As public media systems contend with the loss of federal funding, Ideastream Public Media's President and CEO addressed community members at the City Club of Cleveland on Friday about the path forward.
Martin joined Tim Isgitt, CEO of the Public Media Company, to discuss what lies ahead after hundreds of public media stations, including Ideastream, lost previously-approved federal funding starting Oct. 1.
"I do think public media can thrive and probably will thrive, meaning PBS and NPR; I think they will find lots of funders [and] resources," Martin said. "But I still believe that public media belongs to the American public, period. And I think that is one of the things that I hate that ... we might lose, is the accountability to the American public at large."
As part of Congress's recission package, Ideastream lost about 10% of its budget — or $2.7 million — for each of its 2026 and 2027 fiscal years, which begin Oct. 1. Martin assured listeners that programming will continue as the station adapts.
But other underserved areas that relied more heavily on that funding are much harder hit, with some even closing as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which dispersed federal funds, began to wind down operations.
"It's 115 different organizations that receive 30% or more of their revenue from CPB in rural, underserved areas of the country, where quite often they were the only source of local news and community connection," Isgitt said. "That's 45 million Americas that could lose service."
Isgitt talked through tangible solutions his organization is working on, which includes a goal to raise $100 million to assist vulnerable stations to stay on air. He said the first round of those grants will go out in November. He said the public media system must find a sustainable way to stabilize aside from emergency fundraising, but he remained optimistic about the future.
Outside, the scene was very different, a clear picture that the rescinded federal funding is not the only issue facing Ideastream leadership after the public media company announced earlier this month a public service operating agreement with Cleveland State University. Ideastream extended its streaming JazzNEO station to the university's WCSB, abruptly ending five decades of student-run programming.
Executive leadership, which did not have any editorial input into, nor review of, this story, said the agreement was mutually beneficial to CSU and Ideastream. JazzNEO had been a station available only by streaming or high definition radio. Cleveland State retains the Federal Communication Commission license.
No money exchanged hands, but there are other benefits outlined in the deal, obtained by CSU in response to a public records request: CSU President Laura Bloomberg will have a seat on Ideastream's board, Ideastream will create an unspecified number of professional work opportunities for students, and Ideastream agreed to provide 1,000 underwriting spots to CSU and 1,000 on-air announcements about the partnership on various stations.
More than 100 people displeased with that agreement protested outside the City Club, chanting, “Give it back” and holding signs reading, “Shame on Ideastream" and “CSU, shame on you."
“I will settle for nothing less than getting WCSB back,” said Erin Ryan, a former WCSB show host and CSU alumna. “I know there's been talk of things looking different and exploring other options, but I won't have it. I want them to give the station back to the students.”
David and Renate Jakupca held a long banner that read, "We play more cowbells than any radio station in the nation.” The pair were the hosts of a German radio show on WCSB for more than 15 years. They said it was part of an important tradition of ethnic programming at WCSB.
"There are a lot of grandmas and grandpas, omas and opas, that listen to our show," Renate Jakupca said. "So it's very important to keep these programs alive.”
Alison Bomgardner, former general manager of WCSB, listened to Martin’s remarks inside the City Club with other former staffers. She said a longtime WCSB listener paid for their tickets to attend.
“The community is not gonna be quiet about this," Bomgardner said. "We're going to continue to advocate for community radio and for the things that we believed in and what Ideastream and Cleveland State ultimately took away from us.”
While most of the questions inside centered on pubic media adapting to a new reality, two people questioned Martin about the switchover from WCSB to JazzNEO.
One, who said she teaches professional communications at CSU, asked what went into the decision to replace a student-run station of diverse voices with a a jazz format.
Martin said jazz is important and that he values the partnership with Cleveland State University.
"I would not put myself in the place to make judgments about what is important in terms of the values and the priorities of Cleveland State University. That is not what I do, and that's not what public media does," he said.
The other question came from Laurie Albright, who said she recently increased her donation to Ideastream in lieu of federal funding, but was "struggling" with the CSU agreement.
"I hear you talking about how important it is for that collaboration," she said. "I completely agree. And it seems to me that the tone-deaf part of this agreement is on Cleveland State's side. However, Ideastream is a partner in this, and this college radio station is part of what makes Cleveland, Cleveland."
Martin defended the decision.
"I do think that jazz programming is important," he said. "It may not be that important to you, but it's important to a large constituency, and it's an original art form — an African-American art form — and it's something that we have been a champion of for over 40 years. ... It's a community that exists, and it's a core service that we have provided that I hope we can continue for another 40 years."
Martin said talks with those hurt by the decision will continue. He said leaders are looking for ways to include the community voices lost by the agreement.
Isgitt said on the national level, about half of the 350 public radio organizations operate on university licenses.
"We're obviously in a media ecosystem that is rapidly changing and the business model is constantly evolving," Isgitt said. "Universities are also in a rapidly changing business model environment too, right now. And we know that many of them are going to be making decisions about the future operations of public radio. ... I think I think we're gonna see a lot more universities sort of getting out of the business of public media in the future."
Ideastream's executive management did not have any editorial input into, and did not review, this story.
