MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
The White House is proposing that virtually all federal funding for public media - so NPR and PBS - that it be eliminated. The Trump administration has drafted a memo to Congress outlining its intent to cut that money, a move that the broadcasters say would be devastating to American communities nationwide. Here at NPR, we report on ourselves just as we would any other organization, and my colleague, NPR's Scott Neuman, has been working this story today. Hi, Scott.
SCOTT NEUMAN, BYLINE: Hi there.
KELLY: So we have, of course, been tracking pieces of this story for weeks now. We covered the FCC launching an investigation into NPR and PBS underwriting practices. We covered last month's testimony by the leaders of NPR and PBS before a House subcommittee. Walk me through this latest development. This is the White House asking Congress to eliminate funding. Explain.
NEUMAN: Yeah, this is something called recision. In a memo that is being drafted by the White House, we're told, that will be sent to Congress once lawmakers return from recess on April 28, what will happen is that will start a window of 45 days in which the House and Senate have the opportunity to either approve the administration's call to end funding or to allow the money to be restored.
KELLY: And just to explain recision - this would include money that has already been approved, already been allocated. How much money are we talking?
NEUMAN: Yeah. Congress has already appropriated $1.1 billion over the next two years for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. And a reminder, that's the nonprofit, congressionally chartered body that partly funds NPR and PBS and other public media. So essentially, the federal funds for public broadcasting would be cut immediately and then the next two years, so through 2027, the end of the fiscal year.
KELLY: In a few sentences, what would the impact of that be on public broadcasting in the United States?
NEUMAN: Well, NPR receives about 1% of its funding directly from the federal government, but hundreds of NPR member stations across the country get a larger percentage, and they would be hit harder. And since those stations use some of the federal money they get from CPB to pay a fee to NPR to carry programs such as ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, the indirect impact on NPR could be greater. Since television is more expensive than radio, PBS gets a larger chunk of the pie from CPB - about 15% of its funding.
KELLY: Why does the White House say it wants to do this?
NEUMAN: Well, for some Republicans, canceling federal funding for CPB has been on the agenda for years, but in the past few years, conservatives have stepped up attacks on NPR and PBS, accusing the networks of left-wing political bias and woke programming. The networks say they produce high-quality, balanced and informative programs. In the past, though, many conservatives have been more supportive of public media. But with today's charged political environment, more of them seem to be standing behind Trump and people like Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has been a loud proponent of defunding public media.
KELLY: I know that you've been reaching out and getting a reaction on this. What are you hearing back from the leaders of NPR and PBS?
NEUMAN: Well, a reminder that NPR CEO Katherine Maher and PBS CEO and president Paula Kerger both appeared in March before a congressional subcommittee that was chaired by Marjorie Taylor Greene to defend public broadcasting. Today, NPR issued a statement saying that eliminating funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting would be a great disservice to the American public. In a statement, the network said, we serve the public interest. It's not just in our name. It's our mission. Across the country, locally owned public media stations represent a proud American tradition of public-private partnership for our shared common good.
KELLY: Thanks for your reporting, Scott.
NEUMAN: Thank you.
KELLY: That's NPR's Scott Neuman. And I will note we have invited NPR's CEO Katherine Maher to take our questions on this, and we hope to bring you that interview tomorrow. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.