Game over? Not a chance. - Wallace House Center for Journalists

The WBUR Festival 2025 at WBUR in Boston, Massachusetts (Photo by Billie Weiss/Bolt Creative Group For WBUR)

Margaret Low is CEO of WBUR in Boston and serves on the Wallace House advisory board.

For those of us in public media, it is most definitely game on. At WBUR, we declared as much in a full-page ad we ran in the Sports section of The Boston Globe earlier this fall — paid for by trade, of course!

Massive cuts to federal funding for public media amount to a loss of at least $1.6 million for our station, this year and in the years ahead.

It’s a real blow and we’re already feeling it. We’ve always gotten half our federal dollars in October. That check didn’t come this year. There will be stations across the country that will shutter and many public media organizations will have to downsize. In some communities, people will be left without a single source of trustworthy news.

But I love the energy and the competitive spirit in that ad. As journalists, we’ll continue to do our work without fear or favor. No matter what is happening to us. It’s our job to understand and reflect the real concerns of people in this country with reporting that is fact-based and impartial. Reporting that goes beneath the surface to cover the most consequential issues with rigor, boundless curiosity and respect.

Boston is my hometown, and having lived in many American cities, I know it’s a very special place. I want us to show the rest of the country that we’re united in our belief that independent journalism makes a difference for our community and for our country.

We serve so many people who trust us to tell the truth and to tell it well. That includes more than 7 million people across the country who listen to our two national shows every week — “Here & Now” and “On Point.” People who hear us on the radio, visit WBUR.org, subscribe to our newsletters and podcasts, and those who come to WBUR’s CitySpace for all the wonderful events we produce.

This is an extraordinary time to be documenting what’s happening in our city and our country. Things are moving so quickly and we get to capture what it means to people in the middle of it — the real impact of the Trump administration’s policies. Like our reporter Martha Bebinger, who profiled a mother in New Hampshire trying to figure out how she’ll get puberty-blocking hormones for her kid. Or the story Simón Ríos reported about a man who was brought to this country as a baby from a Thai refugee camp. His family had escaped the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, and now he’s seeking asylum because ICE wants to send him to Cambodia — a place he doesn’t know at all.

With all these critical stories to tell, I honestly believe we’re made for this moment. I have lots of optimism left in the tank, plenty of steel and stamina and a relentless belief in the importance of the work we do. My colleagues and I feel a profound sense of purpose. We’re at a perilous moment for journalism. It’s a moment that demands the very best of us.

This article is part of Rising to Meet the Moment, a series from the Fall 2025 issue of the Wallace House Journal, featuring reflections from Knight-Wallace alumni, Wallace House board members and the Livingston Awards community on meeting today’s challenges with focus, resilience and resolve. Read more stories from our series:

Christopher Baxter, “Unexpected hope“

Lynette Clemetson, “Stepping up with focus and resolve“

Hayes Ferguson, “Nurturing innovation, adaptability and purpose“

Stephen Henderson, “Choosing civility“

Samantha Henry, “The future of our profession: student journalism“

Tracy Jan, “News deserts and fewer watchdogs“

Margaret Low, “Game Over? Not a chance“

Peggy Lowe, “Defunded, but not defeated“

Amy Maestas, “Building trust through community collaborations“

Kunal Majumder, “Defending the right to report“

Seema Mehta, “Why we keep reporting“

Rachel Rohr, “Swift action for the hardest hit“