Public Media Bridge Fund Announces Disaster Recovery Grants for Isla Public Media and KOSU

The two emergency grants, totaling $145,000, will help restore and secure local public media service for communities in the Northern Mariana Islands and Oklahoma.

July 7, 2026 — The Public Media Bridge Fund (Bridge Fund) is providing a combined $145,000 in emergency grant funding to Isla Public Media in Guam and KOSU in Northeast Oklahoma through its Disaster Recovery Program. The grants will help restore local public media service by replacing critical broadcast infrastructure damaged in recent severe weather events.

“Local public media organizations like Isla Public Media and KOSU play an essential role in informing communities, particularly during natural disasters and extreme weather events,” said Allie Vanyur, program officer at the Public Media Bridge Fund. “Through our Disaster Recovery Program, we’re proud to help stabilize critical broadcast infrastructure so these stations can continue serving their communities when they’re needed most.”

Disaster recovery funding will help Isla Public Media replace a broadcast tower on the island of Saipan that was heavily damaged earlier this year by Super Typhoon Sinlaku. The storm brought destructive winds, torrential rain and widespread flooding to Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands in April, causing weekslong power outages and damage to critical infrastructure.

Isla Public Media’s main studios on Guam were without power and water for a week, during which the organization broadcast critical local news and information from a hotel with backup water and generator power. The station’s broadcast tower on Saipan, however, was destroyed, leaving residents without local public media service.

“Our broadcast tower on Saipan was completely leveled. The road up the mountain to the tower was inaccessible for more than three weeks after the storm,” said Christopher Hartig, general manager of Isla Public Media. “This support allows us to rebuild critical infrastructure and restore reliable public radio service for the 50,000 residents of Saipan who depend on it. We’re incredibly grateful to the Bridge Fund for helping us recover.”

In Oklahoma, severe weather caused a different kind of disruption to broadcast infrastructure serving rural and Native communities across the region.

Emergency grant funding will help KOSU replace a transmitter in Nowata County, Okla., that was damaged by a lightning strike. The transmitter serves northeast Oklahoma, southeast Kansas, southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas, a region that includes 12 Tribal nations. The transmitter is also the primary distributor of emergency alerts for a four-county area encompassing the Osage Nation and part of the Cherokee Reservation, making its restoration critical to public safety as well as local public media service.

“Public radio is often the first place people turn during severe weather, so maintaining reliable service isn’t optional — it’s essential,” said Rachel Hubbard, executive director of KOSU. “This grant allows us to fully restore service to the communities that rely on this transmitter and strengthens our ability to deliver trusted news and emergency information when it’s needed most.”

Announced in January, the Bridge Fund’s Disaster Recovery Program is designed to provide short-term support to local public media organizations facing immediate disruption from natural disasters or other unforeseen crises. The rapid-response grants help stabilize essential operations so stations can remain on the air and continue serving their communities during recovery.

About Public Media Bridge Fund

The Public Media Bridge Fund, an initiative of Public Media Company, is designed to guide local public media through a crisis moment to a more sustainable, vibrant, and impactful future. Launched in 2025, the Bridge Fund has raised over $84 million to date with the mission of maintaining public media service across the country; protecting essential infrastructure for local, nonprofit use; and strengthening system-wide resilience and community value for the long-term. The Bridge Fund’s strategy is rooted in a sequential and progressive framework, beginning with stabilization and moving through sustainability with the ultimate goal of adapting the system to solidify public media as a cornerstone of a more connected society. For more information, visit publicmediabridgefund.org. 

About Public Media Company

Public Media Company is a nonprofit strategic advisor and partner to public media organizations nationwide. Through financial services, strategic planning, partnership development, and catalyzing innovative initiatives, Public Media Company helps stations expand their impact, improve their sustainability, and strengthen local service. Since its founding, Public Media Company has worked with more than 400 local media organizations to advance public service media and ensure that audiences everywhere have access to trusted, independent information. For more information, visit publicmedia.co.

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For more information, please contact:
Louisa Lincoln, Head of Impact & Engagement, Public Media Bridge Fund
louisa@publicmedia.co‍ ‍