Following government budget cuts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting formally dissolves
The board of directors decides to dissolve the organization after almost 60 years of operation due to budget cuts under Trump.
Following significant federal budget cuts under Donald Trump, the organization tasked by Congress with providing funding to NPR, PBS, and other US public radio and television stations announced its dissolution.
After operating for almost 60 years, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced on Monday that its board of directors had decided to disband the organization.
The board of directors of CPB decided to disband the company because it “faced a profound responsibility,” according to a statement released on Monday by Patricia Harrison, the group’s president and CEO.
“CPB’s final act would be to protect the integrity of the public media system and the democratic values by dissolving, rather than allowing the organization to remain defunded and vulnerable to additional attack,” she continued.
The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 established the organization to assist 1,500 locally owned and run public media stations as well as NPR and PBS.
The corporation was responsible for allocating $500 million a year to PBS, NPR, and its network of regional broadcast stations.
PBS and NPR have long faced criticism from Trump and his Republican friends. Project 2025 is the right-wing platform for a second Trump administration, including plans to reduce financing for public broadcasters.
In May of last year, Trump addressed a note to Congress requesting that it take steps to reduce funding for the CPB.
According to the document, “taxpayers have been on the hook for years for subsidizing [NPR and PBS], which spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news.
” Trump stated on social media in July that he would not support or endorse any Republican who voted against funding cuts “to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting.”
CPB was forced to cease operations in August when the Republican-controlled Congress reduced its funding by $1.1 billion.
In areas of the nation where traditional media, particularly newspapers, have closed in recent decades, local public broadcasting stations have been crucial for news deserts.
99% of Americans have access to public media since more than half of the 544 public radio and TV stations that received CPB financing were classified as rural.
Donors from all around the nation have gone on a “rage-giving” binge in response to the federal funding cuts, contributing $70 million to public broadcasters in the past year.
However, it’s uncertain how long the broadcasters can continue to operate only on donations; according to one analysis, the cuts could force 15% of local stations to close within three years.
The head of the CPB’s board of directors, Ruby Calvert, stated in a statement that she is “convinced that public media will survive and that a new Congress will address public media’s role in our country because it is critical to our children’s education, our history, culture, and democracy to do so.”