Republicans have been threatening to cut federal funding for public media’s NPR and PBS since the 1990s when Newt Gingrich led the charge. Their claim of a liberal bias in the programming has long been their excuse for such efforts.
But until now, public support for public television and radio has been solid enough across the political spectrum that the attempts to cut federal funds have been rebuffed.
Unfortunately, the second Trump administration is unlike any previous presidency in American history. Rather than a mere partisan political assault, Trump is waging an all-out ideological war against any and all institutions he considers biased against his authoritarian style of government.
Throughout the land, good people doing good work are scared. That includes many in the public media system.
If fear prevails, Trump will succeed in defunding NPR and PBS. But as the leaders at Harvard have chosen to do, principled resistance is also an option. If that happens, Trump may fail.
"We will vigorously defend our right to provide essential news, information and life-saving services to the American public," NPR said in a statement Friday. "The President's order is an affront to the First Amendment rights of NPR and locally owned and operated stations throughout America to produce and air programming that meets the needs of their communities."
To contact your Congressional representatives about funding NPR and PBS, click on these links for the House or the Senate. Enter your zip code to get direct contact information.
Note: In 1994-5 and from 2013-9, I worked at KQED, Northern California’s large public media company.
HEADLINES:
U.S. press freedom falls to historical low (Axios)
As wreckage piles up, Trump and his aides retreat to fantasyland (WP)
Americans see more overreach from the president than from judges, an AP-NORC poll finds (AP)
Trump Budget Proposes Slashes to Renewable Energy, Farms, EPA (USNWR)
Trump is proposing Congress cut $163 billion in non-defense spending next year (NPR)
GOP balks at approving even a fraction of Musk’s DOGE cuts (WP)
Harvard’s Trick for Fighting Trump? A Deep Bench of Conservative Lawyers. (NYT)
More Than 80 Faculty Pledge 10 Percent of Pay To Support Harvard’s Fight Against Trump (Harvard Crimson)
Trump says he's ending federal funding for NPR and PBS. They say he can't (NPR)
A White House Briefing Straight From North Korea (Atlantic)
Justice Department Sues Big Medicare Insurers Alleging Kickbacks (WSJ)
The Story of the ‘Mistakenly Deported Maryland Man’ (NYT)
The judge losing his patience with the Trump administration (Economist)
The intimidation campaign directed at federal judges who stand in Trump's way. (Reuters)
Photos reveal Trump cabinet member using less-secure Signal app knockoff (Guardian)
Critics are blasting President Donald Trump over a plan for the U.S. Army to hold a massive parade on June 14 — his birthday. The type of parade Trump envisions, as revealed by planning documents reviewed by The Associated Press, would likely cost tens of millions of dollars. [HuffPost]
Beijing Weighs Fentanyl Offer to U.S. to Start Trade Talks (WSJ)
At a Dubai Conference, Trump’s Conflicts Take Center Stage (NYT)
A massive tariff on millions of Americans’ purchases just went into effect — cue the chaos (CNN)
We Could Soon Be Seeing Empty Shelves Everywhere. Here's Which Items Might Disappear First. (HuffPost)
Birds are rapidly declining in America — especially in places once thought safe (WP)
Ready for AI-enhanced credit cards? Here's Visa's vision of automated shopping (ZDNet)
'Annoying' version of ChatGPT pulled after chatbot wouldn't stop flattering users (LiveScience)
Why the A.I. Race Could Be Upended by a Judge’s Decision on Google (NYT)
Trump Argues Toy Shortages Easily Overcome By Making Servants Dance (The Onion)
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