WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday ending federal funding to PBS and NPR due to neither entity presenting a “fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens.”
The White House announced the signing on social media, saying the outlets “receive millions from taxpayers to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news.'”
According to the order, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and other federal agencies must “cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS” and work to root out indirect sources of public financing for the news organizations.
The broadcasters get roughly half a billion dollars in public money through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and have been preparing for the possibility of stiff cuts since Trump’s election.
NPR receives about 1% of its total funding from the federal government, while PBS receives approximately 15%.
The cuts follow a hearing from March that debated the continued Congressional funding for public broadcasters.
“Every Republican President since LBJ has complained bitterly about their bias, has tried to defund them, has begged them to reform themselves, they’re brazen,” said Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation.
Paula Kerger, PBS’ CEO and president, said in a statement last month that the Trump administration’s effort to rescind funding for public media would “disrupt the essential service PBS and local member stations provide to the American people.”
“There’s nothing more American than PBS, and our work is only possible because of the bipartisan support we have always received from Congress,” she said. “This public-private partnership allows us to help prepare millions of children for success in school and in life and also supports enriching and inspiring programs of the highest quality.”
_____
Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.
