The National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters is telling Congress that COVID-19 related aid to its members is a matter of life and death, both of station operations and the populations they serve.
Citing the pandemic's disproportionate impact on African Americans, NABOB is seeking funds for its members in the next COVID-19 aid bill, presuming there is one.
Related: Local Media Outlets Seek Billions in COVID-19 Aid
In a letter to Hill leadership on both sides of the aisle, NABOB president James Winston said that given that in some urban areas the African American death rate from the virus is twice that of the population in general, its members disproportionately need financial assistance so they can provide "much needed" news and info to those most vulnerable to help them survive.
They said without that money, some stations could cease operations altogether. They said given 40%-50% drops in revenue declines, "very few" local broadcasters can continue to operate with such losses.
Related: All the Latest News on the Impact of COVID-19
NABOB is joining with the National Association of Broadcasters and newspaper associations to ask Congress to direct billions of dollars of federal ad dollars to local media and to allow stations in larger broadcast groups to qualify as individual small businesses under Congress' Paycheck Protection Program subsidies.
