavorable coverage and a direct threat to the journalistic independence that has defined public broadcasting for more than 50 years. The case is now moving through federal court, though a hearing date has not yet been set.
Meanwhile, back with “The Morning Show” crew in St. Paul, audience commitment, while robust, only means about 10%-15% of listeners are paying members. That leaves a lot of vinyl fanatics clinging to small coattails, hardly a template for sustainability.
“It should be bigger,” Riley concedes. “If everyone just did a little part, we’d have a healthy funding model. It’s not about leaving it to elected officials to decide what gets funded. People are responding because they see the value. And that gives me confidence.”
As Riley finishes her point, she pulls on her headphones. “Got To Get You Into My Life” by The Beatles fades out and Riley introduces “See The Light” by Bob Mould, the Macalester College alum and founding member of St. Paul punk rock band Hüsker Dü.
It’s a generational, genre-busting segue that distinguishes The Current and allows it to hold that frequency in this market. Or most, for that matter.
In a time when so much feels fragile, that might be the strongest foundation of all.
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Beyond the Static
It’s Clay Masters’ first day hosting “All Things Considered” on MPR and he is being grilled about the future of public media at the end of a newsy and emotionally taxing summer of funding cuts and grim headlines.
The weekday 3-6 p.m. show aims to be a comprehensive source of news, information, and context, a mission that is being tested by seismic shifts in the industry and among audiences searching for clarity in a noisy world.
Masters spent 12 years at Iowa Public Radio as a statehouse correspondent and lead political reporter. After covering a contentious 2025 Minnesota legislative session, he learned he would succeed Tom Crann, who hosted “All Things Considered” for more than 20 years before departing to become a host at YourClassical MPR.
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Masters took over after state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were assassinated in a June 2025 shooting at their Brooklyn Park home. State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, also were allegedly shot by the same gunman and seriously injured in their Champlin home.
Then, in late August 2025, a mass shooting at the Church of the Annunciation in Minneapolis killed two children and injured 30 others.
Against that backdrop, Masters and longtime “Morning Edition” host Cathy Wurzer sit across from each other in an empty studio at MPR’s St. Paul newsroom and discuss how they—as journalists and public media as an entity—can navigate financial and audience ambiguity.
Public media is at a crossroads—how do you see the path forward?
Cathy Wurzer: We’re in that “uncertainty bubble,” absolutely. We rely on taxpayer dollars, listener donations, grants, and foundations. But now we’ve got to build a sustainable model. Think of partnerships like “Sesame Street” and HBO. We need to explore new ones we haven’t even imagined yet. I actually feel good about MPR’s position. There’s real potential for growth.
Clay Masters: For years, stations operated in silos. I’ve learned to be scrappy and work across organizations, and I think we’ll have to do more of that now that CPB isn’t mandating collaboration. We’ve got such a robust newsroom here. I remind myself how fortunate we are compared to smaller stations facing dire straits. I’m cautiously optimistic.
How does this environment change the way you define your roles as journalists?
CM: It doesn’t, really. The news still speaks for itself.
CW: Same here. We just keep plowing ahead, doing what we’ve always done—reporting across the state, telling stories that matter. I don’t feel the need to justify what we do; our work does that for us.
What’s the mood like inside the newsroom?
CW: Surprisingly good, considering everything—the political assassination, funding cuts, the school shooting. It has been heavy. Some days it feels like I’m wearing a cloak of despair behind the mic, but that’s exactly why we’re here—to help people make sense of it.
CM: There’s optimism, even amid layoffs and change. People believe in the mission.
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What’s the true value of public newsgathering in this moment?
CW: The last few months have really underscored it. Our coverage has been a trial by fire, and we’ve risen to it.
CM: In an age of echo chambers and outrage online, we’ve been able to bring reality and balance, like during the legislative session and the aftermath of Melissa Hortman’s assassination. That’s powerful work.
How do you see legacy shows like ‘Morning Edition’ and ‘All Things Considered’ evolving?
CW: You always have to evolve. I see “Morning Edition” as the place that drives the newsroom’s agenda. Our small but mighty team makes sure listeners start their day with a clear sense of what’s happening locally and nationally. And yes, I still like sprinkling in some delight when I can. People need that.
CM: “All Things Considered” is about taking the chaos of the day and distilling it into something that makes sense. I’d love to do more produced stories from across Minnesota. Take the show to Moorhead, Rochester, places beyond St. Paul. We have the staff and the ambition to lead the field in that way.
What are your priorities in 2026?
CW: Regional expansion and figuring out what “web-first” looks like for us. Maybe live streaming from the studio.
CM: Using our digital strength and newsroom depth to tell more stories from every corner of the state.
What makes you most optimistic—and what keeps you up at night?
CW: I’m encouraged by how many listeners still believe in us. With more marketing and outreach, even more will. But we have to move fast. And in public media, we’re not exactly jackrabbits.
CM: The uncertainty lies in how audiences consume and trust media now. People don’t always know where their information comes from, and sometimes it feels like we’re just shouting at each other. My hope is that we can remain that trusted, steady voice amid the chaos.
