A public broadcaster's path after losing U.S. funds: Youth sports and less local news

toggle caption Kelcey Schroder for NPR

HARRISBURG, S.D. — Kids clambered onto a fire truck painted white, its rooftop sporting a huge stuffed tiger and a flag waving high for Harrisburg High's football team in this suburb of Sioux Falls.

People watched college games on the four 50-inch televisions gracing one side of the truck; others grilled burgers nearby.

At the tailgate, parents talked about football, work, kids and — with a little prodding — what they rely on for news.

"Mainly just a Fox guy," says Aaron Zahn, the truck's owner, who builds grain elevators. He likes Gutfeld! — the conservative late-night comedy show on Fox News.

toggle caption Kelcey Schroder for NPR

Dawn Bures, whose son, Harrison, plays wide receiver for the Tigers, says she follows "citizen journalists on the internet," citing social media influencer Jessica Reed Kraus' House Inhabit.

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When it comes to public media, both say they support President Trump's push to take back all federal funds.

"I think that the media can be easily influenced to produce media that leans one way or the other, so I actually think that's probably a good choice," says Bures, who works in interior design and sells self-care products.

The future of public media in South Dakota Listen · 3:56 3:56

That largely reflects the sentiments of most — though not all — of a dozen people who came to the football stadium to see the Tigers rout the Yankton Bucks. A sports health executive said he relies on friends to text him about news developments; a retired accountant said he watches Fox News yet loves PBS nature shows; a reading intervention teacher said she appreciates the educational shows and apps that public media provides.

Under Trump's pressure, congressional Republicans pulled back all $1.1 billion in federal funding that had been approved for public media for the next two years, starting on Oct. 1. Most of that was to go to local PBS and NPR stations.

toggle caption Kelcey Schroder for NPR

South Dakota's statewide public media network ow