A public broadcasting service (PBS) sign will be visible at the building headquarters in Arlington, Virginia on February 18, 2025.
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The CEOs of NPR and PBS said they are looking for options to challenge the Trump administration following the president’s executive order to cut off public funding for news and media organizations.
“We are looking at every option we have,” NPR CEO Katherine Maher said on Sunday’s “Face the Nation,” when asked if they would file a lawsuit. “I think it’s a bit of a preliminary thing to be able to talk about with the specific strategies we take.”
“We’ve never seen this situation, so obviously we’re going to push back very hard,” said PBS CEO Paula Kerger.
As of May 2, at least 135 cases had been filed, according to a New York Times report, and at least 135 cases had been filed to suspend some of the Trump administration’s executive orders at least temporarily, including issues such as the firing of thousands of federal employees, government efficiency, immigration policy, tariffs and more.
NPR’s Maher said potential funding cuts will hit local stations and their viewers the most. NPR has 246 member organizations with newsrooms in every state.
Cutting federal funding will damage journalists who cover the community. “Especially at a time when we’re seeing progress in the news desert across the country,” Marher said. “Twenty percent of Americans don’t have access to another local news source. This impact can be truly devastating, especially in rural communities.”
Saturday, April 15th, 2023, at the National Public Radio (NPR) Headquarters in Washington, DC, USA.
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Kerger said PBS is collecting 15% of its funding from the federal government, but some stations in the small community have earned 40% to 50% of its budget from public funds. “For them, it’s existential and if this funding is gone, it’s something that’s at risk,” she said.
Kerger said the executive order could affect PBS funding from the Department of Education, a 30-year partnership that has supported the research, development and creation of educational children’s programming, such as “Sesame Street” and “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.”
“Half of the children in this country are not registered with the official Pre-K,” says Kerger. “That’s why programming for kids was created on public television.”
Programming under development will “stop it,” Karger said.
“We work directly with preschool providers and parents, and this is funding those activities, so the immediate impact is pretty important,” she said.
Fix: This article was updated to show that NPR has 246 member organizations with newsrooms in all states. Previous versions had an incorrect number of newsrooms.
