CPB awards grants to stations for better coverage of emergency alerts. | Story

Government funding for public broadcasting has come under criticism in recent weeks, but its role in emergency communications is highlighted by a new series of grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It has provided funds to radio and television stations to upgrade their equipment to provide improved emergency alerting.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency-funded Next Generation Warning System (NGWS) grant program funds public media stations to upgrade their equipment and receive training to improve alerting and warning capabilities, including the ability to utilize digital broadcast technology for radio stations.

Manny Centeno, director of the FEMA Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS), says the goal is to improve continuity and take advantage of new technologies that can reach the public anywhere with alerts.

“FEMA is committed to strengthening resilience by quickly disseminating emergency messages to the public through various integrated channels,” Centeno said in a statement. “FEMA’s Integrated Public Warning and Alert System provides local authorities with a range of tools and resources to effectively send emergency messages to the public.”

In 2022, FEMA contracted CPB to establish and manage the NGWS grant program to help public media broadcasters across the U.S. create a more resilient and secure public alert system. The program prioritizes public media stations that serve rural, tribal and underserved communities. And that’s where the money went this time.

The Community Radio Project, which serves rural and tribal communities in the Four Corners region of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, will receive up to $54,750 for equipment, including new transmitters and backup power to ensure stations operate during a Radio station remains on the air in an emergency. Its stations include the trimulcast “Dry Land Community Radio” from KZET-FM, Towaoc, CO (90.5); KSJD-FM, Cortez, CO (91.5); and KICO-FM, Rico, CO (89.5).

Another grant goes to Coast Alaska’s KSTK, Wrangell, AK (101.7). The Alaskan community radio station serving Wrangell, Shoemaker Bay and North Wrangell Island will receive up to $90,002 to improve its emergency alert system in the community and remote areas. According to CPB, the station will replace aging equipment, including a backup generator at the transmitter site, an EAS decoder and a translator for rural, tribal and underserved communities in Alaska.

Another Alaskan station also receives a CPB grant. Silakkuagvik Communications serves a large Inupiat-Eskimo population in the northernmost tip of Alaska with KBRW-FM & AM (91.9/680) in Barrow, AK. According to CPB, the company will receive up to $98,853 to upgrade critical equipment to ensure a reliable connection to its listeners and a reliable source of emergency messaging.

CPB also provides grants for public television. It will donate $976,708 to Delta College’s WDCQ-TV in the Flint-Saginaw-Bay City, MI market. The PBS affiliate serves a predominantly rural and underserved audience across the bend in Michigan. The grant will be used to replace broadcast infrastructure, making the broadcaster more resilient and ready for the transition to NextGen TV standards.

“Public media stations have always played an important role in emergency warning in communities across the country,” said Patricia Harrison, president/CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. “The Next Generation Warning System grant program provides funding to public media organizations, particularly in rural areas, to replace and improve their technology and infrastructure that enhances critical alerting and warning capabilities to help protect these communities.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency provided CPB a total of $96 million in fiscal year 2022 and 2023 to establish and implement the Next Generation Warning System (NGWS) grant program. CPB administers a competitive grant program for public television and radio stations to replace and modernize infrastructure to expand alarm, warning and interoperable communications.