There's a new administration in place and the quest to eliminate unnecessary spending has begun. Taxpayer funding of NPR and PBS is among the things being looked at and possibly eliminated:
President Donald Trump’s newly appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has ordered an investigation into NPR and PBS over their alleged “airing of commercials,” and suggested that the public broadcasters could be at risk of losing their federal funding.
“I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials,” Brendan Carr wrote to the heads of both organizations Wednesday. “In particular, it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements.
”In the letter, Carr said Congress is “actively considering whether to stop” funding NPR and PBS programming, which it has done since the 1967 passage of the Public Broadcasting Act. The query into the broadcasters could be relevant to such funding considerations, he said.
Naturally there are people defending public funding for NPR and PBS, and claims the two entities are unbiased. Here's one such example:
NPR is a crucial resource for listeners of all economic groups and ages because it provides unbiased news, fosters thoughtful discussion, and covers important stories that might otherwise be overlooked. Its coverage of remote American communities and global issues is essential…
— Shashi Bellamkonda (@shashib) February 1, 2025
The Federalist's Mollie Hemingway has a "fixed it for you" version:
You meant to say "spews daily propaganda, shuts down thoughtful debate, and censors important stories."
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) February 1, 2025
"Covers important stories" should actually be "covers UP important stories so as to protect a Democrat just before an election."
Remember this?
No, NPR is NOT unbiased news and it definitely DOES NOT cover important stories that might otherwise be overlooked pic.twitter.com/geoJEEuC1E
— KK Berd 🇺🇸 (@keny_berd) February 1, 2025
"unbiased news"
— Grateful Calvin (@shoveitjack) February 1, 2025
BAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!
Sure, Jan. https://t.co/tVksxPS6UC pic.twitter.com/c2g3nbeGGk
They haven't even deleted that doozy:
Why haven't you seen any stories from NPR about the NY Post's Hunter Biden story? Read more in this week's newsletter➡️ https://t.co/CJesPgmGvo pic.twitter.com/jAi7PnpbZf
— NPR Public Editor (@NPRpubliceditor) October 22, 2020
That alone should be enough to justify not putting one penny of taxpayer money toward NPR.
You mean the taxpayer is paying for NPR to be state sponsored fake media, right?
— Tired of being politically correct (@USBornNRaised) February 1, 2025
Yep, pretty much!
Every syllable of this is a lie.
— Tim Murtaugh (@TimMurtaugh) February 1, 2025
But, if it were true that NPR is so essential, then it could surely continue to exist, even flourish, supported by the market and not taxpayer dollars. https://t.co/YK3A8Ftgyz
It's strange how defenders of PBS and NPR like to point out that federal funding is a small percentage of their budgets and then seem to panic when somebody calls for an end to that funding. Go figure.
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