Citing “outdated and unnecessary” government funding of news media and partisanship President Donald Trump signed an executive order late Thursday instructing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to halt all federal funding to NPR and PBS.
The order, titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media,” is the culmination of decades of efforts by the Republican Party to cut government funding to public broadcasting, which had come to a boiling point under the Trump administration.
The order claims that while public media once filled a critical gap, today’s diverse media landscape renders federal subsidies for broadcasters unnecessary. It argues that taxpayer dollars should not support either outlet as, “neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens.”
House Republicans had summoned NPR CEO Katherine Maher to Capitol Hill for hearings to address allegations of liberal bias within NPR’s reporting in March. These concerns were amplified by former NPR senior editor Uri Berliner, who criticized the organization’s editorial direction and lack of viewpoint diversity.
During the hearing, Maher emphasized NPR’s commitment to serving local communities and highlighted efforts to strengthen editorial review and diversify newsroom perspectives while acknowledging past missteps, such as the delayed coverage around Hunter Biden.
Under the order, the CPB must end all current and future direct funding to NPR and PBS and revise its 2025 grant eligibility guidelines by June 30 to enforce this policy. The CPB must also take all necessary steps to prohibit licensees, permittees, or other recipients of CPB funds from using those funds to support NPR or PBS programming or infrastructure.
Where possible, these restrictions will also apply to 2024 grants under existing guidelines. Federal agencies have also been instructed to identify and terminate any direct or indirect funding streams supporting NPR or PBS.
A Pew Research Center survey released earlier this year revealed a public split over federal funding for NPR. While 43% of Americans support continued funding and 24% oppose it, 33% remain unsure.
In addition, the order tasks the Department of Health and Human Services with reviewing whether NPR and PBS are in compliance with Trump’s executive orders against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives. If either organization is found to be in violation, “corrective action” is to be implemented.
Meanwhile, the FCC has launched a broad inquiry that spans roughly 1,500 NPR and PBS member stations and focuses on whether underwriting announcements have crossed into prohibited ad content. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr was among those who publicly questioned whether the CPB should continue to receive federal funding.
As Walter Sabo points out, it’s less then 2% of the CPB budget so CBP should be able to make up for this loss of funding quite easily. And as Don points out, federal funding of NPR/PBS is totally unnecessary, with so many media outlets available today covering the entire spectrum of opinion / slant / bias.
Trump can sign all the EO he wants. That will not end Federal funding of NPR, which was established by a 1967 Congressional Act. Another Trump loss in Court, while trying to ruin lives and create chaos. Absolutely the worst first 100 days in presidential history, including William Henry Harrison, who spent 70 of those 100 days DEAD.
FEDERAL MONEY is less than 2% of CPB budget
Wrong. Federal money is 100% of the CPB budget. The role of CPB is to distribute federal money to broadcasters, including NPR and PBS.
What the president is trying to do with this EO is to cut ALL funding to NPR. He’s doing so for political reasons, not to save money. He is saying so. By doing that he is violating the 1st amendment. It would be the same thing if the dems banned conservative talk radio because it’s biased. The constitution says you can’t do that.
The first amendment doesn’t guarantee government funding of radio stations.
The Public Broadcasting Act does. An act of congress created CPB and gives it sole discretion in funding broadcasting that can’t be overridden by the president.
Federal CPB funding is less than 2% of its budget. Stay calm.
Good. Waste of $$$