LVNB Draws Attention to $20 Million Deficit at Lehigh Valley Public Media

Lehigh Valley Public Media (LVPM) is home to PBS39, WLVR FM 91.3 and LehighValleyNews.com. It claims its mission is to "engage everyone in our community through our public media resources to make the Lehigh Valley better tomorrow than it is today." It's pretty much failed miserably on that level, at least when it comes to radio and television. But even more importantly, as Jeff Ward's Lehigh Valley Business Briefs has been warning for some time, it's losing money. Lots of money. His latest report chronicles a $20 million loss over the past three years. 

As Jeff Notes in his most recent story, LVPM cuts its losses to $4.6 million in FY 2025, so that's a positive sign. But the amount of cash showered on its four top dogs (Tim Fallon - $299,000; Yoni Greenbaum - $264,785; Andrea Cummis - $224,094; and Arthur Troccoli - $212,459) in 2024 is staggering. In that year, LVPM lost $7.2 million. 

Those four are now gone, and the new CEO and President is Hassana Birdsong. Her background is in marketing and sales when what LVPM really needs is a strong comptroller. 

In addition to spending like drunken sailors, I'd maintain that PBS39 and WLVR have both failed miserably in providing informative broadcasts about local issues and local government. Programs like "1A", "Here and Now" or even "All Things Considered" are never local and are rarely even topical.  WHYY in Philly actually has the NJ governor call in periodically to answer questions from the public. It devotes an hour each day to in-depth discussion of local issues. There is precious little of that from WLVR.

I would agree that LehighValleyNews.com has become an invaluable resource for local news. It provides much better coverage of local government than you can find in our dailies. But overall, public media outlets really make no effort to connect with the community. 

Jeff notes that LVPM has lost about $1 million annually in federal support. I'd much rather see that money used to shore up or social security system or ensure that kids can get their school lunches.