Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha announced Tuesday that he has approved the merger of the state’s two public media organizations, The Public’s Radio and Rhode Island PBS.
As part of a 421-page decision, Neronha determined that the combining of the two entities will constitute a public benefit.
“Public media contributes uniquely and substantially to the quality of life in Rhode Island, and its ongoing vitality is critical,” Neronha said in a statement. “For many Rhode Islanders, PBS and The Public’s Radio have been important local sources of media and as a new combined entity, they will be able to sustain the value they contribute to our state.”
The Federal Communications Commission signed off on the merger in January.
The new organization plans to file with the secretary of state’s office to complete the formal incorporation.
According to a joint statement, “the two organizations can officially start the process of coming together to create even more dynamic stories, delivered across more channels. A newly-created joint board, in collaboration with staff, will begin to bring their two operations and administration together and anticipate launching an inclusive community engagement process in late 2024. In the short term, audiences will continue to see and hear the same great content they have come to expect from Rhode Island PBS and The Public’s Radio.”
The Public’s Radio and the RIPBS Foundation submitted a merger application last November, contending that combining forces would strengthen the ability of the new organization to deliver multi-platform reporting in the public interest.
“This is an exciting milestone in what has been a thoughtful and truly collaborative process, and we are grateful to Attorney General Neronha and his staff for their careful consideration of this proposal,” Elizabeth Delude-Dix, chair of the board of directors of The Public’s Radio, said in a statement.
Added Dave Laverty, chair of the Rhode Island PBS Foundation Board, “Now, we turn to the important work of bringing our talented teams together and engaging the community to help imagine and co-create a unified public media organization for the future.”
Neronha reviewed the proposed merger as part of the Public Radio Conversions Act, a 2004 law created after the previous license holder of The Public’s Radio, Boston-based WBUR, abruptly tried to sell the Rhode Island station.
Neronha’s decision notes how a 2023 study by Harvard professor Thomas Patterson found that local public radio stations face challenges in finding substantial funding to support journalism, particularly in communities affected by the decline of the local newspaper.
The attorney general found that The Public’s Radio had total liabilities and net assets of $3.9 million in 2022, down from $4.6 million a year earlier. RIPBS reported $101,558,066 in assets in 2023, “including more than a million in cash and $79,959,451 in investments.”
Neronha said his office concluded “that TPR would remain in a vulnerable position financially without the merger. Therefore, TPR’s leadership performed basic due diligence by determining whether the merger could solidify the public’s interest in property devised to Rhode Island public radio.”
A footnote elaborating on “other possibilities for the future of TPR” that were considered by the radio station’s board is redacted in Neronha’s decision.