Likely legal dispute arising from Trump's decree to withdraw funding from public broadcasting organizations
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Title: Trump's late-night move to axe CPB funding faces a brush-off
President Trump made a late-night executive order Thursday, aiming to end federal dollars for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a taxpayer-backed entity providing funding to public media outlets. The president deemed these outlets as "left-wing propaganda."
However, Trump's persistent attempts to slash federal financing for media outlets like PBS and NPR has met with fierce resistance.
This order represents the latest ploy by Trump to limit or intimidate entities he disagrees with, such as law firms, universities, and media companies including CBS, currently being sued for $20 billion over a "60 Minutes" interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential campaign.
In response to Trump's order, the CPB swiftly issued a statement on Friday, asserting that the president lacks the power to terminate its funding – authority that resides with Congress.
"Congress explicitly authorized and fund-raised CPB to be a private, nonprofit corporation, entirely independent of the government," CPB remarked.
The White House is expected to formally petition Congress for the clawback of the $1.1 billion currently allocated for the CPB over the next two years. Yet, Trump's executive action will falter if the White House is taken to court, a likely outcome.
CPB did not comment on any potential legal action, but PBS President Paula Kerger stated that the organization is "analyzing all options."
"The president's blatant, unlawful Executive Order, issued in the dead of the night, threatens our ability to serve the public with educational programming, a mission we've fulfilled for more than five decades," Kerger said.
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NPR Chief Executive Katherine Maher declared their intent to challenge this Executive Order, using every available means. She slammed Trump's order as an "encroachment on the First Amendment rights of NPR and community-owned radio and TV stations across America, produced to meet their community's needs."
Both executives were bombarded by Republican legislators during a hearing in the Capitol in March, featuring a large photo of drag queen Lil Miss Hot Mess as a guest on a PBS kids show displayed behind committee chair Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
Jeffrey McCall, communication professor at DePauw University, believes government financing of public radio and television outlets may need to be revisited in today's media landscape, which offers a wealth of information sources compared to the 1960s when the CPB was founded. However, McCall claims that the White House is "misstepping" with political attacks.
"If they take it to court, the first thing CPB lawyers will assert is this is viewpoint discrimination, and they will likely be correct," McCall stated. "The Trump administration's strategy is a little clumsy because they are turning it into a political football."
One reason for the formation of the CPB in the late 1960s was to prevent federal funding from being used to exert editorial control over programming.
The president's announcement of the executive order — labeled "President Trump Finally Ends the Nonsense of NPR, PBS" — arrived with a litany of stories described as "examples of the garbage that has disguised itself as 'news.'"
The examples cited included an NPR story on consuming human placentas, a practice that has been prevalent for decades, and a 2017 documentary about a transgender teen on PBS.
If the battle reaches Congress, public media may hold the upper hand. As NPR and PBS executives have often noted, the majority of CPB funding goes to local radio and television stations that frequently serve as the sole sources of journalism in their communities.
PBS points out that 58% of all TV households tune into one of its member stations during a year, and 60% of its audience resides in rural communities. Even though the internet is touted as a reason to abolish public media funding, PBS noted that their programming is viewed in 87% of non-internet households and 56% of low-income households.
Republican politicians in red states, receiving limited exposure on Fox News, often want local outlets to reach their constituents, thus preserving public media funding in some instances.
While Los Angeles outlets boast a larger population to draw support from listeners and local sponsors, the loss of federal dollars would be important.
LAist KPCC-FM (89.3) could lose approximately $2 million, making up just a small portion of an overall budget of roughly $45 million, but substantial enough to affect staffing and programming, according to sources familiar with the station's operations.
KCRW-FM (89.9) stands to lose $1.3 million from a budget of $24 million, amounting to more than 5%.
Times journalist James Rainey contributed to this report.
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- The government's move to eliminate federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) faces strong opposition from factors including universities, law firms, and media companies like CBS.
- The White House's latest ploy to limit entities they disagree with is currently being contested in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit over a "60 Minutes" interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris.
- In response to the executive order, the CPB asserted that Congress, not the president, holds the power to terminate its funding.
- The White House is anticipated to petition Congress for the funds allocated to the CPB over the next two years, but may face legal hurdles if taken to court.
- PBS President Paula Kerger stated that the organization is "analyzing all options" and considers Trump's executive order a threat to their ability to serve the public with educational programming.
- Former PBS and NPR coverage of significant events like the Watergate scandal in the 1970s boosted the network's popularity and led to the creation of the "PBS NewsHour."
- Jeffrey McCall, a communication professor at DePauw University, suggests that revisiting government financing of public radio and television outlets might be necessary in today's media landscape.
- If the battle reaches Congress, public media may hold the upper hand due to their significant impact on local communities and journalism.
- Los Angeles outlets, such as KPCC-FM (89.3) and KCRW-FM (89.9), stand to lose substantial funds from their federal allocation, which could affect staffing and programming.
