On this edition of Your Call, we discuss the Trump Administration’s devastating public media cuts. On Friday, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which has long helped sustain NPR, PBS, and hundreds of local public media stations, announced that it was shutting down after Republicans rescinded $1.1 billion in federal funding for the nonprofit.
Though Trump has long targeted public media institutions for being ideologically biased, these cuts will pose a serious challenge to the survival of small, rural public broadcasting stations that receive much of their funding through CPB and serve as a vital lifeline in communities across the US.
What does all of this mean for the future of public broadcasting?
Guests:
Maya Miller, politics reporter for CalMatters
Laura Maguire, director of research and advancement for Philosophy Talk
Amanda Eichstaedt, station manager and executive director of KWMR
Laura Garbes, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, and author of the forthcoming book, Listeners Like Who? Exclusion and Resistance in the Public Radio Industry
Resources:
CalMatters: California’s NPR and PBS stations will cut staff and programs after funding slashed
Time Magazine: What the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Shutting Down Means for PBS And NPR
The New York Times: Donations to NPR and PBS Stations Surge After Funding Cuts
The Guardian: Corporation for Public Broadcasting to close after US funding cut
