FCC opens investigation into PBS & NPR

[Dave Lampstein 98]

https://www.npr.org/2025/01/30/nx-s1-5281162/fcc-npr-pbs-investigation

 

Is this the beginning of the end for federal funding for PBS? Efforts to defund it, including past attempts by Trump and others, have failed before. But in today’s digital age, is PBS still as much of a public necessity? They often argue that they provide crucial access to children’s programming and the arts, particularly in rural areas—but with the internet, is that still a compelling case?

 

Currently, CPB funding is secured through FY2026. Without federal support, many local public media stations would likely cease to exist or have a dramatic reduction in original local programming, and larger stations would struggle significantly. Stations are already facing fundraising shortfalls in a tricky economy, with many stations as well as PBS making layoffs last year. 

 

If this becomes a reality, might we start to see a consolidation of local PBS stations? Some markets overlap with up to 3 feeds of PBS from various public, state, or college-run stations.

Edited January 31 by Dave Lampstein

[GodfreyGR 650]

North Dakota has a bill in the legislature to cut funding for Prairie Public (Statewide PBS and NPR). Screenshots from the Fargo newspaper's report on it (since the site shared with the local ABC affiliate is paywalled)

 

https://legiscan.com/ND/bill/HB1255/2025?utm_campaign=rss&guid=6AZCrjXqTN07L59cm1XQUj

[channel2 977]

4 hours ago, Dave Lampstein said:

Is this the beginning of the end for federal funding for PBS? Efforts to defund it, including past attempts by Trump and others, have failed before. But in today’s digital age, is PBS still as much of a public necessity? They often argue that they provide crucial access to children’s programming and the arts, particularly in rural areas—but with the internet, is that still a compelling case?

 

Absolutely. History has shown that you can't necessarily count on the free market to always serve the public good.

[nathannah 2401]

11 minutes ago, channel2 said:

 

Absolutely. History has shown that you can't necessarily count on the free market to always serve the public good.

With how the kid's market has now declined to the lowest effort slurry like Poppy Playtime to 'educational programming' meant more for seniors, PBS is the firewall for good kid's programming. Like this and the BBC and CBC defunding drives, they want kids to suffer and be marketed to, and public broadcasters are seen as obstructing commercial interests and as liberal havens, even as the average PBS schedules and pledge drives actively market to a conservative nostalgic audience. 

[mer764KCTV5 148]

1 hour ago, mrschimpf said:

With how the kid's market has now declined to the lowest effort slurry like Poppy Playtime to 'educational programming' meant more for seniors, PBS is the firewall for good kid's programming. Like this and the BBC and CBC defunding drives, they want kids to suffer and be marketed to, and public broadcasters are seen as obstructing commercial interests and as liberal havens, even as the average PBS schedules and pledge drives actively market to a conservative nostalgic audience. 

Like literally, how can the FCC be considered fair if they do stuff like that to NPR and PBS??

 

Like couldn't anyone in Congress (Democrats, 'casue... GOP can't be trusted to help PBS) tell the FCC to knock it off and follow their guidelines that they have to be impartial?

 

Yea, I do agree, given that... Lord, help them.

[nathannah 2401]

Also if they're going to investigate NPR/PBS over their underwriting load, how about TBN and multiple other religious for doing the same, but in an even more egregious manner as some of those channels are carrying obvious commercial advertising. They're not going to do it because they'll just grease the palms and open up more non-commercial licenses which will be specifically conditioned on things only the EMFs, Daystars and TBNs can provide to lock out true non-commercial and educational interests.

[tyrannical bastard 3931]

Unless we totally destroy our democracy, the worst that can be done is to cut the federal funding to NPR and PBS. 

 

When it comes to the content that NPR and PBS put out, it is not under the FCC's jurisdiction, period.  The only way if it's a violation of sponsorship (overtly commercial content) or something profane or indecent during regular hours.

