WASHINGTON, DC – President Donald Trump tried and failed in his first term to kill federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CBP) but is now taking another shot at undercutting NPR and PBS stations across the country.  Yesterday evening, President Trump signed an executive order seeking to prohibit federal funding for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). 

Last month, the Trump White House issued a statement accusing NPR and PBS of allegedly promoting “radical, woke propaganda.”

U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) strongly opposes the move to eliminate public broadcasting and silence unbiased, fact-based reporting and educational programming.

“Public broadcasting is for the public benefit in every single state across this great country.  It provides trusted local and national news, culture, lifesaving emergency alerts, and public safety information.  NPR and PBS stations play an important role in the media landscape.  They are not ratings driven or just trying to reach one target demographic.  Whether you’re listening in Idaho, Alabama or Rhode Island, NPR and PBS are fact-based and their goal is to inform and ensure all voices can be part of the national discussion.  It’s not sensationalized or slanted: It is civic-minded.  At a time when newsrooms are shrinking, and when billionaires are buying up and controlling the editorial content of big papers, TV, and the internet, public broadcasting is the opposite: It’s for everyone and not beholden to any individual or ideology,” said Senator Reed.

CPB is a private, nonprofit corporation authorized by Congress in the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 under the leadership of former U.S. Senator John O. Pastore (D-RI).  CPB is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting and the largest single source of funding for public radio, television, and related online and mobile services.  However, both NPR and PBS are only partly funded by federal funds and rely heavily on private donations.

According to America’s Public Television Stations, there are over 160 locally-operated, locally-controlled, locally-focused public television stations that serve communities small and large across the country.  In Rhode Island, the state’s public television and radio stations have partnered to offer local original news and programming, as well as national broadcasts ranging from “All Things Considered” to “Sesame Street.”

Reed noted that Trump is working to end federal support for NPR and PBS at the same time he is trying to curtail the free press and limit unbiased news in favor of his preferred right-wing media outlets. 

“President Trump seems to want all news to be about how great he thinks he is.  He routinely attacks the media and doesn’t want people to have facts – he wants right-wing stenographers parroting his version of the facts.  His FCC Chair has threatened news outlets and suggested their “licensed operations” could be in jeopardy because of immigration coverage that ran afoul of the President’s preferred spin and narrative.  I hope Americans will contact their representatives in Congress and urge them to support public broadcasting.  It is valuable to have unbiased news to keep the administration’s deeds in the limelight and keep people well informed,” said Reed.

CBP receives about $535 million annually in federal funds which it uses to provide grants to hundreds of local stations nationwide. The stations use the federal funds to produce their own programming or to purchase programming from services such as NPR and PBS that is then broadcast to local audiences.

While Trump can ask Congress to defund CBP, he cannot force NPR and PBS off the air entirely.  Both networks have revenue that comes from non-profit grants, advertising, and voluntary viewer and listener donations.  However, if Trump claws back the federal funding it would likely force small, local stations to cease operations, likely in rural and less populated regions that President Trump claims don’t get enough from the government.