Q & A
that trust, that humanity that really is at the heart of so much journalism.
Let’ s talk about the other 600-pound gorilla in the room, which is the federal government cutting support to public media. You lost $ 1.1 million in annual federal funding last year. Do you get any federal funding anymore? No. That’ s it, and that’ s not just us. That’ s everyone. Federal funding for public media has ended.
How many employees took the voluntary buyout? And have things settled down? Twenty-four. We are in a different place, and the folks who chose to stay on and be here are here. I am beyond thankful and impressed with the way in which, collectively, those here have met that moment. Despite a lot of noise and difficulty in a historic loss, [ they ] feel a real loyalty to the work, to the community, to the storytelling, to continue on and do that in entirely new ways with fewer people and different and still very high expectations. That was a hard, rocky time, yet the people, all the people, continue to work at incredibly high levels. I’ m grateful and impressed and excited about where we can go next.
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What are some of Ocean State Media’ s new series? A fun one that has really taken off and is doing quite well across all platforms, including radio and television, is called‘ The Bubblah.’ And the idea of‘ The Bubblah’ is we take a bubbler, literally, out on the road into various communities and say,‘ Hey, what’ s going on in Narragansett?’ And you show up with some cameras and a big bubbler and some little water glasses and people want to talk. We launched a series this past summer that will come back when the weather gets better which is called‘ Crosswalk Couture,’ in which we talk to RISD students as they cross the street. And we’ re just like,‘ Hey what’ s your’ fit?’ And they tell us about what they’ re wearing. It’ s so Rhode Island, it’ s so RISD, it’ s so fabulous, and it’ s kind of‘ No place but here.’
Where do you live in Rhode Island? I live in Warwick.
58 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I MAY 2026