John, Paramount Global - which owns and operates CBS's 60 Minutes - has agreed to settle and pay Donald Trump $16 million because he didn't like their interview with Kamala Harris prior to the election. [1]

This is just the latest news story of major media giants rolling over for Trump and his billionaire allies – protecting their bottom line over their duty to report critically on those in power.

Now more than ever, we need independent media like PBS and NPR who are required by law to provide impartial journalism. But Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson are attempting to gut funding for PBS and NPR in an effort to censor the truth.

Read on to learn more about these cuts, who will pay the price for them, and how you can help stop them.

John, if you care about PBS and NPR, keep reading.

President Trump just escalated his attacks against independent public media – asking Congress this week to claw back $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. [2]

Americans don’t want this – nearly twice as many voters oppose PBS and NPR cuts as support them. [3] But Trump doesn’t agree.

Common Cause is ready to go all out – and ahead of next week's expected House vote, we’re going to flood Congress with calls. Because the truth is, Trump’s party is far from 100% behind him on this – in fact, they don’t want to cut public broadcasting their rural constituents rely on. [4]

Here’s the bottom line: An independent free press is fundamental to our democracy.

That’s exactly why these right-wing ideologues are trying to get rid of it. They know that free, fact-based independent journalism – or anything else they can’t control – doesn’t serve their agenda.

So, they’re willing to cut off the millions of Americans who depend on public broadcasts for emergency alerts during natural disasters, or children across the country who learn their shapes, colors, and ABCs from shows like Sesame Street.

The only people who will benefit from cutting PBS and NPR are President Trump and the billionaires receiving tax cuts at our expense.

But John, a well-informed public is the best tool we have against Trump’s authoritarian takeover of our government. Amid misinformation, manipulation, and propaganda – strong, unbiased journalism empowers the public to hold our leaders accountable.

That’s why Common Cause is dedicated to fighting for a free press. We’ll continue to stand up for PBS, NPR and any journalistic outlet that Trump tries to silence.

Now more than ever we must stop far-right attacks on independent media. Can you chip in $5 to defend public broadcasting from attacks by extremist politicians?

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[1]https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/paramount-agrees-pay-16-million-settle-trumps-lawsuit-60-minutes-kamal-rcna216419
[2]https://www.npr.org/2025/05/02/nx-s1-5384790/trump-orders-end-to-federal-funding-for-npr-and-pbs
[3]https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/03/26/americans-more-likely-to-support-than-oppose-continuing-federal-funding-for-npr-and-pbs/
[4]https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/26/media/npr-pbs-marjorie-taylor-greene-hearing