Trump seeks to end fed funding of public media; Nebraska Public Media says order ‘limits' them
The headquarters of Nebraska Public Media on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's East Campus. (Courtesy of Nebraska Public Media)
LINCOLN — President Donald Trump signed an executive order late Thursday seeking to end federal funding for public media.
It marks the White House's latest escalation in its political battle with the media, as Trump and some congressional Republicans fulfill a pledge to cut funding to the organizations. Unlike other executive orders that he signed in public ceremonies, Trump signed this one behind closed doors, while flying on Air Force One, Politico reported.
Initial reactions to the order from the Nebraska all-Republican federal delegation have been mixed. U.S. Reps. Mike Flood, who represents eastern Nebraska's 1st Congressional District, echoed Trump's criticisms of NPR's national bias but defended the unique value Nebraska Public Media provides locally. U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, who represents the largely rural 3rd District and U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts had no immediate comment Friday. U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, who represents the Omaha-based 2nd District, highlighted how crucial Nebraska Public Media remains to the state.
Gov. Jim Pillen also offered no immediate comment through a spokeswoman while visiting Washington, D.C., to see the president this week. If Trump's order withstands promised legal challenges, PBS could lose nearly 15% of its annual revenue and NPR could lose 1% of its budget. While federal funding is a fraction of the budget for the national independent public news organizations, federal funding does help smaller, often rural, local affiliate stations of both afford to operate in places the free market might not serve as well.
Closer to home, the impact could be significant. Nebraska Public Media could lose up to 16% of its annual budget, which could put essential services at risk, including emergency alert systems. The timing creates a budget hole that the state might be hard-pressed to fill during a budget shortfall.
Trump's order calls for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private nonprofit corporation authorized by Congress to receive federal funds and distribute them to support public broadcasting, to 'cancel existing direct funding to the maximum extent allowed by law and … decline to provide future funding' to the news organizations.
'Which viewpoints NPR and PBS promote does not matter,' the order reads. 'What does matter is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens.'
Trump also has claimed that NPR and PBS produce 'biased and partisan news coverage.'
The heads of NPR and PBS have defended their federal funding and coverage before a U.S. House Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, subcommittee meeting in March.
Bacon said, 'he respects the great job that NPR and PBS have done in Nebraska.'
Congress allocates more than $500 million annually to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and specifies its intended use. The funding is administered in two-year cycles, scheduled in advance, a structure designed to shield public media from political pressure.
CPB officials questioned the legitimacy of the president's new order. The private nonprofit is already suing the Trump administration over another executive order seeking to fire three of its five board members.
PBS and NPR have called the order unlawful, saying it infringed on the freedom of the press. Both plan to challenge it in court.
Nebraska Public Media, which is responsible for all public TV and radio stations in the state, receives approximately $4 million in federal funding, representing roughly 16% of its annual budget. NPM General Manager and CEO Stacey Decker said that while the station is still evaluating the impacts of Trump's latest executive order, NPM is 'deeply disappointed.'
'It limits Nebraska Public Media's ability to make independent and locally focused decisions about the programming and resources we provide to Nebraskans,' Decker's statement reads. 'It also severs the strong local-national partnership that is the backbone of public media, delivering trusted, valued and essential programming and services to all Americans.'
The state funds roughly 44% of the NPM budget, according to information published on the NPM website. Nebraska Public Media is tasked with live-streaming the legislative session and public hearings on bills. NPM also is among the few Nebraska news organizations staffing the State Capitol with reporters daily during the session.
'Even during this challenging time, we are steadfast in our commitment to provide every Nebraskan with trusted, valued and essential programs and services,' Decker said. 'Just as we have for more than 70 years.'
Flood said the Trump executive order is 'an opportunity for America to scrutinize the work of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to stop the liberal bias that has infected National Public Radio, and to rethink how federal funding works for local public broadcasting networks.'
But Flood, who runs his own private media company that includes News Channel Nebraska, emphasized Nebraska public media's 'unique value' for rural communities in the state and how it 'operates independently of CPB.'
'[NPM] is the backbone of our state's emergency alert system, and they have gone all-in on delivering quality coverage of youth sports,' Flood said.
Nebraska Public Media broadcasts and streams local high school and college sports, including from the Nebraska School Activities Association and the University of Nebraska and Creighton University. It also issues essential vital alerts for severe storms and other emergencies. A cut in federal funding could jeopardize those services, according to the NPM website.
Flood added that he would 'ensure [Nebraska] public broadcasting network remains strong' by visiting with NPM leaders to discuss how the order impacts them.
The Legislature's Appropriations Committee has a proposal to increase the funding of the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission, the state agency responsible for overseeing and licensing the public television and radio stations that make up Nebraska Public Media, for the next two years.
Still, the state budget shortfall has grown by $190 million, and lawmakers have less than a month to balance the budget. The committee this week made attempts to close the gap by taking another $135 million from cash funds held by various state agencies and reducing the funding state agencies would get for the next two years.
If NPM loses funding, Bacon said, their 'absence' would 'leave a void.'
Editor's Note: Nebraska Examiner Reporter Juan Salinas II previously worked as a news intern at KERA, an NPR station serving North Texas.
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