The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Public Radio, and the Public Broadcasting Service are pushing back on President Donald Trump's executive order to defund public media. HPR's Bill Dorman shared more about the impacts of the order on public media.
On how the CEOs of the organizations are reacting to the order
BILL DORMAN: Now, the heads of both NPR and PBS say the president doesn't have the authority to do that. This may or may not wind up in court — still need to see on that. But meanwhile, the heads of both organizations have been out talking about the broader, really scope of attack when it comes to this administration and public media. Yesterday, they made a joint appearance on "Face of the Nation" on CBS, where PBS CEO Paula Kerger made the point that political attacks on public media are not new, but some of these circumstances are new.
PAULA KERGER, SOUNDBITE: It is different this time, and I've been through these battles now for a number of years. I've been at PBS almost 20 years, and I remember even going back to the Newt Gingrich days. But this is different. They're coming after us on many different ways. We're waiting for a possible rescission of those funds that have already been appropriated. There was an effort within the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) challenging our ability to accept sponsorships from corporations, which is something that we have worked with the FCC on for many, many years. There was the executive order, there was the effort to try to remove a few members of the CPB board. So we have never seen a circumstance like this, and obviously we're going to be pushing back very hard, because what's at risk are our stations, our public television, our public radio stations across the country. We get 15% of our funding from the federal government. That's 15%, but that's an aggregate number. Some of our stations in small communities, it's 40% to 50% of their funding. And for them, it's existential, and that's what's at risk if this funding goes away.
On a congressional hearing called "Anti-American Airwaves"
DORMAN: You heard PBS CEO Paula Kerger refer to rescission, that's a step that has not been announced by the Trump administration. A lot of people are expecting this — an effort to rescind or claw back money Congress has already appropriated for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. That's funded two years in advance, supposedly to avoid political heat on that. But it would have to go through both houses of Congress, because Congress approves spending. But the bigger picture, really overall is the political tone and rhetoric with all of this. You can see this from the title of the congressional hearing that was held at the end of March. It was called "Anti-American Airwaves: Holding the Heads of NPR and PBS Accountable," held by a congressional subcommittee called DOGE — "Delivering on Government Efficiency" — and the subcommittee chair is Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia... One of the witnesses in that hearing, by the way, who did talk about part of rural America was Ed Ulman. He’s the president and CEO of Alaska Public Media, and he really gave the member-level perspective in talking about what local stations do for their communities.
ED ULMAN, SOUNDBITE: The people of Alaska rely on public media to provide free, universal access to essential services and public safety, education, and community connections. This includes potentially life-saving alerts, updates on community affairs, coverage of state and local government, proven educational content engagement services, and local and national news. In many parts of Alaska and communities throughout the country, public media is often the only locally operated, locally controlled broadcasting service. We are more than nice to have. We are essential, especially in remote and rural places where commercial broadcasting cannot succeed.
Read more about how HPR is handling the threats to its federal funding:
This interview aired on The Conversation on May 5, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Tori Dejournett adapted this story for the web.
