NPR and PBS will have funding cut by Trump
NPR and PBS: Donald Trump argues that the U.S. Institute of Peace is NOT a bull in a china shop
Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Correspondents David Folkenflik and Scott Neuman. It was edited by Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp and Managing Editors Gerry Holmes and Vickie Walton-James. Under NPR’s protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.
Lake, who is also overseeing the effort to dismantle other federally funded international broadcasters, echoed Trump’s remarks on NPR & PBS. The hearing in late March is more likely to be the reason for defund all fake news.
Fired USIP employees are now suing the Trump administration. The U.S. Justice Department attorney said in court that the lease of USip’s headquarters to the U.S. Labor Department was already underway. The judge that oversaw the case did not issue a temporary restraining order in response to the transfer of assets to the government, but she said that the administration had adopted a “bull in a china shop” approach.
Even so, the White House has succeeded in previously unimaginable ways; representatives of Trump’s budget-slashing DOGE initiative, aided by Washington, D.C. police officers, forced their way into the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) so that the administration could take it over. The Institute, while funded by Congress, is an independent nonprofit like CPB.
Source: Trump plans order to cut funding for NPR and PBS
Activists of the Media: The PBS and NPR Cases Revisited by the U.S. Attorney General’s Office
Those lawsuits argue that Trump has far exceeded the powers of the presidency, trampling on due process, and taking away free speech rights.
A judge in New York put a temporary injunction on Lake’s attempts to shut down the Voice of America. In Washington DC a judge ruled that the government must keep giving money to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty despite the fact Congress committed it to them.
The networks say the agency and Congress have encouraged them repeatedly to develop a greater share of private financial support. They have worked assiduously for years with the FCC to ensure that their spots fall within FCC guidelines. In the early days of the Trump administration, other news organizations supported by the us government moved into the crosshairs.
But recently, Brendan Carr, Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Communications Commission, launched an investigation of NPR and PBS, saying it appears that their corporate underwriting spots violate laws banning commercial advertisements.
A recent Pew Research Center poll found that 43% of U.S. adults surveyed favored continued federal support for NPR and PBS, with 24% saying it should be cut. Almost half of Republicans believe the federal government should end its funding of the public broadcasters, while the other half think it should continue.
“Without PBS, without NPR, you wouldn’t hear stories — news stories, public affairs stories, community stories — from Alaska,” Alaska Public Media CEO and President Ed Ulman said. “You wouldn’t see them on the PBS NewsHour. This is very important. Alaskans need to know that they are connected to their nation and that what they do in Alaska matters to our nation.
The chiefs of public broadcasting testified that stripping away financial support would wipe out smaller stations in areas that were not served by corporate-owned media. The public media system would be weakened. Alaska Public Media’s chief executive testified that the funding was vital to his state network and to ensuring his reporters’ stories found a broader audience.
NPR receives about 1% of its funding directly from the federal government, and a bit more indirectly; its 246 member institutions, operating more than 1,300 stations, receive on average 8% to 10% of their funds from CPB. They pay NPR to carry its shows. By contrast, PBS and its stations receive about 15% of their revenues from CPB.
The Congress allocated $535 million for the current fiscal year, which begins in a few weeks. The CPB’s budgets are approved by Congress on a two-year cycle in large part to insulate it from political pressures; Congress has appropriated funds through Sept 30, 2027.
Source: Trump plans order to cut funding for NPR and PBS
Why NPR? Reply to Kerger, Comer, Greene, and Comer: Conserved Assets in a Locally Owned Radio Station
They queried PBS CEO and President Paula Kerger about a video involving a performer in drag singing a variation on a children’s song for a young audience. (Kerger testified that the video was posted on the website of PBS’s New York City member station and never aired on television.)
The Republicans criticized NPR’s Chief Executive Officer after she became the network’s President and CEO in March 2024. Their questions were mainly about stories published before she arrived at NPR.
Some Republican lawmakers felt that the reporting was biased. “You can hate us all on your own dime,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the chair of the subcommittee that held the hearing. James Comer, chair of the House Oversight Committee, complained about how NPR reported his investments with a shell company.
We serve the public interest. It’s not just in our name — it’s our mission. Across the country, locally owned public media stations represent a proud American tradition of public-private partnership for our shared common good,” it said.
PBS has nightly PBS News Hour and high-quality children’s programming, while NPR has award-winning news programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
The Trump administration has drafted a memo to Congress outlining its plans to eliminate nearly all federal funding for public media, which includes NPR and PBS, according to a White House official who spoke to NPR. The memo, which the administration plans to send to Congress on April 28, will initiate a 45-day period in which the House and Senate can either approve the rescission or allow the money to be restored.
Once the administration sends Congress a memo on April 28, the House and Senate will have 45 days to either approve the re-enactment of money or reject it.
Trump aims to lower drug prices. And, Harvard’s tax-exempt status threatened: A lawsuit against the government to bring Abrego Garcia to court
Good morning. You’re reading the Up First newsletter. If you subscribe here, you will get it delivered to your inbox and be able to listen to the Up First radio show if you need it.
President Trump yesterday signed an executive action that was intended to lower prescription drug prices. A White House official said the move would include “delivering lower prices to seniors” and building on Medicare’s ability to negotiate drug prices.
Trump threatened to take Harvard’s tax-exempt status away. The administration cut over $2 billion from federal funding to the school. The funding freeze was prompted by the president of Harvard’s refusal to comply with government demands, including making changes to hiring and admissions policies and getting rid of DEI programs.
The judge ordered the administration to give more information about whether it has succeeded in facilitating Abrego’s return. He is the man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador. Abrego Garcia’s family has sued the government to bring him back to the U.S. The case has become one of the highest-profile lawsuits against Trump’s efforts to increase deportations.
Source: Trump aims to lower drug prices. And, Harvard’s tax-exempt status threatened
Prose To The People: A Road Trip Through 50 Black Bookshops to Make Up for Lost Time (with a Photo by Susan Mitchell)
Prose To The People, a book celebrating Black bookstores, just hit the shelves. Over 50 bookshops have shaped the country’s literary landscape. The collection has been described as a road trip companion for Black history buffs and bookstore fanatics. The editor of the book sees bookstores as similar to Black colleges. She notes that they have been under studied. Mitchell hopes that these bookstores will inspire the readers to visit them. From Raleigh, N.C., to Portland, Ore., listen to several featured bookstore owners tell the stories of their shops. You can read the transcript here.
You don’t have to be a grandma to join the Grannies International Football Tournament; you just have to be under 50 years old. GIFT believes you are never too old to play soccer, and most women playing in GIFT are receiving the adoration they never dreamed of on the field. Many of the players from the teams participating in the competition grew up in worlds where soccer was for boys. As adults, they often swallowed their ambitions to make space for those who depend on them. Now, you can see it on their faces while competing: They are making up for lost time.
US President Donald Trump said the US Institute of Peace (USIPF) is “not a bull in a china shop”, referring to the NGO’s recent report on alleged human rights abuses by US military. The report claimed USIPF was involved in widespread abuses of human rights across the world, including violations of children’s rights. It added that the NGO was not a “fascist organisation”.