U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order calling for an end to taxpayer funding for NPR and PBS, an escalation of his assault on the media that could shutter hundreds of local stations across the country.
“Trump’s attack on public media shows why our democracy is on life support. Healthy democracies have independent, well-funded and robust public-media systems,” said Craig Aaron of Free Press, in response to the order. “At their best, noncommercial media put the public interest before profits and hold power to account. Trump’s outrageous order to end federal support for NPR and PBS takes U.S. media in the opposite direction.“
