As Trump sets his sights on public broadcasting, a decades-old institution frets about the future

The nation s inhabitants broadcasting system decades-long home to Big Bird Ken Burns documentaries and All Things Considered faces the biggest problem in its nearly -year history with President Donald Trump s order to slash federal subsidies A court fight seems inevitable with the heads of PBS NPR and the Corporation for Residents Broadcasting all suggesting Friday that Trump s order is illegal We will vigorously defend our right to provide essential news information and life-saving services to the American general noted Katherine Maher NPR s president and CEO We will challenge this executive order using all means available Her counterpart at PBS Paula Kerger explained Trump s order was blatantly unlawful The population broadcasting system dates back to the late s devised as an educational and general service-oriented alternative to commercial broadcasters available at the time In his order Trump stated the system has become politically biased and time has passed it by In the present day the media landscape is filled with abundant diverse and innovative news options the president stated in his order issued just before midnight Thursday Ruling body funding of news media in this setting is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence The focus is on news but there could be other casualties Trump s order concentrates on news and between PBS NewsHour and a robust reporting corps at NPR that s an major part of their operations But population broadcasting also has entertainment initiatives educational children s shows and Burns historical documentaries PBS and NPR get about a half-billion dollars a year in population funding funneled through the private Corporation for Residents Broadcasting Roughly of that goes directly to the local PBS outlets and NPR stations On average PBS says of its stations budgets come from constituents funding But there are wide variations stations in larger markets usually get more money through philanthropy and fund drives while smaller stations depend much more on the regime Besides Trump s order Congress has been considering future funding levels for the society broadcasters and the Federal Communications Commission is questioning community broadcasting efforts at corporate underwriting disclosed Josh Shepperd author of the book Shadow of the New Deal The Conquest of Residents Broadcasting It s a three-pronged effort that is frankly very smart in its institutional understanding Shepperd disclosed They re not just going after programs that they don t like They re going after the operations and the infrastructure that makes it manageable to even air the programs A ripple effect is achievable and could be local Trump s order instructs the CPB and other cabinet agencies to cease Federal funding for PBS and National General Radio and further requires that they work to root out indirect sources of citizens financing Separate from the CPB grant for example PBS gets a grant from the U S Department of Schooling for programs that helps build the reading math and science skills for children age to particularly in poor areas The administration s plan might not threaten your favorite undertaking Burns gets plenty of corporate and philanthropic sponsorship but it may impact local programs and promising enhancement Shepperd noted Congressional Republicans aired a few of their grievances about populace broadcasting to Kerger and Maher at a citizens hearing in March Such complaints have been common over the years but the broadcasters have avoided funding cuts in large part because members of Congress don t want to be seen as responsible if a station in their district shuts down Who wants to be the inhabitants official who killed Sesame Street Also masses pressure from constituents is minimized because majority of Republicans don t watch PBS or listen to NPR reported Tim Graham director of media analysis at the conservative Media Research Center I have this morning habit of listening to NPR on my commute Graham declared I yell at the radio For years Graham s group has issued reports with examples of what it says is bias against conservatives For example during an -month period that ended last November his researchers counted examples of PBS journalists or contributors making reference labeling specific politicians far right or certain variation with only six called far left He disclosed he s not trying to shut down these stations but resists them receiving citizens money Let the people who listen to it do the funding Graham commented Bias concerns are taken seriously representatives say At a board meeting Friday CPB president and CEO Pat Harrison revealed her agency has taken bias concerns seriously It has increased investments in fact-based local journalism and provided a grant to NPR to make changes in its newsroom to address issues of bias The court fight over community broadcasting has already begun The president earlier this week declared he was firing three of the five remaining CPB board members threatening its ability to do any work and was straightaway sued by the CPB to stop it The executive order is also the latest move by Trump and his administration to utilize federal powers to control or hamstring institutions whose actions or viewpoints he disagrees with particularly those related to media Since taking office in January for a second term Trump has ousted leaders placed staff on administrative leave and cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to artists libraries museums theaters and others through takeovers of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities Trump has also pushed to withhold federal research and coaching funds from universities and punish law firms unless they agree to eliminate diversity programs and other measures he has ascertained objectionable The move against PBS and NPR comes as Trump s administration works to dismantle the U S Agency for Global Media including Voice of America and Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty which were designed to model independent news gathering globally in societies that restrict the press Those efforts have faced pushback from federal courts which have ruled in chosen cases that the Trump administration may have overstepped its authority in holding back funds appropriated to the outlets by Congress AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this record David Bauder writes about media for the AP Follow him at http x com dbauder and https bsky app profile dbauder bsky social Source