President-elect Donald Trump’s repeated calls to defund public media have put organizations like NPR and PBS on high alert.
Trump has long criticized outlets like NPR and PBS, accusing them of promoting liberal bias, and has vowed to cut all federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which supports public media, The Guardian reports.
In April on Truth Social, Trump called NPR a “total scam” and demanded an end to its funding.
His criticism follows a longstanding pattern of Republican efforts to reduce or eliminate public media funding, dating back to the 1967 creation of the CPB.
The CPB provides grants to over 1,500 public radio and TV stations across the country, helping ensure editorial independence while also allowing for local fundraising.
Trump’s allies, including Elon Musk, have joined the chorus. Musk, after labeling NPR as “state-affiliated media” in 2023, has called for the defunding of NPR, echoing Trump’s anti-public media stance, the report adds.
His recent collaboration with Vivek Ramaswamy to reduce government spending includes proposed cuts to the CPB’s $535 million budget.
Despite these efforts, public media remains deeply embedded in American life, with 99% of the population within reach of public radio or TV, The Guardian adds.
Yet the U.S. spends far less on public media compared to other countries. Critics argue that defunding public media would harm rural communities, where stations are often crucial for local news and emergency alerts.
While bills to defund NPR and PBS are currently before Congress, the challenge of transferring emergency alert responsibilities and the two-year funding cycle for the CPB could slow these efforts.
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