The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced Friday it will cease operations following a Republican-led campaign to defund local PBS and NPR stations nationwide.
The decision follows President Donald Trump’s signing of a rescissions bill last week, which canceled $9 billion in federal funds, including $1.1 billion allocated to CPB for the next two years.
“Despite the tireless efforts of millions of Americans who advocated to preserve CPB’s federal funding, we must now confront the reality of winding down our operations,” said CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison in a statement.
“We are dedicated to meeting our fiduciary duties and supporting our partners with transparency and care during this transition.”
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Harrison cautioned that some stations, especially in rural areas, may close without federal funding.
Conservatives, long critical of public media for perceived liberal bias, supported the move.In mid-July, lawmakers passed a “rescission” measure, mostly along party lines, cutting $1.1 billion previously allocated for public broadcasting over two years.
Republicans, led by Trump, have long accused NPR and PBS of liberal bias, a claim intensified by figures like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and former NPR editor Uri Berliner. Trump’s May 2025 executive order, “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media,” directed CPB to halt funding, citing violations of the Public Broadcasting Act’s impartiality clause.
Changing Media Landscape: Critics argue public media is outdated in a streaming era with diverse news options, and taxpayer funds shouldn’t subsidize media. The Cato Institute and others claim rural stations are less necessary with widespread internet access, though advocates counter that public media remains a trusted, free resource.
The rescission was framed as cutting “wasteful” spending to fund priorities like immigration enforcement and tax cuts. House Speaker Mike Johnson called public media funding a “misuse of taxpayer dollars.”
What does this mean for NPR, PBS, and local stations?
Republicans, led by Trump, have long accused NPR and PBS of liberal bias, a claim intensified by figures like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and former NPR editor Uri Berliner. Trump’s May 2025 executive order, “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media,” directed CPB to halt funding, citing violations of the Public Broadcasting Act’s impartiality clause.
Changing Media Landscape: Critics argue public media is outdated in a streaming era with diverse news options, and taxpayer funds shouldn’t subsidize media. The Cato Institute and others claim rural stations are less necessary with widespread internet access, though advocates counter that public media remains a trusted, free resource.
The rescission was framed as cutting “wasteful” spending to fund priorities like immigration enforcement and tax cuts. House Speaker Mike Johnson called public media funding a “misuse of taxpayer dollars.”
National programs like PBS NewsHour, All Things Considered, and children’s shows won’t vanish immediately, but losing CPB funding jeopardizes the financial stability of local stations, especially in rural or underserved areas reliant on federal support to operate.
Without CPB grants, some stations may face staff cuts, reduced programming, or closure. This could hit smaller communities hard, where public media often serves as a critical source of local journalism, educational content, and emergency alerts, filling the void left by declining newspapers and commercial outlets in “news deserts.”