Good morning. Wow, what a week in media. Journalists being targeted at the protests in Los Angeles. The ouster of longtime correspondent Terry Moran at ABC News, in part, because of the now-deleted tweet about President Donald Trump and his advisor Stephen Miller.
And on Thursday, even more big media news as the House voted to back Trump’s request to cut funding for NPR and PBS.
That’s where we’ll start today. For this item, I turn it over to my Poynter colleague Angela Fu, who has all the details on this latest development. Here’s her report:
The House of Representatives voted Thursday to approve President Donald Trump’s request to take back more than $1 billion in funding for public broadcasting.
The request — which also includes the revocation of more than $8 billion in foreign aid — now goes to the Senate, which has until July 18 to approve it by a majority vote. The House passed the measure 214-212 with four Republicans joining 208 Democrats in voting against it. Two Republicans switched their votes from “no” to “yes” near the end of the voting period.
Known formally as a rescissions package, the request targets the $1.07 billion Congress previously approved to fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting through September 2027. CPB, a private nonprofit, in turn distributes the money it receives to NPR, PBS and more than 1,500 local radio and television stations via grants. While CPB funding makes up a relatively small portion of NPR and PBS’ budgets, some local broadcast stations — especially those in rural areas — are heavily dependent on the funds.
It is unclear whether the Senate will approve Trump’s request. Though Republicans hold the majority in the Senate, several have spoken out against cutting certain programs included in the rescission package. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, for example, has been vocal about her support for public broadcasting, writing last month that the elimination of federal funding for local stations would be “devastating.”
“Not only would a large portion of Alaska communities lose their local programming, but warning systems for natural disasters, power outages, boil water advisories, and other alerts would be severely hampered,” Murkowski wrote. “What may seem like a frivolous expense to some has proven to be an invaluable resource that saves lives in Alaska.”
The Senate could amend the rescissions package. Majority leader John Thune of South Dakota said Thursday that he expects the Senate to consider the request in July.
During Trump’s first term, he sent a rescission package to Congress in 2018 that was passed by the House but struck down by the Senate. If his request is approved this time, Trump may send Congress more rescission packages to further cut spending and codify the reductions made by the Department of Government Efficiency.
The rescission package is part of a multi-pronged attack Trump and Republicans have launched against public broadcasting. In April, the White House told three of CPB’s five board members that they were being fired, and a DOGE official asked to meet with the two remaining board members.
A few days later, Trump signed an executive order instructing CPB to stop funding NPR and PBS. In response to his actions, CPB, NPR and PBS have all filed separate lawsuits against Trump, accusing him of interfering with a private organization and violating the First Amendment.
Separately, Congress is debating whether to cut off future funding for CPB. Though public broadcasting has faced attacks from Republicans for decades — perhaps most notably in 1969 when Fred Rogers gave his famous testimony in defense of PBS — CPB has managed to hold onto its funding.
That could change soon. Many Republicans have attacked NPR and PBS as having a liberal bias. They also argue that times have changed, and Americans no longer rely on public media for news and information since most people have cell phone and internet access.
Supporters of public media, however, point out that many people living in rural areas rely on programming from local broadcast stations. Even more Americans rely on the emergency alert systems that CPB funds. Last year, for example, Hurricane Helene took down communications infrastructure in western North Carolina, including internet and cell service. Residents there turned to local radio for information.
To preserve their federal funding, NPR, PBS and local stations have lobbied lawmakers and ramped up awareness campaigns around the issue. A pop-up on NPR’s website Thursday mentioned the House vote and urged readers to take action. In bold letters, it warned, “If enacted, this will be the greatest blow to the NPR Network in history."
My thanks to Angela Fu. Now onto the rest of the newsletter …
