Trump Plans to Slash Funding for PBS and NPR Stations | Free Press

20.1.17

Trump Plans to Slash Funding for PBS and NPR Stations | Free Press: Contact Info:

Timothy Karr, 201-533-8838

WASHINGTON — The Hill reports that President-Elect Donald Trump’s transition team has recommended privatizing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the entity that oversees distribution of federal money to hundreds of public radio and television stations around the country.

According to the report, the transition team is closely following a blueprint from the conservative Heritage Foundation, which seeks not only to privatize the CPB but to slash all funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron made the following statement:

“The idea of privatizing public broadcasting is appalling. Years of public polling show that the American people consider support for public media to be among the most important uses of their tax dollars — even if they don't realize how little we actually spend on these vital services. Combined with a plan to shut down important arts and humanities programs, this proposal shows that those advising the Trump administration are completely out of step with the public. We should be spending more on public and community media — which serve as an antidote to fake news — not cutting their funds. As those who have tried to zero out support for public media in the past discovered, millions and millions of people will oppose these attacks."