Funding cuts to PBS threaten public safety, says GM Scott Woelfel

On June 12, 2025, Arizona PBS General Manager Scott Woelfel published a #ProtectMyPublicMedia-focused opinion in “The Arizona Republic.” This is an excerpt from the article. To view the article in it’s entirety, visit azcentral.com here.

Arizona PBS warns you in an emergency. Now, that safety system is at risk.

Without federal funding for PBS, many Arizonans – especially those in rural and tribal lands – would not have access to critical public safety and education services.

As Congress considers a measure to rescind all federal funding for public broadcasting, it’s vital to understand how destructive that would be for Arizona.

Cutting federal funding would leave many Arizonans, especially those in rural areas and tribal lands, without the critical services that Arizona PBS provides.

Public television stations provide lifesaving public safety communications and services in partnership with federal, state and local authorities.

This includes cutting-edge technologies that help first responders communicate with each other without the need for mobile service or broadband.

The PBS WARN system also sends alerts across Arizona with urgent information about flash floods, fires, tornado warnings, missing person alerts, major power outages and law enforcement situations that require neighbors to shelter in place.

The system has already sent 116 such alerts across the state for far this year.

Arizona PBS is responsible for maintaining the critical broadcast infrastructure to deliver these alerts.
A loss of federal funding may require us to reduce the number of translators we operate around Arizona. That would not only deprive viewers in those areas of programming, but it would also eliminate the ability to distribute alerts to those regions.

Cuts to public broadcasting funding would significantly jeopardize public safety across our state.