Public television station WUCF is cancelling its weekly “NewsNight” program because of government funding cuts.
Executive producer Steve Mort says the last episode aired Friday night at 8:30 p.m.
“The recent loss of state and federal funding has led to difficult decisions for WUCF,” Mort said. “As a result, the station has decided to discontinue production of the program in order to refocus on educational and lifelong learning content.”
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“NewsNight” provided award-winning in-depth coverage of Central Florida issues and featured weekly panel discussions with local journalists.
News 6 journalists frequently appeared on “NewsNight.” We also collaborated with WUCF through the Central Florida Media Collaborative on homelessness.
Earlier this year, President Trump and Congress cancelled funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds public radio and television stations.
The CPB laid off most of its staff at the end of September, and is expected to be fully closed by January.
Then in June, Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed state funding for public radio and TV stations in Florida.
WUCF lost $2 million in federal funds and another $370,000 in state funds.
The station has been trying to supplement with private donations.
WUCF will continue to provide other original and PBS-affiliated programming. The station is also running “BEACON,” a 24/7 emergency channel for alerts and important information.
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