DENVER—The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation this week committed an additional $10 million to the Public Media Bridge Fund aiming to assist local public media organizations improve their financial wherewithal in the wake of the federal government’s 2025 recission of funding.
“Public media stations are trusted community anchors and essential local information infrastructure. Emergency support gave them time to stabilize. Now the priority is durability,” said Maribel Pérez Wadsworth, president and CEO of Knight Foundation. “The Bridge Fund brings the relationships, expertise and practical know-how to help public media organizations improve operations and build strong local partnerships. That work will help ensure they can continue providing trusted local news, culture, education and emergency information to communities across the country.”
The Public Media Company launched the fund in August 2025 with the Knight Foundation making an initial commitment of $10 million. It also provided an additional $3 million directly to at-risk stations. With the contributions from other donors, the fund distributed $26 million in grants to 74 organizations operating 186 radio and TV stations by December 2025.
To date, it has raised $87 million from more than 1,500 donors and has set a goal of raising an additional $38 million to support its latest phase, which aims to strengthen public media organizations for the long term.
“We’re grateful to Maribel Pérez Wadsworth and Knight Foundation for their steadfast support of public media’s mission and service,” said Tim Isgitt, CEO of Public Media Company. “This renewed investment from Knight Foundation will enable the Bridge Fund to help more local public media organizations sustain and evolve their service in a post-CPB era. Knight Foundation’s support will ensure that millions of Americans will continue to have access to public media that informs, connects and inspires communities.”
More information is available on the fund’s website.
