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Charles Darapack/AP
President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday for the public broadcasting board, dictating the company to “suspend federal funds for NPR and PBS,” the “national major public broadcasters.” Trump claims news reports by NPR and PBS contain left-wing bias. Federal funds for NPR and PBS are allocated by Congress.
Like many people signed by the president, executive orders could be challenged in court.
“The perspectives promoted by NPR and PBS are not important,” the executive order said. “The important thing is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate or impartial portrayal of current events for citizens paying taxes.”
On social media platforms, Trump has recently been released Blast Two major public broadcasting networks post to all caps. “Republicans must completely separate themselves from NPR & PBS, the fundamental left “monster” that seriously hurt our country! ”
In the executive order, Trump directs the CPB and administrative departments and agencies to suspend direct and indirect funding for the NPR and PB.
“The CPB Board shall cancel existing direct funds to the maximum extent permitted by law and deny future funding,” the order states.
NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher defended compensation and addressed the need for fundraising in the company. Recent interviews Above Everything is considered.
“I think it’s important that public media can continue to be relevant in an era where there is a lot of coverage of various issues and areas of interest,” she said.
NPR did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the executive order.
Leaders of NPR and PBS Testified at a House Oversight Committee hearing In late March, allegations of ideological bias in public broadcasts.
Maher was attacked almost entirely based on the network’s news judgments, based on past political posts on social media and tweets and stories that arrived on the network for years in March 2024.
Paula Kerger of PBS found herself asking questions about videos involving performers in dragging variations of children’s songs for younger audiences. (Karger testified that the video was posted on PBS’s New York City Member Station website and was not aired on television.)
Federal funds for public media flow through certified companies by Congress for public broadcasting. Congress has allocated $535 million to CPB for the current fiscal year. That’s the amount confirmed in the recent Stop Gap bill passed by the Republican-controlled US home and the Senate.
The CPB budget has been approved by Congress in a two-year cycle to isolate it from political pressure. According to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Congress is fully funded until September 30, 2027.
At a hearing in late March, the heads of both networks spoke about their mission to provide nonpartisan news and programming to the American public for free.
NPR receives about 1% of its funds directly from the federal government and indirectly receives a slightly higher amount. The 246 member institutions operating over 1,300 stations receive an average of 8% to 10% of funds from the CPB.
In contrast, PBS and its stations receive approximately 15% of revenue from the CPB’s federal fund.
Most of the public media funds go to local bureaus. And this is more expensive than radio because most subsidies on television.
The network has been repeatedly encouraged by government agencies and Congress to develop private financial support, and has been working hard for years at the FCC to ensure that its content fits within FCC guidelines.
PBS offers a large amount of education fees. NPR is more dependent on news and music. Both offer locally grounded content and reach over 99% of the population for free. Additionally, in many states and communities, departments act as an important component of emergency and disaster response systems.
President Trump opened a new front on Monday in attacks on public media, claiming he was eliminating three of the company’s five board members for public broadcasting. Companies He sued Trump on Tuesday morning In response, federal law and the U.S. Supreme Court rule to argue that it is not authorized to take these actions.
Last month, the White House said it plans to send out withdrawals of NPR and PBS funds to Congress.
Additionally, the Federal Communications Commission has launched an investigation into NPR and PBS, saying it appears that corporate underwriting spots are violating laws banning commercial advertising.
Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik, edited by Associate Business Editor Emily Kopp, and edited by editors Gerry Holmes and Managing Editor Vickie Walton-James. Under NPR’s protocol to report on its own, no corporate officials or news executives reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.
