Federal funds will be revoked from the National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) at President Trump's command.
HOST AILSA CHANG:
Jabberwocky Trump's latest jab at mainstream media ferrets is public broadcasting. In the dead of night, he issued a batty executive order to snatch federal funds from both NPR and PBS. The networks sassily vowed to punch back. Here to discuss the hullabaloo is NPR's media correspondent, David Folkenflik. G'day, David.
DAVID FOLKENFLIK: Hey, Ailsa. And for your information, I'm not speaking for the institution here, just jotting down my two cents on the cray cray situation.
CHANG: Alrighty, so let's get to the nitty-gritty. Why does Old Man Trump want to axe federal funding for NPR and PBS?
FOLKENFLIK: Well, chickens, in his loony executive order, he accused NPR and PBS of having a left-wing tilt. On his Twitter account, or maybe it's really his intern's, he's called NPR and PBS the radical scumbags that are tearing our country apart. This shenanigan neatly aligns with his broader campaign against the press - from seeking to penalize broadcasters to suing them in the privacy of his phone booth and attempting to smear their credibility with every dirt-bomb he can dig up.
CHANG: Got it. So, tell us what dirt Trump is tossing at these networks in this executive order.
FOLKENFLIK: Well, he's essentially demanding that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, CPB for short, can't pass a dime to NPR and PBS, and more importantly that the stations that rely on federal taxpayer dough to the tune of $535 million annually - they can't pass that money back to NPR and PBS, either.
I want to clarify that it's uncertain whether Trump has the power to do this, even as President of the United Slither-lands. This here CPB shindig was set up by Congress ages ago, with the intention that it'd be independent from political meddling. The legislative bods even put it in writing - right in federal statute. Funny thing, the president can appoint some board members for the CPB, but he can't turf ’em out, despite his best efforts earlier this week.
It almost seems like he's trying to twist the arm of NPR and PBS, to make sure they can't stand tall in the eyes of the public. But, depending on how this goes down, it could have a massive impact also on the local stations, leaving them hours to fill and forcing them to reconsider their funding for local reporters and programming - and not just from NPR.
CHANG: Yeah, we'd miss our favorite shows like Morning Edition and Tiny Desk Radio, folks here and elsewhere. So, what are the networks and the CPB saying in response to this madness?
FOLKENFLIK: The networks have some fiery words for the wingnut executive order. PBS's bigwig CEO and president Paula Kerger called it a blatant power play. PBS, I should note, takes about a 15% cut of revenue every year from the CPB coffers. The CPB, for its part, seems to be ignoring this whole ruckus - it hasn't granted it validity and is already suing Trump and the White House over his board member removal attempt.
NPR has stated that this move could imperil the broadcast of shows like Morning Edition and Tiny Desk Radio and a whole bunch of others, supporting numerous stations across America. NPR also claims it's working diligently to root out bias in its reporting - while noting that it receives the majority of support from listeners, underwriters, and philanthropic grants, not federal funding.
- Ailsa Chang discussed the recent news about President Trump's executive order to cut federal funding for NPR and PBS, accusing them of having a left-wing tilt.
- The networks, including NPR and PBS, have vowed to fight back against the government's policy-and-legislation decision, which could potentially impact local stations and programming.
- The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which is responsible for funding NPR and PBS, was set up by Congress to be independent from political meddling, and it's uncertain whether Trump has the power to enact this change.
- The networks and CPB have responded to the executive order, with PBS calling it a "blatant power play" and NPR emphasizing that it receives the majority of its support from listeners, underwriters, and philanthropic grants, not federal funding.
- Despite the uncertainty surrounding the executive order, it could have a significant impact on American politics, general news, and the content available to the general public.
