President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order nixing National Public Radio and PBS’ taxpayer funding this week. Of course, NPR responded by making it a free speech and First Amendment issue. It’s not. The liberal outlet isn’t shut down. It’s not being muzzled. It just won’t get our money to shovel insufferable woke nonsense down our throats. Regardless, CEO Katherine Maher issued the following statement:
I'm confused by the NPR CEO's statement. I reread the First Amendment and didn't find any language about a permanent public subsidy for NPR. And I remember last year, when she insisted that the First Amendment was "the number one challenge" to controlling the narrative. pic.twitter.com/r5P4FQfEVe
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) May 3, 2025
NPR is unwavering in our commitment to integrity, editorial independence, and our mission to serve the American people in partnership with our NPR Member organizations. Last night the President released an Executive Order seeking to cease all federal funding to NPR and PBS. We will vigorously defend our right to provide essential news, information and life-saving services to the American public. We will challenge this Executive Order using all means available.
America's founders knew that an informed public is essential to a functioning democracy, and that commitment to serve an informed public is the heart of NPR's mission. With the creation of the Public Broadcasting Act, Congress explicitly forbade 'any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over educational television or radio broadcasting.' This independence has informed the role of public broadcasting in the American interest for more than half a century, and is core to our relentless commitment to editorial independence and integrity in our service today.
This is not about balancing the federal budget. The appropriation for public broadcasting, including NPR and PBS, represents less than 0.0001% of the federal budget. The President's order is an affront to the First Amendment rights of NPR and locally owned and operated stations throughout America to produce and air programming that meets the needs of their communities. It is also an affront to the First Amendment rights of station listeners and donors who support independent news and information. Although federal funding is an essential aspect of public media, significant financial support comes from listeners, underwriters, and philanthropic grants.
NPR programming is essential to the economic viability of its 246 Member organizations, generating on average 50% of all public radio listening, despite only accounting for roughly 25% of station programming. Every $1 of federal funding generates $7 from local sources, enabling stations to produce local journalism, support local and regional music and arts, and develop creative, informative, and entertaining programming for distribution across the nation. The local-national partnership between NPR and its Member stations is essential to maintaining the viability and strength of a nationwide public media network.
NPR was established in 1970 as an act of partnership by 88 public media stations around the nation. In the six decades since, NPR's Membership has expanded to every state in the nation. The NPR Member network is among the largest and most trusted media organizations in America. With a presence in every state, often with local reporters on the ground and specific expertise in music, culture, and newsgathering, NPR Member stations work together to produce creative, substantive, and impactful programming that holds the powerful to account, unearths untold stories, gives voice to the unheard, and elevates the American experience through creativity and inspiration.
This action jeopardizes the national airing of beloved programming and essential news such as NPR's iconic hourly Newscast, Morning Edition, and Tiny Desk Radio. It seeks to deprive tens of millions of Americans of their regular, trusted sources of information, and cut off resources to award-winning reporting and cultural programming.
NPR stands by the excellence and commitment of our journalists, staff, and Member organizations to seek out stories that matter to the American public, that reflect every part of the diversity of our nation, and that bring affairs of the world to our audiences. We stand by our high standards and our colleagues in their pursuit of factual reporting, their work to present issues fairly and without bias, and our effort to seek the humanity and human consequence of every story. We will strongly defend our work and our editorial independence and will continue to tell the stories of our country and the world with accuracy, objectivity, and fairness.
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Lib Congresswoman: “NPR and PBS are invaluable sources of news and cultural programming”
— Congressman Brandon Gill (@RepBrandonGill) March 28, 2025
The news and cultural programming: https://t.co/joYgK3dZMO pic.twitter.com/mOeUY3UEMQ
It's sink or swim, guys. If your product is good, you will survive. If it’s biased, left-wing trash that has led to millions seeking alternative streams and ecosystems for news, that’s on you.
And yes, PBS is also terrible:
This is hysterical. After a half-hour fawning “interview," PBS host Geoff Duncan gushes to Nancy Pelosi:
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) May 3, 2025
"You might not be able to hear it, but there's a lot of applause in the room here for you!"
Pelosi: “Thank you, PBS!"
Totally 'non-partisan' stuff here! pic.twitter.com/dXzJYFi4jn
PBS’ “Conservative” David Brooks responds to Trump EO defunding NPR and PBS:
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) May 3, 2025
"Who's more straight down the line than we are?"
Brooks, one week ago:
Judge Dugan is “heroic” for trying to help an illegal evade federal law enforcement. pic.twitter.com/64bGdxasB5
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