 

If this comes to pass, it will be fought in court and NPR/PBS SHOULD prevail, unless our system of government totally goes off the rails.

Edited January 31 by tyrannical bastard

[HanSolo 143]

58 minutes ago, tyrannical bastard said:

L

 

If this comes to pass, it will be fought in court and NPR/PBS SHOULD prevail, unless our system of government totally goes off the rails.

Unless? We’re so far off the rails that we can’t begin to measure. 

[jjj 17]

14 hours ago, mrschimpf said:

Also if they're going to investigate NPR/PBS over their underwriting load, how about TBN and multiple other religious for doing the same, but in an even more egregious manner as some of those channels are carrying obvious commercial advertising. They're not going to do it because they'll just grease the palms and open up more non-commercial licenses which will be specifically conditioned on things only the EMFs, Daystars and TBNs can provide to lock out true non-commercial and educational interests.

 

The majority of TBN's TV stations are on commercial allocations.

[Dave Lampstein 98]

On 1/30/2025 at 8:54 PM, GodfreyGR said:

North Dakota has a bill in the legislature to cut funding for Prairie Public (Statewide PBS and NPR). Screenshots from the Fargo newspaper's report on it (since the site shared with the local ABC affiliate is paywalled)

Some good news — the bill failed to make it out of committee. 
 

By the way, for those interested in a trade site for public media — current.org is a good source. 

[nathannah 2401]

TBN still runs non-commercial stations, and very, very few (we're talking about mainly small town stations where it's justified appropriately to support their ministries) religious stations and networks run any kind of advertising, even K-LOVE (who always converts their stations for the most part to non-coms upon acquisition); TBN is a craven outlier who has made it clear their priorities are not those of the founding Crouches (spreading the gospel in whatever ways they could), but just about becoming a race to the bottom regarding whose ministry gets the most money. And their ties to Merit Street, which is antithetical to every single part of the most basic of religions, show who they really are.

[Megatron81 256]

I have always said that PBS & NPR can make it on their own with the donations they get and I'm sure they have rich donors as well. Plus, my tax dollars shouldn't have to fund PBS & NPR, and they need to be defunded plus I want my money back since it is a waste of taxpayer money to fund them defund PBS & NPR now.

[Dave Lampstein 98]

On 2/1/2025 at 3:07 PM, Dave Lampstein said:

Some good news — the bill failed to make it out of committee. 
 

By the way, for those interested in a trade site for public media — current.org is a good source. 

 

I lied. Current.org botched their own reporting on this and updated the story with a correction.

 

The bill advanced despite the "do not pass" vote and passed the house. 

[AmericanErrorist 147]

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has asked the CEOs of NPR and PBS to testify at an upcoming House hearing on "news bias":

 

https://deadline.com/2025/02/pbs-npr-news-bias-house-hearing-1236277262/

[mer764KCTV5 148]

10 hours ago, AmericanErrorist said:

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has asked the CEOs of NPR and PBS to testify at an upcoming House hearing on "news bias":

 

https://deadline.com/2025/02/pbs-npr-news-bias-house-hearing-1236277262/

Well, say hello to the new medium...

 

Political Threats

 

I really hope NPR and PBS survive this term.

[HanSolo 143]

4 hours ago, mer764KCTV5 said:

 

 

I really hope NPR and PBS survive this term.

They almost assuredly will not in a form we would consider comparable to how they exist today. If the past 100 or so hours haven’t made it clear, whether Congress authorizes funds or not is no longer material. One person and his band of accomplices are rapidly taking over every disbursement, not to mention previously private personal data. Entire agencies are being dismantled; with control of payment systems, no checks (figuratively) will go to those organizations. Congress is not stepping in to any of this, as we’ve seen. Perhaps someone will mount a court challenge; great. By the time it meanders to the SCOTUS, of which we know the makeup, it’s a moot point. 
This is not the world of checks and balances. There are no guardrails. There is nothing that is going to stop it.