阿拉斯加州安克雷奇（美联社）——本周，远在4000英里外的美国国会取消了公共媒体的联邦资助，但阿拉斯加州乌纳拉斯卡市KUCB公共广播电台总经理劳伦·亚当斯无暇对此多加思考。她一直忙于工作。

周三，阿留申群岛社区警报长鸣，警示可能发生的海啸。公共广播中反复敦促当地4100名居民立即向高地撤离，并收听电台——亚当斯（Adams）的频道。

与此同时在华盛顿，参议院正在就一项措施进行投票，该措施将取消已拨给美国国家公共电台（NPR）和公共广播公司（PBS）的近11亿美元资金——这一投票表决过程持续至周四凌晨才结束。预计众议院将及时完成相关程序，以便唐纳德·特朗普总统在周五截止日期前签署该法案。

特朗普曾呼吁削减公共媒体经费，称其新闻节目对他和共和党同僚存在偏见，并威胁国会中的共和党成员，若不服从将面临党内初选的挑战。

亚当斯（Adams）、她的新闻总监、一名记者和一名实习生持续通过KUCB电台进行广播并更新社交媒体动态，直至危险解除。随后她抽空完成另一项任务——发短信给美国参议员莉萨·穆尔科斯基（Lisa Murkowski），敦促其对法案投反对票。穆尔科斯基与缅因州的苏珊·柯林斯（Susan Collins）是仅有的两位公开持异议的共和党参议员。

亚当斯表示："我认为这个故事充分说明，为何她所在选区的民众与美国其他地区相比，对公共广播电台有着不同的态度。"

全国各电视台面临艰难抉择

联邦资金拨付给公共广播公司（Corporation for Public Broadcasting），由其分配给美国国家公共电台（NPR）和公共电视网（PBS）。其中约70%的资金直接流向全美330家公共电视台和246家公共广播电台，不过这只是衡量其潜在影响力的简化表述。

此次预算削减预计将对远离大都市的小型公共媒体机构造成最严重冲击，部分机构可能难以维系。美国国家公共电台（NPR）总裁兼首席执行官凯瑟琳·迈尔预估，未来一年或有高达80家NPR成员电台面临倒闭。她透露，已有部分电台开始接洽商业机构收购其广播牌照的报价。

美国公共广播电视公司（PBS）总裁兼首席执行官葆拉·克格尔表示："我们许多提供免费独家地方节目和应急警报的电视台，未来数周乃至数月将被迫做出艰难抉择。PBS是最能代表美国精神的机构。尽管今日遭遇挫折，我们仍决心继续奋斗，以保障为美国民众提供的各项核心服务。"

密西西比公共广播执行董事罗亚尔·艾尔斯表示，这项措施将使密西西比州的PBS和NPR电台损失约200万美元，约占其预算的15%。

密西西比公共广播公司首席内容官泰沃·盖纳表示，该机构已决定停播一个全天24小时向本州儿童播放《卡由》和《丹尼尔老虎的邻居》等儿童节目的流媒体频道。

盖诺尔表示：“对家庭而言，能够免费获取内容非常重要。想到我们可能无法为一代儿童提供这样的资源，这种念头令人感到悲哀。”

缅因州公共媒体系统总裁兼首席执行官里克·施耐德表示，下一财年该系统将面临250万美元（约占预算的12%）的资金削减。他称目前尚未确定具体削减方案，但该系统正着手自我革新，以确保能继续为州内居民提供服务。

美国缅因州公民自由联盟执行主任莫莉·柯伦·罗尔斯表示，缅因州农村居民高度依赖公共媒体获取天气更新和灾害警报。罗尔斯称，在她远离电网的成长过程中，公共媒体曾是她的“生命线”。

以音乐探索为荣的电台正严阵以待应对危机

美国国家公共电台（NPR）的梅赫尔担忧，预算削减不仅会影响农村地区的新闻报道——这些地方本就难以获取本地新闻——还将削弱向全国其他地区传递当地实情的能力。资金缩减还将导致对热门电视和广播节目的支持力度下降，不过目前尚无法确定哪些节目会受到影响。

美国国家公共广播电台（NPR）下属各分台还动用数百万美元联邦资金支付音乐版权许可费。如今许多分台将不得不重新协商这些协议，这意味着以音乐探索为核心特色的广播平台可能减少播放量或压缩音乐多样性。例如，马厄估计全美约96%的古典音乐广播都通过NPR分台播出。"这实质上是将一整个艺术形式移出了公共视野，"她表示。

