Summary
The Republican-led push to defund public broadcasters like NPR and PBS has gained new momentum with Sen. John Kennedy’s proposed “No Propaganda Act,” echoing longstanding conservative critiques of media bias and fiscal waste.
The effort is bolstered by changing media consumption habits, a weakened public radio audience, and competition from digital platforms like Spotify and The New York Times.
NPR faces challenges in adapting to a digital future, while internal divisions and declining funding threaten its sustainability.
Advocates warn this campaign may succeed where past efforts have failed.
https://www.npr.org/donations/support
https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/support-pbs/
Grew up watching Carmen SanDiego, Mr. Rogers, Ghostwriter, etc on PBS and turned into an adult listening to NPR radio on my commute. Both have been huge parts of my life, and I cannot imagine I’m alone. Hitting the donate button seems like the least I (we) can do.
Edit: Putting my money where my mouth is
Donated to my local affiliate since they probably need the money more than the national organization.
Fuck. I didn’t even think about the end of public radio and TV because of everything else.
They go way to far doing the “both sides” thing, but they’re one of the last U.S. news outlets that try to not be beholden to corporations. They certainly have no problem reporting negative news about their corporate sponsors. I’ve even heard them report negative news about public media.
PBS gets about 15% of their funding from the feds. They’ll probably be fine.
Besides a one time donation y’all might also consider cancelling your Spotify and NYT and WashPo subs and putting those monthly payments to NPR/PBS/other great independant or local news sources.
Donated my car to my local NPR station when it started dying. It was better for my peace-of-mind since I didn’t have to haggle with people (and I’ll get $500 when I file my 2025 taxes). I hope whatever they got for the sale of my car goes a decent ways because I listen to them all the time on my way to work.
“The only information and viewpoints that should be available to people in the US are those given by the rich and powerful.”
