Before the sun arrives in Shreveport, Louisiana, Jeff Farel reaches the national public radio station in the city and turns on the lights.
Fareel is the news director of Red River Radio and its only full -time news employee. He is also an on-air host, field reporter, writer and sound editor. Whatever happens in the control room of KDAQ, it makes it single.
When he wakes up at 4 in the morning, the Pharels spend 15 hours on the day covering the news in three states. The radio station is part of a network that serves eastern Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.
Recently, the House approved the request of President Trump NPR cut in funding,
CBS News 
NPR stations like KDAQ are some sources of news left in rural areas. Often referred to as a “news desert” due to lack of local news organizations, they will bear the brunt of the Trump administration plan Federal funding cuts for public television and radio,
“Louisiana has nothing in some parganas, no newspapers in Louisiana,” Ferrell told CBS News. “They are completely empty. And it is like a food desert in an urban area where people cannot get fresh fruits – with us, they cannot get news.”
Ven Smith, the police chief of Fareel and Shrewport, says that these deductions could have a significant impact on rural communities, especially during the storm season when residents rely on public radio broadcasting for life-saving information.
About 19% of Louisiana residents live in poverty, according to the US census, and do not have access to 15% internet. Fareel said how many public radio residents are connected to the world. If the funding of their station is cut, there will be less local news service in their area.
“You cannot tolerate satellite TVs, you can’t buy cables, and they are alone. And so it is a lifeline. And it’s great about it that they feel connected,” Farele said. “Public radio saves life. The emergency broadcast system, without it, people will die.”
Kermit Polling, General Manager of Red River Radio, said the network gets about $ 160,000 every year from the government. This is about 15% of their $ 1 million budget.
“This is like any non -profit. You are always in one form or asking for another donation,” said polling.
The federal funds that the Red River radio receives is $ 1.1 billion in the proposed cuts for Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS. NPR and three local stations Cases against the Trump administration have joined these deductions. A rescue package for NPR, PBS and Back Funding for International Assistance Approved by House The Senate has now been led earlier this month.
Public broadcasting cuts have been postponed as an attempt to reduce taxpayer funding for news media outlets by the Trump administration and the Republican, which they accuse of being “generous” or politically bias in their content. But according to a Congress report received by CBS News from Senate Democrats, about 60% of hundreds of radio and television stations that can face funding cuts Trump is in states,
Rural broadcasters have difficult times in raising private funds, and it makes them more sensitive to the proposed federal funding cuts, Public Broadcasting Caucas co-heads said earlier this month,
“The public broadcasting represents less than 0.01% of the federal budget, yet its impact reaches the district of every Congress,” Nevada Republican Rape, Mark Amodi and New York Democratic Rape Dan Goldman said in a joint statement. “Cutting this funding will not reduce the deficit, but it will eliminate a reliable source of information for millions of Americans.”
