In May 2025, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14290, titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media,” cutting all federal funding for PBS and NPR through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In July, Republican members of Congress passed additional legislation stripping public radio of billions in funds.
In the year since, local public radio stations across the country have struggled to survive, scrambling to maintain existing programs and facing nationwide volunteer shortages.
However, at WDIY 88.1 Lehigh Valley Public Radio, that trend hasn’t taken hold.
WDIY executive director Margaret McConnell said the station has maintained strong volunteer engagement despite financial challenges. The station currently has 90 volunteer on-air DJs and 30 additional volunteers who host community-centered programs and podcasts.
“If (a program) goes off air, I will fill it immediately,” McConnell said. “The interest in doing these programs is insane.”
WDIY, an NPR member station located on the third floor of 301 Broadway, provides coverage across the Lehigh Valley.
In the past six months, McConnell said the station has trained 11 new volunteers. Still, financial strains remain. In October, WDIY lost 15% of its budget due to federal budget cuts, forcing leadership to focus on careful expense reductions to avoid cutting programming or staff.
So far, those cuts haven’t been necessary.
Following the initial defunding in July, McConnell said WDIY received fee relief from NPR and final grants from Corporation of Public Broadcasting, allowing the station to continue airing some NPR programs at a reduced cost.
The station also experienced an unexpected surge in donations. McConnell said one individual who’d never donated before sent a $10,000 check in August.
“The hole didn’t open up (under us) like I expected it to,” she said. “I’m pleasantly surprised, and I’m cautiously optimistic of how we’re going to end the (fiscal) year.”
Community support has extended beyond donations. In January, Lucas Wolk, a drummer in the local band Lovecartel, organized the “Defend Public Radio – Winter Jam” benefit concert at the Ice House. The event featured multiple bands and raised $2,500, all of which Wolk donated to WDIY.
“I opened the doors at 1 p.m. and for the first 45 minutes, I wasn’t even able to step away from the ticketing booth because of the people continuously pouring in,” Wolk said. “By doing this, you really got to see how much the community loves having that radio station in their backyard.”
Wolk said the event was intended not only to raise funds but also increase awareness. He knew the concert alone wouldn’t “save” public radio, but said it could help strengthen community support.
Having taught drum lessons in the Lehigh Valley for 15 years, Wolk said the issue feels personal. He said public radio is a “pillar of the local music community” and he felt compelled to act when he saw it at risk.
“I was very angry at the state of the world, and I knew that I needed to put that energy into something good,” Wolk said. “(WDIY) has been here forever, and you can’t take them away because you’re just destroying local art. You’re destroying the ability for local bands to actually get their music out there.”
Beyond music, WDIY also produces programming focused on the arts in Bethlehem and the broader Lehigh Valley. One of its most popular programs is Lehigh Valley Arts Salon, hosted by Kate Scuffle.
Scuffle, a longtime theater artist and producer, moved to the Valley in 1988. A year later, she met her husband, George B. Miller and began managing The Theatre Outlet in Allentown. They then relocated to Ireland in 2005 to work in theater full time. After returning to the Valley, WDIY asked Miller to host the program and brought Scuffle on as co-host.
Since her husband’s passing, Scuffle has taken over as the show’s primary host.
“She could do that show every day,” McConnell said. “There’s so much demand, there’s so much happening in this area. She’s constantly getting people that email her that want to be on our program.”
Scuffle said recent efforts to defund public broadcasting have heightened concerns among WDIY members. In response, she said she’s become more intentional about her programming, particularly in choosing guests and topics.
Because public broadcasting cuts often extend to the arts, education and the humanities, she said maintaining coverage of those areas is more important than ever.
“The reason I am here is I believe in public radio, deeply,” Scuffle said. “I believe in WDIY, deeply. I believe in what it does for the community. I find it’s really important right now for the listeners to understand the depth and breadth of the artistic community in the Valley and (to understand) what they give back.”
Scuffle also emphasized the resilience of the local community, expressing confidence that continued support will sustain the station moving forward.
“Publicly funded media and everything is more important than ever right now,” she said. “It’s what stands between us and not being a democracy. You start to think about how to use the show to strengthen the station and the community against these kinds of attempts to undermine the humanities.”
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