Dear Friend of WQLN:

The vision of our founding board members more than 50 years ago was that WQLN would become an integral educational resource for our community. That non-profit, community-focused mission has never wavered and, with your support, has only grown stronger. We remain committed to meeting the needs of the community through television and radio programming, outreach, and engagement – and now through digital and social media platforms.

You may have seen news stories this week detailing a House Subcommittee on Delivering Government Efficiency (DOGE) hearing Wednesday titled “Anti-American Airwaves: Holding the Heads of NPR and PBS Accountable.” During the hearing, PBS President & CEO Paula Kerger, NPR President & CEO Katherine Maher, and Alaska Public Media President & CEO Ed Ulman answered questions of the committee and effectively demonstrated the public service mission of PBS, NPR, and individual stations like WQLN throughout the country. While the title of the hearing alone clearly demonstrates the partisan nature of this session, Paula and Katherine made a strong case for continuing federal support. We remain hopeful for bipartisan agreement but recognize that these are unprecedented and challenging times for public media.

WQLN’s rich content from PBS and NPR serves as a free, and accessible source for insightful, interesting, and entertaining programs for the whole family to enjoy. Our Emmy award-winning locally produced docuseries Chronicles continues to explore the history of the Lake Erie region through topics like rum-running, politics, and shipwrecks, and influential people like Charlotte Elizabeth Battles, Harry T. Burleigh, H.O. Hirt., and Tom Ridge.

I'm also proud that our education program won a prestigious award from the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) last year. The program reaches our youngest community members in their neighborhoods, making essential lessons and resources available and easily accessible. Through partnerships with the Erie Housing Authority, the St. Martin Learning Center, Mercy Center for Women, and many other organizations, the mobile classroom-on-wheels WQLN PBS KIDS STREAM Machine delivers educational content in the areas of science, technology, reading, engineering, art, and math. More than 4,600 young children have engaged in activities that spark curiosity and promote hands-on exploration.

WQLN is a vital contributor to the enrichment of regional assets like the Erie Philharmonic, Erie Playhouse, and Chautauqua Institution. We work collaboratively with these and many other cultural organizations to enhance their artistic offerings and publicize events through public media.

Additionally, WQLN’s campus offers a variety of spaces for the public to enjoy including a Learning Center, home for performances, lectures, and activities. Our lobby area often transforms into a performance space for local and touring musicians and entertainers, and our serene outdoor pavilion plays host to numerous concerts and events, like “Sounds Around Town,” to foster engagement and fellowship. WQLN is a valued nonprofit, important regional asset, and significant contributor to the cultural fabric of our region.

Public safety is also a priority for us. WQLN provides potentially life-saving safety information in times of crisis, serving as the backbone for the region's emergency alert systems, distributing national and regional alerts to other local stations, and providing critical instruction to communities during urgent situations.

Your support and passion for WQLN enables us to provide all the essential content and services mentioned above and more. However, the financial reality for small market stations like ours is that funding through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), created by Congress in 1967 and the steward of the federal government's investment in public broadcasting, makes up 40% of WQLN’s annual budget. We rely on funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to support our educational outreach, support the membership and programming staff, maintain the broadcast and digital equipment, pay for the programs you love, and keep it free and accessible to all. To be clear: our operations would be greatly impacted without federal funding through CPB.

Though attacks on the important work we do and efforts to defund your public media system persist, I hope this letter helps you understand just how important the work we do is to our community. Again, these assaults in Washington are not specific to WQLN, but they do threaten the existence of public media stations like ours, and you rely on us to keep you thoughtfully informed, entertained, and engaged. I'm keeping a close eye on the developments and remain optimistic that bi-partisan support will prevail so local stations can continue to operate with support from CPB, just as Congress authorized and has supported for 58 years.

We take our responsibility to you as your local public media very seriously and appreciate the dedicated support you have shown us over the years. Thank you for believing in the value that WQLN brings to our community and empowering us to serve you every day — no matter the challenges that are ahead.

Best,
Cindy Spizarny
CEO & President, WQLN

P.S. Several organizations are capitalizing on the threat to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting by soliciting donations from PBS viewers and NPR listeners. The best way to support our work is to donate directly to your local member stations. Thank you!