'Democracy Is on Life Support': Trump Orders Defunding of NPR and PBS | Common Dreams
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"All of us who care about an independent press, an informed populace, a responsive government, and a thriving democracy have a stake in the outcome of this fight," said one press freedom advocate.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order calling for an end to taxpayer funding for NPR and PBS, an escalation of his dangerous assault on public media that could shutter hundreds of local stations across the country.

The president’s order, which he signed behind closed doors, echoes a section of Project 2025, a far-right agenda that called for stripping public funding from NPR, PBS, and other broadcasters on the grounds that they “do not even bother to run programming that would attract conservatives.”

Trump’s order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)—a private nonprofit corporation created and funded by Congress—to “cease direct funding to NPR and PBS, consistent with my administration’s policy to ensure that federal funding does not support biased and partisan news coverage.”

  • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
    12·
    20 days ago

    NPR was doing long form interviews with Steve Bannon not two days ago. PBS has been running Trump hagiography for weeks.

    These networks have been crawling with conservatives since the Bush Era, at least. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting was stacked with corporate shills and right wing appartichiks straight back to the Reagan Era. And the privatized funding model it adopted after Carter became dominated by all the same corporate revanchists that have gutted investigative journalism at the WaPo, the WSJ, National Geographic, 60 Minutes, the hundreds of local papers and broadcasters, etc, etc.

    Trump’s not even putting nails in the coffin. 90% of the revenue for these public broadcasting companies was already private.

    • pelespirit@sh.itjust.worksOPMEnglish
      9·
      19 days ago

      NPR was doing long form interviews with Steve Bannon not two days ago. PBS has been running Trump hagiography for weeks.

      I’m not surprised at all. This is who their board was last election cycle. There are a lot of corporation people on there. Scroll down and notice the bold and linked people.

      https://sh.itjust.works/comment/12191528