The president said funding NPR and PBS was against the “principles of fairness.”
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on May 1, calling for the end of federal funding for National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) on what is called “biased and partisan news reports” from news outlets.
The CPB board was urged to “cancel existing direct funds to the maximum extent permitted by law,” and to “reject future funding.”
The order also directs other federal agencies to terminate funds and identify “remaining grants, contracts, or other funding means.”
“The government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary, but also corrupted by the emergence of journalistic independence,” Trump said in his order.
Trump said funding NPR and PBS would violate the CPB’s principle of fairness.
“The perspectives promoted by NPR and PBS are not important,” he said. “The important thing is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate or impartial portrayal of current events to citizens paying taxes.”
Neither NPR nor PBS responded to requests for comment from the Epoch era at the time of publication.
NPR and PBS previously said cutting funds would disrupt businesses and impact American communities that rely on public radio stations for news and public safety information.
During the hearing, PBS CEO and President Paula Carger said her station was trying to appeal to all Americans, but she didn’t go into the bias allegations.
Katherine Maher, CEO and President of NPR, told the hearing that NPR has a process that ensures that content is “fair and inclusive” and that a diverse range of issues and perspectives are aired.
“We have a responsibility to serve Americans on the full political spectrum in trustworthy, independent fashion,” she said.
Several Republicans confronted Maher about NPR coverage of the 2020 story of Hunter Biden’s laptop, son of former President Joe Biden. The laptop consists of information related to Hunter Biden’s business transactions, including work in China and Ukraine, and was on the energy company’s Brisma Committee. Maher said NPR’s attitude towards laptop stories was “mistake.”
This funding will affect organizations under the umbrella of USAGM, such as Voice of America, Cuban Broadcasting Station, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
The judge said radio-free Europe showed irreparable harm without a restraining order, noting that USAGM’s actions to terminate the grant “threatening the very existence” of the newsgroup.
Jackson Richman contributed to this report.
