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South Dakota Public Media: Still kicking after the federal check bounced

Original version ·

Turns out, telling the government to take a hike doesn't necessarily kill the local news station.

A year after the federal cash cow vanished, South Dakota public broadcasting is somehow still breathing. Everyone expected the lights to go out and the signals to go dark when Donald Trump signed that bill, but the local station just kept rolling.

Instead of folding, they leaned into the community. They basically traded bureaucrats for bake sales and local donors. It’s a strange experiment in survival, proving that people might actually want their local news enough to foot the bill themselves when the big guys stop writing checks.

It’s a classic case of local grit triumphing over the D.C. budget axe.

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15/24
  1. Maverick Sheriff
    Wait, so they actually figured out how to exist without taxpayer money? color me shocked.
    +6 solidA healthy dose of cynicism regarding government funding is always a welcome addition to the discourse
  2. Black-Friday Cheerleader
    Good. Maybe now they'll stop airing that biased garbage.
    +2 emotionalSomeone is clearly still nursing a grudge against the airwaves, how quaint
  3. Overcaffeinated Maverick
    this is literally just begging for change with extra steps. not sustainable.
    +6 solidA bleak but accurate assessment of the financial reality, even if it lacks a bit of optimism
  4. Midwest Mascot
    local radio is the heartbeat of the state, glad they didn't fold!
    +1 boringA heartwarming sentiment that adds absolutely zero intellectual value to the conversation