Paul Westhelle
Executive DirectorPaul Westhelle oversees management of JPR's service to the community. He came to JPR in 1990 as Associate Director of Broadcasting for Marketing and Development after holding jobs in non-profit management and fundraising for a national health agency.
Paul grew up in northern New Jersey just outside New York City. As a student at Seton Hall University he developed a love for live music romping around Greenwich Village clubs. He traveled west in 1981 to attend San Jose State University where he graduated with a B.A. from its School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
Paul believes the meaning of life can be found in public radio and baseball. He’s coached several of Ashland's outstanding youth baseball teams and served as Head Coach of the Ashland High School Varsity team in 2012.
Paul and his wife, Patti Grant, live in Ashland. They have two adult children, Kelsey and Evan.
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The loss of all federal funding with little advance notice has rocked the public media ecosystem. Hardest hit are stations serving small, rural communities which reach less wealthy parts of the country and which need to support and maintain expensive infrastructures because their audiences are spread across larger geographic areas – stations just like JPR. -
Funding for JPR comes from a variety of sources including individual donors, business support and, prior to July 2025, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Now that Congress and President Trump have eliminated federal funding for all public radio and television stations in the country, JPR's financial structure looks different.
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In late July, Congress and President Trump eliminated all federal funding for every public radio and television station in the country. For JPR, that means loss of $525,000 in our current fiscal year. It's now up to us to create a new business model built entirely on local support.
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On June 12th the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 4, the Rescissions Act of 2025, by a vote of 214-212. This is the bill advanced by the Trump Administration that would claw back funds previously appropriated by the current Congress and authorized by President Trump to fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes operating grants to public radio and television stations around the country.
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The drumbeat to cancel all federal funding for public media has continued in Washington and significant new steps have been taken to make this outcome a reality. Here’s an update on where we stand.
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In recent weeks the Trump administration has taken several steps that cast an ominous shadow on public broadcasting and may forebode future actions that attempt to weaken the role public radio and television stations play in communities across the country. -
As we look to the year ahead, we expect a great deal of uncertainty. Following the November election, the incoming Trump administration has announced the formation of a committee called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The charge of this committee, according to the administration, is to reduce the size of government and save money by improving efficiency and eliminating waste, fraud and abuse. Who could be against that?
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Both JPR and NPR get plenty of feedback from listeners. This feedback runs the gamut from wild, expletive laden rants to well-reasoned, thoughtful critiques of our work. -
Summer is awards season in newsrooms around the country, a time when several prominent news organizations recognize the best journalism produced in the previous year. Here at JPR, we submit stories that we believe reflect our best work, not to pat ourselves on the back, but to see how our work stacks up against our peers. These awards are judged by accomplished journalists, communication professionals and academics so recognition is very meaningful to both reporters and newsroom leaders. -
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In an attempt to add conservative viewpoints to its news coverage, NBC recently announced that former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair, Ronna McDaniel, would join the network as a regular commentator. And then it fired her less than a week after her first appearance.
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In early February an email arrived from NPR announcing Linda Wertheimer’s retirement. Wertheimer has been an NPR icon for over five decades and, along with Susan Stamberg, Nina Totenberg, and the late Cokie Roberts, was crowned one of NPR’s “founding mothers” in the 2021 bestseller Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie: The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Mothers of NPR by Lisa Napoli.
