2 weeks Ago By Debadrita Sur
The White House is reportedly planning to urge Congress to withdraw over $1 billion in funding for public broadcasting in the United States, a move that could eradicate nearly all federal support received by NPR and PBS, according to the New York Times. Every year, the Corporation for Public Broadcastin g receives approximately $500 million from Congress. The alleged new request from the White House will ask Congress to retract $1.
1 billion in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, equating to about two years of the organization's funding. The majority of this funding is allocated to NPR, PBS, and their local member stations. Dad makes friend dig own grave and kill himself after raping his daughter, 6 TSA reveals 11 new carry-on items you can take at any size - here's the full list NPR gets 1% of its funding from the federal government, while member stations producing local news receive close to 10%.
Government funding accounts for 15% of PBS's budget, with the bulk of the funding going to local, non-commercial, and not-for-profit radio and TV systems that primarily serve news deserts. The New York Times reports that the White House is expected to submit this request within the next few weeks as part of a larger rescission package. The House and Senate will have 45 days to approve the request.
If denied, the funds will be used as originally planned. In 2011, NPR executives created an internal report predicting the impact of potential loss of government funding on the stations. Almost 18% of nearly 1,000 member stations nationwide would cease to exist as $240 million would vanish from public radio.
Regions like the Midwest, South, and West, commonly referred to as news deserts, may see about 30% of their audiences lose NPR programming. In a recent surge of antagonism on social media, Trump continued his attack on mainstream media, often branding journalists who criticize his administration "the enemy of the people." Through his Truth Social platform, Trump demanded an "immediate" cessation of funding for NPR and PBS, citing their supposed bias.
"NPR and PBS, two horrible and completely biased platforms...
should be DEFUNDED by Congress, IMMEDIATELY," he announced last Thursday. His statement comes on the heels of a contentious Republican-led subcommittee interrogation of PBS and NPR leaders in late March. House committee chair Marjorie Taylor Greene spearheaded the charge at the hearing, lambasting the public broadcasters for turning into "radical, left-wing echo chambers" that perpetrated "anti-American" sentiments and instilled "communist" ideals in children.
Greene initiated the proceeding with a direct assault: "For far too long, federal taxpayers have been forced to fund biased news," she articulated. "This needs to come to an end. And it needs to come to an end now.
" During the fiery exchange, PBS CEO Paula Kerger and NPR CEO Katherine Maher stood their ground, endeavoring to justify their organizations' purposes. Republican calls rang out for a stripping of federal funds, reiterating the persistent chorus from former President Donald Trump and his ally, Elon Musk ..
