FCC opens investigation into PBS & NPR

[Dave Lampstein 124]

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 690]

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 982]

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 2502]

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 157]

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 2502]

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 4033]

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 188]

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 21]

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 124]

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 2502]

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 282]

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 124]

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 155]

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 157]

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 188]

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. 

[Horizon 273]

Late night yesterday, the US President signed an Executive Order for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to stop funding PBS and NPR. 

 

There have been statements from all three public media institutions who have expressed strong disagreements with the President's move, including NPR which threatened legal action. 

 

---

 

CPB:

 

Patricia Harrison, President and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), issued the following statement today regarding the President’s Executive Order on public media:

 

“CPB is not a federal executive agency subject to the President’s authority. Congress directly authorized and funded CPB to be a private nonprofit corporation wholly independent of the federal government.

 

“In creating CPB, Congress expressly forbade ‘any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over educational television or radio broadcasting, or over [CPB] or any of its grantees or contractors…’ 47 U.S.C. § 398(c).”

 

---

 

PBS:

 

Statement from Paula Kerger, President and CEO, PBS:

 

 

“The President’s blatantly unlawful Executive Order, issued in the middle of the night, threatens our ability to serve the American public with educational programming, as we have for the past 50-plus years. We are currently exploring all options to allow PBS to continue to serve our member stations and all Americans.”

 

---

 

NPR:

[NowBergen 702]

Note they don't give any specific examples.  Never.  Glad they will fight back and not become a propaganda channel which is what is wanted.  Lots of legal barriers they can use to fight this. 

[EVVTV12 146]

This also comes right after the state of Indiana made cuts in the budget that go after Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations.  Depending on which IPBS member stations in the state, it will be anywhere from 4-17% of budgets over the next two years. 

[Dave Lampstein 124]

The White House has officially sent the rescission package to Congress and now begins a 45-day clock for them to consider clawing back $9.4 billion in approved spending, including $1.1 billion to fund CPB for FY26 and 27.

 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-formally-asks-congress-to-claw-back-approved-spending-targeted-by-doge

 

This news comes a day after GBH in Boston made the announcement they've laid off 45 staffers.

[MarkAnimates 21]

This might be the end of PBS and NPR as we know it

[TVLurker 239]

3 minutes ago, MarkAnimates said:

This might be the end of PBS and NPR as we know it

 

WGBH has been using the Arthur fist meme as a symbol for their cause to keep PBS and NPR on the air. It is symbolic for many reasons. In the context of Arthur it was a part of a story that teach kids about anger and taking accountability but out of context it is powerful, it is a message against Trump that public broadcasting will not go down without a fight.

 

The tariff's may be causing people to hesitate in donating but I'm guessing members here have a lot of disposable income. Why not donate to keep PBS and NPR alive?