The future of public broadcasting is in question under President Trump's proposed federal budget. PBS spokesperson Joyce Slocum says federal funding makes up as much as 40 or 50-percent of the budget for rural stations.

"Those stations are really critical to the system because frequently they're in areas where there may not be another source of news that's free on air. They are sometimes in areas where people don't have other methods to handle emergency situations."

Slocum shared a story of how a station in Texas, was used by first responders to communicate with residents about a dangerous wildfire when the phone system failed.

Broken out per citizen in the U.S., funding for public broadcasting costs each person $1.35 a year.