❓WHAT HAPPENED: Leaders of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) voted to dissolve the organization following Congress’s decision to defund it.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: CPB President Patricia Harrison, NPR, PBS, the Trump administration, and members of Congress.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The decision was finalized on Monday, following Congress’s defunding of CPB last summer.
💬KEY QUOTE: “CPB’s final act would be to protect the integrity of the public media system and the democratic values by dissolving, rather than allowing the organization to remain defunded and vulnerable to additional attacks,” said Patricia Harrison.
🎯IMPACT: The dissolution marks the end of CPB’s funding of biased public media organizations.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the private nonprofit created by Congress in 1967 to distribute federal funding to public media organizations such as PBS and NPR, has voted to dissolve following the loss of its own funding. The decision comes after Congress moved last summer to eliminate federal taxpayer support for CPB, an effort encouraged by President Donald J. Trump’s administration and Republicans who have long criticized public broadcasting as politically biased. With no funding remaining and no prospect of restoration in the near term, CPB’s leadership opted to formally shut down the organization.
Patricia Harrison, CPB’s president and chief executive officer, claimed the move was intended to protect the broader public media system. “CPB’s final act would be to protect the integrity of the public media system and the democratic values by dissolving, rather than allowing the organization to remain defunded and vulnerable to additional attacks,” Harrison said.
The dissolution follows a series of actions targeting PBS and NPR. Last year, President Trump halted federal funding for the broadcasters, arguing that taxpayer dollars should not support biased media organizations. Republican lawmakers later voted to cut billions of dollars in “woke spending,” including funding designated for CPB, PBS, and NPR.
PBS, in particular, has faced heightened scrutiny from conservatives over its programming. Lawmakers renewed calls for defunding after controversy surrounding a Sesame Street Pride-themed social media post, which critics said promoted inappropriate political messaging to children. PBS has defended its content as inclusive and educational.
While CPB will cease to exist, PBS and NPR stations are expected to continue operating independently through a mix of private donations, underwriting, and state or local support.
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