When I joined this newsroom as the Director of Digital News in late 2023, it was still known as Crosscut, a digital newsroom that had merged with KCTS 9 in 2015. One of the founders of Crosscut explained to me that the name represented the idea that the newsroom’s coverage would cut “against the grain” compared to that of other outlets in the region, and cover “news from the great nearby.” Last year, KCTS 9 and Crosscut rebranded to share the name Cascade PBS.
This week marks the most significant period of transition for this newsroom since the merger in 2015, as outlined in our organization’s announcement yesterday. It’s worth noting: This transition would not be occurring if not for Congress’ July 18 vote to rescind funding to the Corporation of Public Broadcasting. President Trump signed the bill on July 24, removing funding that had already been approved by Congress just three months earlier. The Cascade PBS fiscal year had already started July 1, and our budget supported all the work we normally fund. But our board had to vote last week to approve a revised budget, and in an effort to right-size the company under this new financial reality, we are moving away from the publication of in-depth, online-first written journalism.
In the next year, we had plans to again publish the only statewide voter guide from a newsroom in Washington, covering every legislative race in the state as well as all major offices. Our reporters in Seattle, Yakima and Olympia would have continued to cover in-depth stories related to state government and policy, including stories about the impact of federal cuts to Medicaid and other vital services. We had plans to publish a podcast series related to the state’s underfunded public defender system. Our quarterly Cascade PBS/Elway Polls would have previewed the legislative session, and given us valuable insight into how voters were feeling as we head into the hugely consequential 2026 midterm election season.
Our investigative team would have continued its efforts shining light into areas where no one else is looking. I have no doubt we would have written more stories with real-world impact, like the ones in the past year that led to the closure of a VA Clinic with long-standing safety concerns; led to policy changes related to workplace safety for teenagers; set off local investigations about possible cover-ups in local municipalities; or led to $5.5 million in refunds to mobile home owners in Hurst & Son parks. Our reporters planned to continue to apply significant scrutiny to an ICE detention center in Tacoma, and we planned to produce a half-hour video documentary examining the real-world implications for people caught up in the fight between Washington and the federal government over immigration enforcement.
Needless to say, this is a painful decision based on funding realities. There is a direct through-line from Congress’ rescission of the funding to CPB and the elimination of this valuable local coverage to our community, and a substantive change to the local media ecosystem. The same could be said for similar decisions other local PBS and NPR member stations across the country have had to make in recent weeks (and undoubtedly, many others will have to make in the coming months and years). It was work that held federal, state and local government officials – and many others wielding power in our communities – to account.
The new Cascade PBS newsroom that will emerge will look much different than the one we’ve had previously. Our primary news product will be our local video show The Newsfeed. Our staff will be smaller and more focused in their work. But we’ll still strive to tell the stories that really matter in our communities across the region and to amplify valuable and helpful voices. We’ll prioritize stories no one else is covering. And we won’t hesitate to continue to cover stories that hold power to account, with public service as the ultimate measure of our success.
