As GOP-led efforts to end federal funding for public broadcasters intensify, Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez visited Philadelphia NPR affiliate WHYY while NPR CEO Katherine Maher took to the network’s own All Things Considered to defend public media.
“Decisions made in Washington have real consequences for communities that rely on local news stations for critical information – emergency weather and traffic updates, local events, and ways to engage with their own neighborhoods,” said Commissioner Gomez.
WHYY also serves as the Local Primary 1 station for Philadelphia’s Emergency Alert System, making it a Primary Entry Point for Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey.
“Public media broadcasters like this one are committed to serving their entire community, regardless of political viewpoints. Baseless attacks on public media threaten to create a new kind of news desert – one where communities can’t access the local critical information they need. The FCC must prioritize protecting and expanding the public’s access to timely, accurate news, free from political interference,” added Gomez.
The Trump administration has drafted a memo to Congress proposing the elimination of $1.1 billion in federal funding for public media, including $250 million allocated to public radio for fiscal years 2026 and 2027.
After a blistering hearing on Capitol Hill in front of the US House’s DOGE Subcommittee last month, Maher appeared on All Things Considered to emphasize the disproportionate impact that defunding would have on local NPR member stations, especially rural broadcasters that rely heavily on federal support to maintain operations.
“The biggest effect would be on the NPR network, which are the 246 stations around the country that [our audience is] probably listening to us on, right now,” said Maher. “Those are our member stations, and they receive about $100 million of the $121 million that goes to public radio every single year. So the big impact would be on rural stations, stations in geographies that are quite large or complex… You could see some of those stations really having to cut back services or potentially going away altogether.”
Maher reiterated that while NPR receives only about one percent of its budget directly from federal funds, the broader public media system, including hundreds of local newsrooms, would face severe cutbacks. According to Maher, roughly 20% of Americans live in areas without any local news outlets beyond their public radio station.
When asked to respond to political attacks, such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s assertion that NPR should “hate us on your own dime,” Maher replied, “We don’t hate anyone in public media. We report on the news, and we encourage that we are reaching out to people from all different backgrounds, political persuasions, belief sets. And we want to be able to hear the voices of the American public reflected on public media in the same way.”
Maher also pushed back on the argument that federal support compromises independence, asserting that the public funding model reinforces NPR’s mission to serve a broad, national audience: “Most commercial outlets are able to target certain audiences… we have an actual obligation in our mission and in our funding model to try to serve everyone across the country.”
The federal funding decision is expected to enter a 45-day review window once Congress reconvenes after the Easter break on April 28.
I might be just a guy playing Chill Guy Clicker, but even I know we need to protect public radio. Not everything has to be a culture war.