President Trump signed a late-night executive order Thursday that would strip funds from NPR and PBS — further escalating his war on public broadcasters and the media as a whole.
“No media outlet has a constitutional right to taxpayer subsidies, and the Government is entitled to determine which categories of activities to subsidize,” Trump wrote in the order, instructing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to cease indirect and direct federal funding for the two outlets.
The president has accused both organizations of projecting biased viewpoints to the public.
“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 tax paying citizens,” he wrote in the order.
NPR receives about 1 percent of its funding directly from the federal government, while its 246 member institutions — operating more than 1,300 stations — receive on average 8 percent to 10 percent of their funding from CPB, according to the outlet.
PBS and its stations receive about 15 percent of their revenues from CPB’s federal funds, NPR reported.
Both companies have served the public news for over five decades and representatives argue that a cut to their funding would hurt marginalized communities.
“The big impact would be on rural stations, stations in geographies that are quite large or complex in order to be able to receive broadcast or infrastructure, costs are very high,” NPR CEO Katherine Maher said in an interview on the network earlier this month.
“You could see some of those stations really having to cut back services or potentially going away altogether,” she added.
Her counterpart echoed those concerns.
“There’s nothing more American than PBS, and our work is only possible because of the bipartisan support we have always received from Congress,” PBS CEO Paula Kerger said in a statement The Associated Press. “This public-private partnership allows us to help prepare millions of children for success in school and in life and also supports enriching and inspiring programs of the highest quality.”
Trump’s executive order comes weeks after the administration attempted to dismantle Voice of America and affiliated news services. A federal judge blocked the effort.
It’s unclear whether PBS or NPR will file a lawsuit over potential funding cuts ordered by the president, however, both entities say the public is in dire need of their services.
“About 20 percent of Americans live in an area without any other local news coverage other than their local public radio station,” Maher said.
“This is tremendously important as a public service and just because not every single person uses it every day – you know, I don’t drive on our interstates every day, and yet when I need it, it’s there. The same is true of public media,” she added.
Trump has also pressed GOP lawmakers in recent weeks to slash funding from both entities. Earlier this month, the House Oversight and Government Reform’s Delivering on Government Efficiency subcommittee peppered Maher and Kerger with accusations of bias against conservatives and questions about funding during a hearing.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) also recently launched an investigation into the media outlets for what they alleged was unlawful “airing of commercials.”