NPR’s Scott Neuman: A Left-Right ‘Monster’ After the U.S. Purchases Trademarks
There is Kelly. That’s NPR’s Scott Neuman. And I will note we have invited NPR’s CEO Katherine Maher to take our questions on this, and we hope to bring you that interview tomorrow.
Earlier this month, on social media platforms, Trump blasted the two primary public broadcasting networks, posting in all caps: “REPUBLICANS MUST DEFUND AND TOTALLY DISASSOCIATE THEMSELVES FROM NPR & PBS, THE RADICAL LEFT ‘MONSTERS’ THAT SO BADLY HURT OUR COUNTRY!”
Fired USIP employees are now suing the Trump administration. In court, an U.S. Justice Department attorney said that the US Patent and Trademark Office’s headquarters is going to be leased to the Labor Department. The judge overseeing the case has, to date, declined to issue a temporary restraining order to stop the transfer of assets to the government, although she said the administration has adopted a “bull in a china shop” approach.
The White House was able to get representatives of Trump’s DOGE initiative to force their way into the U.S. Institute of Peace because of Washington, D.C. police officers. The Institute, while funded by Congress, is an independent nonprofit like CPB.
The Times of New York: Taxes on Public Radio Broadcasting Networks in the Geography of the U.S. After the Trump Reionization
Trump has far exceeded the powers of the presidency, trampling on due process, and eroding free speech rights, argues one of the lawsuits.
The judge in New York placed a restraining order on presidential adviserKari Lake’s attempt to shut down the Voice of America. The government had to keep sending money to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, according to a judge in Washington, D.C.
The networks say the agency and Congress have encouraged them repeatedly to develop a greater share of private financial support. They have worked with the FCC to make sure their spots fall within guidelines. The news organizations supported by the U.S. government have come under scrutiny in the early months of the Trump administration.
Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Communications Commission launched an investigation of NPR and PBS, saying it appeared that their corporate spots violate laws prohibiting commercial advertisements.
A recent Pew Research Center poll found that 43% of U.S. adults surveyed favored continued federal support for NPR and PBS, with 24% saying it should be cut. By political affiliation, the results showed that 34% of Republicans favor ending federal funding of public broadcasters, while 75% of Democrats think it shouldn’t stop.
More than 99% of the population is reached by both PBS and NPR at no cost. In many states and communities, the stations serve as a key component of emergency and disaster response systems.
Public broadcasting chiefs testified in favor of retaining financial support for the stations, saying that it would wipe out smaller stations that were ill-served by corporate-owned media. It would hurt the public media system. Alaska Public Media’s chief executive testified that the funding was vital to his state network and to ensuring his reporters’ stories found a broader audience.
NEUMAN: Well, NPR receives about 1% of its funding directly from the federal government, but hundreds of NPR member stations across the country get a larger percentage, and they would be hit harder. And since those stations use some of the federal money they get from CPB to pay a fee to NPR to carry programs such as ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, the indirect impact on NPR could be greater. Since television is more expensive than radio, PBS gets a larger chunk of the pie from CPB – about 15% of its funding.
Congress allocated $535 million for the CPB for the current fiscal year — an amount affirmed in a recent stop-gap bill passed by the Republican-controlled U.S. House and Senate. The CPB’s budgets are approved by Congress on a two-year cycle in large part to insulate it from political pressures; Congress has appropriated funds through Sept 30, 2027.
Reply to the Comment on a Video with a Performer in Drag singing a Song for a Young Audience, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
They queried PBS CEO and President Paula Kerger about a video involving a performer in drag singing a variation on a children’s song for a young audience. Kerger said that the video was posted on the website of the New York City PBS station and never aired.
NEUMAN: Well, a reminder that NPR CEO Katherine Maher and PBS CEO and president Paula Kerger both appeared in March before a congressional subcommittee that was chaired by Marjorie Taylor Greene to defend public broadcasting. Today, NPR issued a statement saying that eliminating funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting would be a great disservice to the American public. The network said that they serve the public interest. It’s not the only thing in our name. It’s our goal. Across the country, public media stations are owned by local people who care about their community.
Some Republican lawmakers, however, vented about what they saw as biased reporting. “You can hate us all on your own dime,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the chair of the subcommittee that held the hearing. The Chair of the House Oversight Committee objected to NPR’s coverage of his investments with a shell company.
“We serve the public interest. It’s not just in our name — it’s our mission. Across the country, locally owned public media stations represent a proud American tradition of public-private partnership for our shared common good,” it said.
PBS is best known for it’s nightly PBS NewsHour, as well as high-quality children’s programming, such as Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.
The White House wants to start a process that will lead to the elimination of almost all federal funding for public media.
NEU MAN: This is called recision. In a memo that is being drafted by the White House, we’re told, that will be sent to Congress once lawmakers return from recess on April 28, what will happen is that will start a window of 45 days in which the House and Senate have the opportunity to either approve the administration’s call to end funding or to allow the money to be restored.
The New Jersey Public Radio Radio Program. I’m afraid the next two years will be different for NEUMAN, PBS and other public media
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NEUMAN: Yeah. Congress appropriated over a billion dollars for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. And a reminder, that’s the nonprofit, congressionally chartered body that partly funds NPR and PBS and other public media. So essentially, the federal funds for public broadcasting would be cut immediately and then the next two years, so through 2027, the end of the fiscal year.