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02 May 2025, 12:52 pm

Trump signs executive order to stop federal funding for NPR and PBS

Quote:
President Donald Trump signed an executive order late Thursday to end public funding of National Public Radio and PBS to stop what he called "biased and partisan news coverage."

The order directs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to "cease federal funding for NPR and PBS" to the extent allowed by law. The order could be challenged in court.

The White House said in a Friday statement that both organizations had received "tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds each year to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as 'news.'"

"Unlike in 1967, when the CPB was established, today the media landscape is filled with abundant, diverse, and innovative news options," the executive order reads. "Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence."

Trump and his loyalists, including Elon Musk, have long complained that NPR and PBS are biased and promote left-wing causes, an allegation staunchly denied by executives at both organizations. Last month, Trump called for their defunding on Truth Social, calling them "RADICAL LEFT 'MONSTERS' THAT SO BADLY HURT OUR COUNTRY!"

To date, NPR and PBS receive roughly half a billion dollars each in public money and earn money from sponsorship. NPR says less than 1% of its funding comes from public sources.

However, Trump said in the order that the CPB failed to follow the principles of fairness and impartiality that underpin its public role.

"Which viewpoints NPR and PBS promote does not matter. What does matter is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens," he said.

The White House statement also provided a long list of what it said were "trash that passes for 'news'" at PBS and NPR.

These alleged infringements included reporting on transgender issues and NPR's apology for characterizing people as "illegal" (The Associated Press's style guide also prohibits this).

NPR did not immediately respond to NBC News' requests for comment.

Paula Kerger, CEO and president of PBS, said Friday: "The President’s blatantly unlawful Executive Order, issued in the middle of the night, threatens our ability to serve the American public with educational programming, as we have for the past 50-plus years. We are currently exploring all options to allow PBS to continue to serve our member stations and all Americans."

Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, issued a defiant Friday statement and stressed that the White House did not control the organization.

"CPB is not a federal executive agency subject to the President’s authority. Congress directly authorized and funded CPB to be a private nonprofit corporation wholly independent of the federal government," she said.

Harrison said that when Congress created the CPB, it forbade any government agency or official from directing, supervising, or controlling it.

Kate Riley, president and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations, said in a Friday statement that her organization was "deeply concerned" by the executive order and said it would limit local stations’ ability to serve their communities.

"This order defies the will of the American people and would devastate the public safety, educational and local service missions of public media — services that the American public values, trusts and relies on every day," she said.

Riley added that more than 160 local TV stations across the country, particularly those in rural areas, offer a "lifeline in hundreds of communities where there is no other source of local media."


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