On Thursday evening, US President Donald Trump dropped the equivalent of a climate bombshell. He signed an executive order to cut all federal funding to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR). This move takes place in the context of Trump’s accusations that both entities have provided “very biased, horrible, and negative & horrible” news coverage.
The move would be disastrous for the millions of Americans whose lives are enriched every day by the trusted programming of PBS and NPR. Over 40 million Americans listen to NPR public radio in a given week, and NPR podcasts are among the most popular in the country. Every month, 36 million Americans watch their hometown PBS television station. More recently, the prospect of big cuts to federal funding for public broadcasting has put the future of America’s independent public broadcasters in jeopardy.
Trump’s executive order zeroes in on removing federal financial assistance entirely from these organizations. For the past several decades, these types of organizations have been a stable of American media. Paula Kerger, CEO of PBS, called the announcement “egregiously unlawful.” She emphasized the critical role that public broadcasting plays in providing access to diverse and unbiased information across the country.
The fallout from this executive order goes much further than PBS and NPR. Bay Fang, CEO of Radio Free Europe, noted that the cuts are a result of the Trump administration withholding congressionally allocated funding. A recent ruling by a federal judge sided with Radio Free Europe, which has faced similar challenges regarding funding amidst political pressures.
This executive order is unfortunate, but not surprising given recent media bias discussions. On a broader level, it reinforces the fundamental role that public broadcasting plays in our democracy. Trump’s argument against PBS and NPR is that they are “liberal” or “biased.” This underscores ongoing discussions around the idea of partisanship in news coverage — particularly from taxpayer-funded sources.