Kentucky Educational Television will layoff 15 staff members and eliminate another 21 positions after Republicans in Congress eliminated funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting – including clawing back some money that was already appropriated by Congress.
KET produces statewide shows ranging from the nightly half-hour news show “Kentucky Edition” to in-depth discussions with political reporters on “Comment on Kentucky” to state and local features on “Kentucky Life.” Over the years, it has won numerous awards for many of those programs.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear called out congressional Republicans Wednesday for clawing back funds already appropriated for public media across the country.
“It’s something that’s almost never been done before, after a bipartisan agreement… undoing that agreement and deciding that you’re going to target public media,” Beshear said during a routine press conference on state affairs. “I hope everybody sees what it is, what it means and who did it, because I believe in accountability. “
In the last fiscal year, the television network received more than $4 million in CPB grants it relies on for its annual budget. The station recently said the CPB funding represented 75% of its total discretionary funds and was used primarily to produce local programs.
A press release announcing the cuts included comment from KET’s director Shae Hopkins who called it a “sad but unavoidable situation for our dedicated team.”
It’s unclear how the cuts will affect specific local and statewide programs KET produces or the shows it airs from distributors and the national Public Broadcasting Service.
KET serves as a state primary source for the Kentucky Emergency Alert System and is part of the federal government’s National Emergency Alert System.
A spokesperson for KET said it would not be making any further comments on the staffing cuts beyond the press release.
WKU reporter Lisa Autry contributed to this story.
