Public Media Cuts, Waltz Out As National Security Advisor, Alien Enemies Act Ruling
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A new executive order is trying to stop federal funding to PBS and NPR.
It's the latest attack on public media. What happens to local stations in news deserts if the money dries up? I'm Laila Faldil, that's Michelle Martin, and this is Up First from NPR News. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz is leaving the White House. He's nominated for a new job as U.N. ambassador. Is it a promotion or a punishment for Signalgate?
And a federal judge in Texas dealt a major blow to the president's efforts to deport non-citizens.
This decision protects everyone who's detained in the Southern District of Texas. It means that they cannot be removed anywhere under the Alien Enemies Act, much less to a brutal Salvadoran prison.
Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day. Late last night, President Trump issued an executive order that attempts to end federal funding for NPR and PBS, accusing the organizations of political bias.
It's the latest in a string of attacks on public media by the administration and Republican leaders in Congress. The move bans direct federal funding for the public broadcasters. It also bans local public radio and television stations from using taxpayer dollars to support them. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR executive reviewed the story before it airs.
With us to talk about all of this is NPR's Ryland Barton. Hi, Ryland.
Hi, Leila.
So tell us exactly how Trump is trying to defund NPR and PBS through this executive order.
Well, Trump is directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting or CPB to stop sending money to NPR and PBS, saying that federal funding should not support what he calls biased and partisan news coverage. NPR and PBS have repeatedly said they are fair in their coverage. CPP is this independent nonprofit created by Congress in 1967 to partially fund public broadcasters. And currently, NPR receives about 1% of its funding directly from CPP, and PBS gets about 15%. But the other part of this executive order tries to get at the indirect ways that the news organizations get federal dollars, and that's through local stations. They are banned from using CPB funds to pay for NPR or PBS content under the order.
Now, I should say CPB is also fighting a different move by the president earlier this week to fire board members. So it's unclear how they will respond to this order. They sued saying they're not a federal agency and that board members don't serve at the pleasure of the president.
OK, so what have NPR and PBS said about this executive order and what they plan to do?
So not a whole lot so far. But in a statement, NPR said that the Constitution gives the power to Congress over these funding decisions, not the president, and that the executive order will, quote, have a devastating impact on local communities across America that rely on public radio for trusted local and national news, lifesaving emergency alerts and public safety information.
Okay, this appears to be the most direct attack on public media, but we all know this has been building for a while.
Yeah, Layla, listeners might remember that back in late March, the heads of NPR and PBS testified at this House hearing called Anti-American Airwaves, holding the heads of NPR and PBS accountable. It was headed up by Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. Here she is speaking to NPR CEO Catherine Maher.
Let me inform you so that your federal funding is also paid for by the other half of the country, the 77 million Americans who voted for President Trump, someone you called a deranged, racist sociopath.
Greene was referring to a social media post Marr made before she became NPR CEO. Marr said she regretted the post and wouldn't have made it today. And Marr and her PBS counterpart rejected accusations that their coverage is biased.
Okay, tell us about how this would affect local stations.
Yeah, so stations like Louisville Public Media, where I happen to be based and I'm sitting right now, they get an average of 8% to 10% of their revenue from CPB. That number is much, much higher for smaller rural stations, sometimes over 50% of their funding. Stations have been sounding the alarm on this in recent months.
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