Ever wonder why your local NPR station or PBS News sounds so different from your local TV news? It’s not just tone, it’s money, mission, and mindset. In this episode of Laid Off and Looking, Domenic and Jenna talk with Stan Jastrzebski, longtime public radio news director for KBIA in Columbia Missouri. He's also a journalism researcher and breaks down why there is a divide between public media and commercial newsrooms. He covers how funding models can shape coverage, who journalists are actually serving, and why both systems are struggling to survive the digital age. Stan also explains how public media’s civic mission of serving communities and uplifting marginalized voices often clashes with shrinking budgets and burnout, while in commercial newsrooms journalists find themselves chasing clicks, ratings, and advertisers just to stay alive. He also dives into the “snowcap effect” inside news organizations, the diversity gap between leadership and staff, and what happens when communities stop trusting the people who tell their stories. 🎙️ In this episode, we get into: 00:00 - Start 04:08 - Public Media Shortcomings 05:33 - Stan Jastrzebski Interview 07:50 - What Makes Public Media Different 11:54 - Why Be In Public Media? 15:39 - But You Can’t Eat Awards 16:30 - Diversity In Public Media 22:03 - We Need More Stories from Member Stations 23:39 - Can Public Media Grow Your Career? 27:47 - What About the Fundraising Model 34:07 - Be In the Community 39:42 - Is The Most Trusted News Enough? 44:01 - State House Reporting 47:55 - The Public Media Sound 50:01 - Why Did You Become a Journalist? If you care about who controls the story and what happens when the people disappear but the algorithms stay, this episode is for you. 👇 Tell us in the comments: Do you trust public media more than commercial news? Why or why not? 🎧 Subscribe to Laid Off and Looking for more honest conversations about the future of journalism, AI, and the people keeping truth alive.