Trump’s Attacks on PBS and NPR: An Assault on Freedom of the Press

Congress has approved Trump’s $1.1 billion in cuts to PBS and NPR – escalating their war on public media. This is funding that local PBS and NPR stations were counting on, and they’ll now have to cut their programming and staff to make up for it.

Americans don’t want this – polls show that public broadcasting is popular with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike. So why did MAGA fight so hard for these cuts? We’ll give you a hint: it’s not about the money. 

These Networks Serve The People NOT The President

Time after time, Americans consistently rank PBS and NPR as the most trustworthy networks for news and public affairs. 

That’s because they deliver free local news, quality programming, and fact-based independent journalism – without any corporate or political agendas, as they are required by law to be objective. Local news stations provide hard-hitting journalism that doesn’t just cater to advertisers or keep shareholders happy. 

Trump and his enablers know that the free, fair, and impartial journalism that PBS and NPR provide means it’s much harder to get away with their lies. They’d rather silence dissent, evade accountability, and replace the impartial truth with their cherry-picked narrative. 

Everyday Americans Will Lose A Vital Resource

PBS and NPR provide countless public resources for people around the country. Their loss could impact:

• Children who learn their ABCs, shapes, and colors from PBS shows, which reach more kids in low-income homes than any other children’s TV network in a year.
• Rural Americans, who make up the majority of PBS viewers and depend on public broadcasting for emergency alerts.
• The 36 million adults who turn to PBS for fact-based journalism each month.
• Rural communities that rely on public media as a crucial lifeline – often the broadcaster of last resort – in natural disasters and other emergencies.

An Independent Free Press is Fundamental to Our Democracy.

Studies show that democracies work best when we have strong public funding for independent news – ensuring all citizens can access rich and varied information.

For decades, PBS and NPR have fulfilled this promise, even with much less public funding relative to other democracies around the world.

Thousands of Common Cause members spoke out – signing petitions, calling the House and Senate, and letting their elected representatives know how important public broadcasting is to them and to American democracy. A few brave lawmakers listened, but in the end, President Trump leaned hard on enough Republicans to fall in line.