Public media is entering a new era. It’s not by choice, but by necessity. With the federal government winding down support for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the system we’ve relied on for more than 50 years is unraveling.
We’re not waiting to be rescued.
We’re building something new.
The Cooperation for Public Media (COOPM) is a field-led initiative designed to support local stations, journalism, and civic storytelling in the absence of federal infrastructure. It’s not a replacement for PBS or NPR. It’s not a bureaucracy. It’s a cooperative framework built on shared values, shared tools, and shared investment in our communities.
What We’re Building Together
- Shared Infrastructure:
Technology, tools, and platforms that help stations operate more efficiently and engage more deeply — without duplicating costs. - Pooled Journalism Resources:
A new fund to support trusted, local journalism where it’s needed most. Especially in areas now left behind by national cuts. - Public Advocacy and Civic Visibility:
National campaigns that remind the public what public media is and why it matters in a civil society, now more than ever. - Mutual Aid and Field Solidarity:
When disaster hits or resources fall short, stations shouldn’t go it alone. We support each other.
We Lost a Corporation. We Gained a Cooperation.
This isn’t nostalgia. It’s reinvention.
Public media still matters, not just as content, but as a public trust.
Let’s build a stronger future together, grounded in cooperation, not competition.
For You (the Public)
Public media is more than TV or radio. It’s trust, community, and connection.
With the Corporation for Public Broadcasting shutting down, the system that supported hundreds of local stations for decades is going away. But the need for trusted, local, noncommercial media has never been greater.
That’s why we’re building the Cooperation for Public Media. It’s a new, collaborative effort to ensure public media continues to serve you and your community.
We’re not waiting for permission.
We’re working together to protect and strengthen local journalism, educational programming, and cultural storytelling.
Because when public media thrives, democracy does too.
For Foundations
When federal support disappears, infrastructure gaps grow fast.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting once played a critical role in holding the public media system together by funding journalism, enabling local innovation, and sustaining shared infrastructure.
That’s gone now. And stations, especially those serving underserved and underreported regions, are being left to fend for themselves.
The Cooperation for Public Media is a new, field-led initiative to build what comes next. A collective infrastructure. A shared fund for journalism. A public-facing movement.
This is a moment for catalytic philanthropy, not to maintain what was, but to invest in what can be.
For Companies
You believe in local. You believe in trust. You believe in service.
So do we.
As the Corporation for Public Broadcasting phases out, hundreds of public media stations are facing a future without national support even though they’re still serving millions of Americans with journalism, education, and cultural storytelling.
The Cooperation for Public Media is a new way forward. A shared initiative built by stations to keep public media strong, relevant, and resilient.
If your company values community engagement, civic trust, and innovation with impact, there’s a role for you here.
Partner with us and help shape what replaces one of America’s most trusted public institutions.
For Philanthropists
The time to act is now.
For over five decades, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting helped power journalism, education, and local storytelling. That era is ending.
But this isn’t the end of public media. It’s the beginning of something new.
The Cooperation for Public Media is a bold initiative to build the shared tools, funds, and civic backbone that public media still needs — without federal support.
It’s lean, collaborative, and field-led.
We’re not duplicating institutions. We’re replacing the ones that no longer exist.
Philanthropic leadership now can help ensure this vital civic network survives and evolves.
For Public Media Station Leaders
If CPB’s gone, what do we build in its place?
That’s not a rhetorical question. It’s the moment we’re in.
The Cooperation for Public Media is a new, peer-led initiative designed to offer what we’re losing: shared infrastructure, pooled resources, and a voice to the public about why this work matters.
We’re not here to replace PBS or NPR. We’re here to do what neither of them were built to do, which is to pick up the pieces and reimagine a system without federal backing.
If we don’t design the future of public media, someone else will — or it simply won’t exist.
Let’s build it together.
Cooperation for Public Media 