WASHINGTON –– Last Thursday night, President Trump issued an executive order calling for cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that would “cease federal funding for NPR and PBS,” the organization’s radio and television arms, respectively. While the executive order itself calls for the end of “taxpayer subsidization of biased media,” the president’s social media comments on X have been less euphemistic, describing journalists in public media as “the radical left monsters who so badly hurt our country.”
It’s legally unclear if the president can unilaterally pull funding, and the details will have to be worked out in court. If successful, the cuts could prove devastating to small rural stations. Marfa Public Radio — which depends on the federal government for a quarter of its budget — has called for donations and support. For more information, visit marfapublicradio.org.