WPSU receives outpouring of support after Penn State’s decision to shut it down
After Penn State’s governing body last week declined to move forward with transferring ownership for WPSU to remain operating, there’s been an outpouring of support for the public media entity and calls to save the station.
Petitions urging the board to reconsider and save WPSU, the PBS and NPR Member station and a service of Penn State Outreach, have popped up, with one garnering more than 3,000 signatures. They were launched after the board of trustees’ finance and investment committee was presented with a proposal Thursday for WHYY, a public media organization in Philadelphia, to acquire WPSU to continue public broadcasting in central Pennsylvania, but voted not to move forward with it.
University administration then said it would begin a “wind down” process for WPSU, with a shut down date no later than June 30, 2026.
The petitions urge people to contact the board of trustees and university administration and ask them to reverse the decision or find an alternative solution. A petition with 3,338 signatures as of Tuesday night urges people to act now, as the end date of June 2026 will arrive quickly.
“Do not let your mind trick you into thinking that date is far away. Protect our public media. Make Mister Rogers, Levar Burton, Bill Nye, and Miss Frizzle proud,” one petition states. “Make our friends at 123 Sesame Street proud. We must hold the line and protect WPSU, PBS, and NPR because as they always remind us, it is viewers like me, viewers like you, and viewers like US.”
On its Facebook page, WPSU wrote it is “deeply moved” by the outpouring of support it has received since the board announced the decision, including signing petitions, writing letters and reaching out to the leadership.
“While recent decisions have challenged our future, our dedicated team is actively exploring every possible solution,” the post states, adding that everyone’s voices are powerful and their belief in the media entity is what “fuels our determination.”
“Together, we are not just reflecting on what WPSU has been — we are working toward what it still can be. While we don’t have more information to share, we want to say thank you,” the post concludes.
Centre County elected officials share concerns
Local politicians and elected officials have shared their support for WPSU as well. State Rep. Paul Takac, D-College Township, issued a statement in a recent newsletter, calling the board’s decision “incredibly disappointing.” He said he is encouraged by the support WPSU has received since Thursday.
“I am inspired by the outpouring of community support for WPSU and am hopeful that there is still time to find a way to help ensure that WPSU can continue its crucial mission,” Takac wrote. He said constituents could share what WPSU means to them, and he would share those stories with Penn State, or they could write to the board directly.
The Centre County Commissioners also spoke about the decision during their meeting Tuesday morning. Commissioner Mark Higgins said anytime a news organization ceases to exist, it’s disappointing because the First Amendment is crucial.
“WPSU covered a massive swath of the central Pennsylvania. We also haven’t had a time to investigate it yet, but should their network be shut down, it is used for emergency notification. A lot of upgrades to that after September 11, and we’ll have to check with Centre County EMA, Centre County 911, and the Southern Alleghenies Task Force to see what that might mean for emergency notification during major events for citizens,” Higgins said.
Commissioner Amber Concepcion also pointed to the educational programming for kids in addition to news coverage.
“Not only on television, but in terms of outreach to preschools and school districts throughout rural parts of central Pennsylvania. And that function is pretty crucial as part of the ecosystem of early childhood education,” she said.
Had the Penn State trustees approved the transfer, the university would have entered into a purchase and sales agreement to transfer all WPSU assets to WHYY, which would have formed a new entity that it controls. The new acquirer would have paid Penn State $1 at closing, and the university would have subsidized the post-closing operations of WPSU over the next five years, Sara Thorndike, senior vice president for finance and business/treasurer and chief financial officer for the university said.
Penn State would have paid a total of about $17 million over five years, which, as Thorndike pointed out, is a similar amount to what the university would have funded WPSU with during the same timeframe. She said it was a “fair offer” while acknowledging it is not a small amount of money.
But the university could not continue to fund WPSU with student tuition, Thorndike said, citing “declining resources for core teaching and research needs.”
Before a vote, she warned that the university would begin a “wind down” process of WPSU if the board did not approve the transfer. The committee unanimously voted against the measure.
Earlier this summer, WPSU was hit with a $1 million funding loss, or 20% of its overall budget, when Congress eliminated funding that was already committed to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting over the next two years. Penn State also cut its annual budget allocation by 20%, or about $800,000, this fiscal year. Following that going into effect, some layoffs were conducted.
