The campaign to save Prince George’s Community Television culminated at a two-hour-long county budget hearing, where 37 people wearing “Save CTV” pins implored their county council to save the station.
Jaylan Sims stood at the lectern on April 28, his voice cracking as he held up his volunteer ID card from nine years ago.
“I kept it in my room because CTV meant that much to me,” he told the council.
“They taught me things that no other news station teaches,” he continued. He had been allowed to use CTV’s camera and teleprompter to complete class assignments at Bowie State University. Now, a recent graduate, he credited CTV for making that achievement possible.
“I’m about to tear up,” he said. “I beg of you all, please save CTV. They’re not only for the youth, they’re for everybody.”
Founded in 1989, the nonprofit media organization manages and operates two cable access channels in Prince George’s County, Maryland: Public Access Channel 76 and Government Access Channel 70. CTV has delivered a 30-minute live news show to Prince George’s County residents from Monday through Friday since 1990, in addition to public affairs, entertainment, sports and other specialty programs.
But when acting County Executive Tara Jackson presented the proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 to the County Council on March 13, it included a steep drop for CTV. Instead of 2025’s $924,600, the station was slated to receive just $231,200. Former news director Curtis Crutchfield estimated the 75% decrease would have reduced the staff of nearly two dozen to three or four employees.
“CTV as we know it, as we’ve known it over the years, would’ve been pretty much closed down,” said Crutchfield, who worked at the station for more than 30 years before retiring in 2023.
Such has been the case for local news organizations across the country — the costs are high and the benefits are hard to quantify, so local leaders are inclined to just shut them down. News jobs keep disappearing, readership and viewership keep declining, and so news deserts keep growing.
But in a rare twist for local journalism, CTV’s story didn’t end in closure.
Once the county executive proposes the budget, the council holds hearings with each agency and the public. The council can shift funding between departments, but not increase the total. Each line is debated before a final vote.
Councilmember Wala Blegay of District 6, where CTV is based, knew the council had to protect CTV. However, facing a $200 million county budget deficit due to the end of pandemic-era ARPA funds and decreasing tax revenue, Blegay said, “We recognized that we had to make some cuts.”
Compared to its neighbors, Prince George’s County stands out as a majority-minority county, with African American and Latino residents making up the largest groups. Blegay said that’s part of why the media so often reduces the county to stories about poverty and crime – a portrayal that she finds frustrating.
Crutchfield agreed. “I didn’t want people to view us that way, and I thought we had a responsibility to offer more to the community, because there’s more in the community happening than crime,” he said.
CTV reporters join the crowd of national media conglomerates on Capitol Hill and at the Maryland General Assembly in Annapolis, but Crutchfield estimated approximately 90% of stories the station covers remain hyperlocal. In one series, for example, a reporter highlighted young and upcoming musicians in various high school orchestra programs.
CTV reporter Katerra Jones and videographer Eric Williams interview a source. (Courtesy)
“My interest was Prince George’s. I wanted the best for families and children and schools. I wanted the best for the county economy,” he said.
Another point of pride for Gina Bartee, the current news director, is the training programs CTV provides to young reporters looking for experience.
“We have a waiting list for people to come and do internships and volunteer at our station and get an opportunity to break their teeth, learn their game, find their voice,” she said at the hearing.
CTV offers four classes: field production, editing, studio production and producing and directing. Although they charge a fee for the sessions, the facility is open to all county residents free of charge, as long as the equipment is used to create programming for the station to air.
The station also provided a summer camp for high school students prior to the pandemic, at the end of which participants produced their own shows. Through these experiences, aspiring yet underrepresented journalists developed their skills.
David Barnes, the public access coordinator, started his professional journey as a regular volunteer at CTV, and he joined the staff in 1996 as his first full-time job. He now oversees the training and equipment he once benefited from.
While Barnes has compiled an extensive resume in nearly three decades at CTV — including trailing the former sports director by motorcycle during an Ironman triathlon and single-handedly shooting and reporting the 2016 Democratic National Convention — he maintains that the station exists to “tell the stories of people in our community.”
“My role is, hopefully, to provide people (with) the knowledge of the production skills so that they can bring their ideas to become shows,” he said.
Soon after learning about the budget threat in the spring, Barnes and his colleagues at the station reached out to people in the industry who got their start at CTV.
Prominent alumni like ESPN sports analyst Monica McNutt, WTVR CBS 6 anchor GeNienne Samuels, NBC 4 content producer Samantha Akinduro, film and television editor Antonia de Barros, and two-time Emmy winner DeAndré Vidale appeared on CTV’s YouTube channel for a 17-part “Save CTV” video series. They praised their hometown station for setting them on the right path.
Reporter Mikayla Newton reached out to the Washington Association of Black Journalists in late April for support. WABJ promoted the “Save CTV” petition, which reached more than 400 signatures. A Washington Post article gave the station more exposure. An hour before the hearing, reporters and fans gathered outside the county administration building to chant their support.
Still, the staff braced for the worst. WABJ President Philip Lewis recalled reporters telling him they were preparing to lose their jobs.
“I think when you look at news, sometimes it can be hard for people to understand the value of it until it’s too late,” Lewis said.
Instead, the Prince George’s County Council listened to another young CTV volunteer’s plea from the hearing: “Do not be complicit in silencing the media in 2025.”
The County Council’s announcement came on May 29. It decided to preserve funding for CTV. In the revised budget plan, the station will receive the same $924,600, now under the Park & Planning Department instead of the general operating budget. This will give CTV more protection against future cuts and might even grant the station more independence to expand on its programs.
Amid a national media environment already fraught with threats to press freedom and the Trump administration’s push to withdraw funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a government body siding with a public, local media organization is a rare sight.
“People really do rely on community news,” Lewis said. “It’s actually an important thing, not just for the residents, but also for helping journalists really become stronger at their craft.”
