Defunding Truth: How Trump and Conservatives Killed Public Media

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has announced it will wind down operations by September 30th following the withdrawal of federal funding. This marks a bleak milestone in the decades-long conservative campaign against public media. For years, Republican presidents—from Nixon to Trump—have attacked PBS and NPR as “liberally biased,” ignoring their essential role in education, civic discourse, and local journalism.

Now, Donald Trump has succeeded where their predecessors failed. A last-minute rescissions bill has stripped more than a billion dollars from CPB’s future budgets. The consequences will be felt most acutely in rural and underserved communities that rely on public broadcasting—not for partisan spin, but for reliable news, cultural programming, and educational content that commercial media often neglects.

PBS stations in rural America are more than just cultural lifelines—they’re critical infrastructure. In many regions, they serve as the primary or sole source of emergency alerts and local news, trusted by residents and government agencies alike for their reach and reliability.

This decision isn’t about fiscal prudence. It’s about silencing voices that challenge power and expose uncomfortable truths—slavery, the civil rights movement, the war in Iraq. Trump’s celebratory boasts on social media make the intent clear.

Shuttering CPB isn’t just a blow to journalists and creators, it’s a blow to democracy. It fractures our national conversation and deepens the isolation of communities already on the margins. At a time when disinformation is rampant and corporate media dominates the landscape, defunding public broadcasting is reckless, petty, and profoundly short-sighted. Rather than a taxpayer win, this is a profound public loss.

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