On Friday, Aug. 1, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the nonprofit that for decades has helped sustain public radio and television stations around the U.S., announced that it would effectively cease operations by the end of the year after the Trump administration axed all federal funding for public media. This was a dispiriting end to a longer crusade against public media — in the forms of NPR and PBS — waged by the Trump administration and their yes-men in Congress.
“Congress voted on July 18 to eliminate previously approved funding for public media across the country. A few weeks before that, the governor vetoed our state funding as well. These cuts represent a $400,000 annual loss to Central Florida Public Media’s bottom line,” explains Judith Smelser, president of Central Florida Public Media, to Orlando Weekly.
In the long term, it’s depressingly unclear — though NPR and PBS have both stated they will remain on the air as of this writing — what this means for stations all across the country, especially ones that serve smaller cities and towns. In the short term, it’s more urgent than ever that we rally around our own local public media outlets, and the staff who keep these stations on the air.
Orlando’s music scene, gratifyingly, is rising to that challenge.
“It’s really important that we do whatever we can to keep these stations alive, because without them, there’s a lot of people that are going to miss out on a lot of important information,” says Jordan Shroyer of Whatever Dude Productions and Central Floridian emo-punk band Virginity.
Shroyer, a public media true believer, is putting his money — and his bass — where his mouth is, performing and helping organize this weekend’s Punk for Public Media benefit concert at Will’s Pub, with every dollar raised from tickets going to Central Florida Public Media.
The show is, for all involved, a labor of love — a special edition of Shroyer’s recurring Punk Brunch — with the initial inspiration springing from a conversation between Shroyer and his wife, Tirzah, member services coordinator at Central Florida Public Media. Brainstorming about youth outreach for the station, the couple hatched a plan to turn Shroyer’s next punk brunch into a “Punk for Public Media” fundraiser. Both the music folks and public media folks responded enthusiastically.
“I thought it was awesome,” says Smelser. “My favorite thing about this event is that it bubbled up organically from a beloved community gathering place that wanted to make sure another beloved community institution could stick around and keep empowering and connecting our community.” Fleshing out this initial concept into raucous reality has been a collaborative effort. CFPM is the official host, while Shroyer’s Whatever Dude Productions, Mox!e Booking and Will’s Pub are all cross-promoting and pitching in on the particulars.
The lineup for Sunday’s all-ager is The Pauses, Virginity, Thrull, 430 Steps, Über Crunch, NOTAM, Misspell and Catnap. A common thread between the musicians is a personal connection to public media and belief in its mission.
“I really loved Sesame Street as a kid. PBS was my first exposure to public media, and it dramatically shaped my life. … I am dyslexic, but as a child I never strayed away from reading and spelling because of that show’s encouragement and its creative methods for teaching,” says Sonny Vargas from noise-pop legion Über Crunch. “We believe that access to unbiased, reliable information as well as educational tools that are accessible to all people is crucial for building up local communities.”
“A lot of people don’t have ways to otherwise easily access the news, music and arts programming that are shared for free on public media platforms,” says Michael Scotto of Thrull. “It’s something that’s really important to me. I grew up listening to National Public Radio and watching Sesame Street. I’ve discovered a lot of bands from NPR’s Tiny Desk. … I want to do what I can to contribute.”
“As fans of NPR, we are really big on unbiased public media, and believe that everyone should have access to it,” echoes Nina of young indie-rockers Catnap.
The benefit show was in the works before the Trump Administration and Congress passed the Rescissions Act, stripping $1.1 billion in already-approved funding for public media. The move to defund public media especially threatens rural and Tribal stations, and jeopardizes the services stations provide to communities nationwide.
“A lot of folks are upset that federal funding has been cut, but there is an eagerness to step up and help,” says Christina Stuehrenberg, assistant development director of Central Florida Public Media. “We are now 100 percent community and philanthropy supported. And it makes sense that the punk community values the independent journalism we provide and understands the importance of freedom of the press.”
Though the sense of urgency is clear, there can be plenty of joyous catharsis found in screaming out support for public media.
“It’s turned into this great big family event where everybody’s putting their best foot forward to do something fun that can hopefully raise some awareness and some money for Central Florida Public Media,” says Shroyer.
“We’re on our own now, so our continued service depends on whether the community chooses to invest more deeply in Central Florida Public Media — Punk for Public Media is a great example of that,” says Smelser. “In addition to coming out to the show, there are easy ways people can make a difference. Make a first-time gift, or restart your monthly giving. If all of our listeners, readers and followers gave at least $10 each month, we’d close the funding gap instantly. You can do that at cfpublic.org. Speak up. If you can’t donate right now, you can advocate. Tell your friends and family, share our posts on social media and help us grow grassroots support.”
Come out Sunday to this all-day event and maybe you can stagedive with Talia Blake. Or donate directly to Central Florida Public Media. Ask a punk for the (web) address.
Additional reporting by Lola Fontanez.
Will’s Pub
1042 N. Mills Ave., Orlando, FL
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This article appears in Aug 6-12, 2025.