这场风波已超越小提琴与短笛的范畴。美国国家公共电台（NPR）周四获得重金属乐队Gwar的声援，其主唱狂暴者布洛萨在社交媒体发文，呼吁乐迷关注公共媒体的现状。

目前，公共媒体已注意到来自读者和观众的捐款有所增加，以支持其使命，各电台也正积极发出呼吁。费城WXPN电台周四在其网站上向听众发出恳求，强调了其帮助人们发现新音乐的传统。该电台在网站上敦促道：“您能做的最重要的事，就是以对您有意义的方式支持WXPN和公共媒体系统。”

马厄表示，捐款无法填补联邦资金削减造成的缺口。公共媒体机构负责人已开始游说国会，试图通过明年的预算拨款程序恢复部分资金。但他们不清楚自己还剩多少时间；马厄指出，若广播电台被迫关闭，重启将耗费巨额成本，甚至可能难以实现。

公共媒体同样未能获得各州的支持。今年至少有五个州削减了对公共媒体的拨款，原因包括预算紧张或政治因素。

例如，州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯在7月1日佛罗里达州预算生效前一天，否决了州议员为公共广播机构预留的近600万美元资金。德桑蒂斯在社交媒体上回应特朗普将公共广播称为应撤销资金的“畸形产物”的帖子时写道：“这就是佛罗里达的作风。”

与此同时，回到阿拉斯加……

在阿拉斯加，KMXT公共广播电台总经理贾里德·格里芬（Jared Griffin）将参议院的投票结果称为“毁灭性的沉重打击”。他估计，削减的预算将占KMXT总预算的22%。格里芬表示，电台董事会已达成一致，计划每月让员工无薪休假一天，而他本人将减薪50%。

该站点覆盖科迪亚克岛，这里坐落着美国最大的海岸警卫队基地之一。

格里芬表示：“在厘清KMXT电台未来六个月发展方向的过渡期，我们不得不动用储蓄资金。虽然至少未来一年内运营无虞，但很可能需要通过将大楼空间租赁给其他机构来填补资金缺口。”

乌纳拉斯卡市居民尼基·惠特恩表示，在诸如海啸预警等紧急情况下，KUCB电台对当地社区发挥着至关重要的作用。

“他们广播所有事情，确保每个人都知道并且安全，”酒保惠特恩（Whittern）说道。周四早晨，她在准备开门营业挪威鼠沙龙（当地渔民简称为‘鼠吧’）时发表了这番言论。

鲍德尔从纽约发回报道。美联社驻密西西比州杰克逊市的记者索菲·贝茨、佛罗里达州塔拉哈西的凯特·佩恩、费城的乔纳森·波伊特、密歇根州兰辛的伊莎贝拉·沃尔默特，以及缅因州波特兰的帕特里克·惠特尔对本报道亦有贡献。

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) Lauren Adams, general manager for KUCB public radio in Unalaska, Alaska, didnt have much time to reflect on Congress, 4,000 miles away, stripping federal funding for public media this week. Shes been too busy working.

Sirens blared in the Aleutian Islands community Wednesday warning of a potential tsunami , with a voice over public loudspeakers urging the communitys 4,100 residents to seek higher ground immediately and tune into the radio to Adams station.

At the same time in Washington, the Senate was voting on a measure that would eliminate nearly $1.1 billion that had already been appropriated for NPR and PBS a process that didnt end until early Thursday morning. The House is expected to complete the process in time for President Donald Trump to sign it before a Friday deadline.

Trump had called for the cuts, saying public medias news programming was biased against him and fellow Republicans, and threatened GOP members of Congress with primary challenges if they didnt fall in line.

Adams, her news director, a reporter and an intern kept broadcasting and updating KUCBs social media feed until the danger passed. Then she made time for one more task texting U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and urging her to vote against the bill. Murkowski was one of two Republican senators, along with Susan Collins of Maine, to publicly dissent.

I thought that it was such a telling story of why her constituents have a different relationship to public radio than maybe some other regions of the United States, Adams said.

Hard decisions ahead for stations across the country

The federal money is appropriated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes it to NPR and PBS. Roughly 70% of the money goes directly to the 330 PBS and 246 NPR stations across the country, although thats only a shorthand way to describe its potential impact.

