Lower Thirds:

0:02	Report by Benjamin Alvarez and Nils Hünerfürst
0:19	Scott Smith | General Manager Allegheny Mountain Radio
1:13	Scott Smith | General Manager Allegheny Mountain Radio
1:49	Danny Cardwell | WCHG station coordinator
2:27	Sen. Maria Cantwell | Democrat | Courtesy: @SenatorMariaCantwell, July 16, 2025
2:54	Valentina Meehan | Owner of a local hotel
3:29	Scott Smith | General Manager Allegheny Mountain Radio

(( info: When President Trump pushed to slash federal funding for public media back in July, he said a key reason was because he thinks PBS and NPR are politically biased. The U.S. Congress passed a rescission package cancelling 1.1 billion US dollars for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS. But those hardest hit by the decision are small radio stations providing local news and information for rural communities. ))

Script: 

00:00:07:01
Scott Smith has been working at this small radio station in Monterey, Virginia for over a decade. He started as a news producer and is now the general manager of Allegheny Mountain Radio. 

00:00:17:24
+++ SOT Scott Smith, General Manager Allegheny Mountain Radio +++ 
"We give news, information, entertainment, weather reports, school closures, emergency alerts. We do lost and found pet notices. We do funeral announcements. We're very hyper local and we all share a common passion and a common pride for being here to provide those things for the community." 
(Cutaways radio station during the show) 
00:00:45:23
Allegheny Mountain Radio is made up of three stations covering parts of Virginia and West Virginia. It offers vital information for the communities it broadcasts to – but that might change soon. 
Up to 65 percent of the radio's annual budget comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. With CPB effectively shutting down after losing federal funding, this radio station might soon share that fate. 

00:01:12:02
+++ SOT Scott Smith, General Manager Allegheny Mountain Radio +++ 
"What we'll be doing this coming year is sort of a transition year. We'll see where we can cut additional costs. We'll see if we can find additional forms of revenue, and we'll see where we stand at the end of this year and, and move ahead. Again, none of us, none of us are of the opinion that we're going to roll over and let this happen without a fight." 

00:01:34:03
A fight that Scott is not battling alone. In nearby Bath County we meet Danny Cardwell, the station coordinator from WCHG radio that also belongs to the Allegheny Mountain Radio cooperative.

00:01:47:09
+++ SOT Danny Cardwell, WCHG station coordinator +++ 
"NPR and PBS are going to be fine in their own ways. Will they look the same? A couple years from now than they do now? Maybe not, but their existence will be solidified. They have products. They have productions. They have revenue streams that smaller stations just do not have." 
00:02:07:09
(Animated screenshot White House press release 05/02/25) Date tag: May 2025
After accusing NPR and PBS of spreading "radical, woke propaganda disguised as "news" (highlighted), President Trump signed an executive order ending taxpayer subsidies to the two organizations. Congress later passed the cuts requested by Trump - despite warnings from some of its members. 

00:02:25:02
+++ SOT Sen. Maria Cantwell, Washington (Democrat) July 16th +++  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVQbxCk8lpY)
"We're not just putting PBS at risk here, we're putting millions of Americans who depend on local media for lifesaving information. And what's in this rescission request is really making sure that public broadcasters don't have that ability, at least in 20 states where they have emergency plans." 

00:02:43:16
(drone shots) Lifesaving information also needed in the small communities where Allegheny Mountain Radio broadcasts - and where phone service is not always a given. 

00:02:52:09
+++ SOT Valentina Meehan, Owner of a local hotel +++ 
"...if the Wi-Fi doesn't work, my phone the the little things disappear and it says SOS on it, which means I cannot receive phone calls and I cannot make phone calls (weißblitz) So what ends up happening is the first thing we do is we tune in to the radio to see is there something happening in the area that we should be aware of? You can't get on Facebook if you don't have Wi-Fi, so that would be our only source of getting any communication”

00:03:16:23
Scott is trying to educate the community. About why public media is important and can be lifesaving. But he’s not sure their support will be enough to prevent a shut down. 

00:03:27:05
++ SOT Scott Smith, General Manager Allegheny Mountain Radio +++ 
"It would be a very, very sad thing if this station or any station were to be lost because of this. But I'm, I'm very afraid that that's going to happen." 
(Scott closes the door and leaves the station) 

DIGIVN:
00:02:15:17 00:02:22:09 
* FROM CLIP NAME: 2025-08-01T195649Z_1_LOV444401082025RP1_RTRMADV_STREAM-8256-16X9-MP4_USA-TRUMP-CPB.MP4
00:02:25:02 00:02:43:16 
* FROM CLIP NAME: Cantwell Warns Against Cutting Emergency Broadcast Funding.mp4