Public Media’s Federal Funds Could Soon Be Cut
March 6, 2025 | Washington, D.C.
by Tabitha Walter, Executive Director, Eagle Forum
National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) may be next on the chopping block as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continues its mission to find programs to eliminate to cut federal spending. Shutting off NPR and PBS is not a new idea. In 1971, White House lawyer (and not-yet Supreme Court Justice) Antonin Scalia warned that the newly created PBS could have long-term “significant social consequences” much like the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). For years, we have experienced the fallout from the creation of these biased mouthpieces paid for by taxpayers. Finally, the Trump administration along with Republican lawmakers are trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube.
NPR CEO Katherine Maher was recently seen in a video saying:
I think our reverence for the truth might have become a bit of a distraction that is preventing us from finding consensus and getting things done.
Denying the truth with taxpayer money quickly caught the attention of Elon Musk. He reposted Ms. Maher’s video on X and fired back, “Defund NPR. It should survive on its own.” On one hand, NPR claims that a loss of federal funds would cause “significant harm to the whole public media system” and “make NPR less moderate.” On the other hand, they claim that only 1% of their budget is funded by taxpayer money. PBS News says 35% of their budget is from federal funding although less is attributed at the larger corporate level. However, it’s more nuanced than that.
Congress appropriates around $500 million per year to the non-governmental organization Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the “parent” company of NPR and PBS, which allocates the money to various outlets in the form of grants. Under the 1967 Public Broadcasting Act, any entity that receives one of these grants must reserve 23% of the funds to acquire or create programming that serves a “national audience.” In addition to the cut of the $500 million that NPR and PBS receive, they are also contracted with smaller radio stations that need to spend 23% of their federal grant money on programs like “All Things Considered” or “Code Switch” (both of which have pushed far-Left ideologies). NPR received over $99 million last year just from these contracts.
It’s not just a money problem though. Last year, Uri Berliner, a 25-year employee at NPR penned an op-ed in The Free Press lamenting that the federally funded news outlet had “lost America’s trust.” He admits that NPR’s listeners have leaned slightly to the Left on issues throughout his tenure, but by 2023, 67% of listeners categorized themselves as somewhat or very liberal. Berliner wrote:
An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don’t have an audience that reflects America.
That wouldn’t be a problem for an openly polemical news outlet serving a niche audience. But for NPR, which purports to consider all things, it’s devastating both for its journalism and its business model.
In 2019, NPR editor and correspondent Joe Neel sent guidance to his colleagues on how to categorize a child in the womb. He said, “Babies are not babies until they are born. They’re fetuses.” Then, he proceeded to slam the pro-life movement for using certain language to shift public opinion. He also scrubbed the words “late-term abortion” from future publications because he did not want NPR to give the impression that this is an act of killing a live baby. Clearly, he has a political bias not rooted in science or critical thought.
NPR’s publications have used phrases like “sounds from the fetus” to describe a baby’s heartbeat in the womb. When describing situations that are unique to females, they have resorted to using the terms “pregnant people” and “chestfeeding.” On its website, NPR describes diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as an “inextricable part of our mission to serve the American public.” It seems that they have left out a significant portion of the public.
PBS, another creation of the CPB, is cut from the same cloth as NPR. PBS has created programming to advocate for left-leaning ideas such as universal healthcare and euthanasia and use the same type of terminology as NPR. In 2020, they reported working with a Chinese Communist Party-controlled media outlet to produce a pro-Beijing film. Their children’s programming has suffered over time. They have crossed the line by featuring gay wedding scenes in the cartoons “Arthur” and “Odd Squad,” as well as introducing two lesbians in “Clifford the Big Red Dog.” A report from Entertainment Insider ranks PBS as one of their top five producers of “LGBTQ-inclusive animated kids’ shows.”
In 2023, the House-passed appropriations bill eliminated all funding for CPB, which resulted in no taxpayer money for NPR and PBS. However, the Senate failed to go along with the cuts, and funding was restored. This year, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Representative Claudia Tenney (R-NY) have introduced bills (S. 518/H.R. 1216) to prohibit taxpayer funding of NPR and PBS. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) and Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) introduced a bill called the No Propaganda Act that would defund the entire CPB.
Eagle Forum has joined with the Media Research Center and other groups to lead the effort to defund PBS and NPR once and for all. We invite you to learn more about the Defund Coalition here. Funding NPR and PBS in today’s climate, where citizens have millions of media choices, is unnecessary. They need to compete in the marketplace like other outlets. In addition, these entities are biased and do not support pro-family values. They have taken sides in the political arena and ignored dissenting views. Because they are out of touch with most Americans, it’s time to stop giving them our hard-earned tax money. Our children and our wallets will be better off without them.
Tabitha Walter is the Washington, D.C. Executive Director for Eagle Forum. She focuses on conservative policy issues and federal election endorsements for Eagle Forum PAC.