The cuts are expected to weigh most heavily on smaller public media outlets away from big cities, and its likely some wont survive. Katherine Maher, NPRs president and CEO, estimated as many as 80 NPR stations may face closure in the next year. Some stations are already fielding offers from commercial entities to buy their broadcast licenses, she said.

Many of our stations which provide access to free unique local programming and emergency alerts will now be forced to make hard decisions in the weeks and months ahead, said Paula Kerger, PBS president and CEO. There is nothing more American than PBS. Despite todays setback, we are determined to keep fighting to preserve the essential services we provide to the American public.

The measure will cost PBS and NPR stations in Mississippi roughly $2 million, about 15% of the budget, said Royal Aills, executive director of Mississippi Public Broadcasting.

Already, Mississippi Public Broadcasting has decided to eliminate a streaming channel that airs childrens programming like Caillou and Daniel Tigers Neighborhood to the states youngsters 24 hours a day, said Taiwo Gaynor, the systems chief content officer.

This is important for families, to have access to content that they dont have to pay for, Gaynor said. That is a sad thought, to think that we ... might not be able to provide that for a generation of children.

Maines public media system is looking at a hit of $2.5 million, or about 12% of its budget, for the next fiscal year, said Rick Schneider, president and chief executive officer of Maine Public. He said hes not ready to identify specific cuts, but the system is preparing to reinvent itself to make certain it continues serving the states residents.

Maines rural residents rely heavily on public media for weather updates and disaster alerts, said Molly Curren Rowles, executive director of ACLU of Maine. Rowles said public media was a lifeline to her growing up off the grid.

Bracing for trouble at stations that take pride in music discovery

NPRs Maher fears what the cuts might mean for the systems journalism, not just in rural areas where local news can be hard to come by, but in telling the rest of the country what is going on there. Less funding will also mean less support for popular television and radio programming, although its too soon to tell which programs will be affected.

NPR stations also use millions of dollars in federal money to pay music licensing fees. Now many will have to renegotiate these deals , which could mean less music, or a more limited variety of music, on outlets where music discovery is a big part of their identity. For example, Maher estimates that some 96% of all classical music broadcast in the United States is on NPR stations. That is essentially taking an entire art form out of public access, she said.

The affair transcends violins and piccolos. NPR received support Thursday from the heavy metal band Gwar, whose lead singer Blothar the Berserker posted a call on social media for fans to pay attention to what is going on with public media.

Already, public media is seeing an increase in donations from reader and viewers to support its mission, and stations are actively sounding the alarm. In a plea to listeners on its website Thursday, Philadelphias WXPN radio pointed to its legacy in helping people discover new music. The most important thing you can do is support WXPN and the public media system in a way that is meaningful to you, the station urged on its website.

But donations arent going to fill the hole left by the loss in federal funding, Maher said. The public media leaders have already turned to lobbying Congress to restore some of the funding through the appropriations process for next years budget. They dont know how much time they have; Maher said it would be inordinately costly, and perhaps prohibitive, to reopen a radio station that is forced to close.

Public media isnt getting any help from states, either. At least five states have reduced their own outlays for public media this year, either for budget or political reasons.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, for example, vetoed nearly $6 million that Florida lawmakers had set aside for public broadcasters the day before the states budget took effect on July 1. Done in Florida, DeSantis responded on social media to a Trump post calling public broadcasting a monstrosity that should be defunded.

Meanwhile, back in Alaska ...

Back in Alaska, KMXT public radio stations general manager, Jared Griffin, called the Senate vote a devastating gut punch. He estimated that the cuts would amount to 22% of KMXTs budget. Griffin said the stations board has already agreed on a plan to furlough staff members one day a month, and hes taking a 50% pay cut.

The station covers Kodiak Island, home to one of the nations largest U.S. Coast Guard bases.

We have to dip into our savings while we figure out what KMXT is going to look like over the next six months, Griffin said. At least for the next year well be fine but were probably going to have to look at leasing space in our building to other organizations to help fill that gap.

Unalaska resident Nikki Whittern said KUCB plays a vital role in the community during emergencies like the tsunami warning.

They broadcast everything, and they make sure that everybody knows and everybodys safe, said Whittern, a bartender. She spoke while preparing to open the Norwegian Rat Saloon known to local fishermen simply as the Rat on Thursday morning.

___

Bauder reported from New York. AP correspondents Sophie Bates in Jackson, Mississippi; Kate Payne in Tallahassee, Florida; Jonathan Poet in Philadelphia; Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan; and Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine, contributed to this report.