January 14, 2026 — Press Forward Minnesota, a collaborative initiative supporting local news and information across the state, has awarded more than half a million dollars in emergency grants to five public media stations through its Save the Signal Minnesota Fund.
The grants provide immediate relief as local stations face the loss of Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) funding, which has created an estimated annual shortfall of more than $17 million for 16 public media stations in Minnesota.
For many stations, the CPB cuts account for between 5% and 50% of their operating budgets, putting local reporting, emergency communications, and essential services at risk.
In response to this funding crisis, Press Forward Minnesota launched the Save the Signal Minnesota Fund, a pooled philanthropic effort designed to stabilize public media, protect core services, and support stations as they plan for long-term sustainability.
The application for Save the Signal was an invitation-only process. Grant amounts were distributed based on the scale of federal funding loss, with priority given to stations facing the greatest impact and those serving communities with limited access to other local media. Rural and tribal stations, which are disproportionately affected by the federal cuts, received particular focus. Sustainability and transformation efforts of stations were also taken into consideration for funding.
Read the full announcement here.
