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PBS is facing an uphill financial battle as President Donald Trump seeks to strip its funding. More than a billion dollars in funding could be rescinded if Congress agrees to the administration’s request.
In an interview with PBS News Hour’s Amna Nawaz on Tuesday night, PBS CEO Paula Kerger described the ongoing attempt to defund public media as “the most difficult and serious threat in the time that I have been in public broadcasting.”
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is responsible for distributing funds to PBS and NPR, including roughly 1,500 local public media stations nationwide. The congressionally-created organization has also sued the Trump administration over its firing of three CPB board members, arguing that the president lacks that authority.
PBS News could be affected should the CPB lose its government funding. The division receives about 35% of its annual budget from CPB and PBS via national programming funds. The remaining 65% comes from individual donations, foundation grants, and corporate sponsorships.
“This idea that funds that had already been put aside for public broadcasting would be taken away really has tremendous implications for our stations, because that’s actually where the resources go,” Kerger said in her PBS News Hour interview. “Most of the money does not go to PBS or any national organization. It goes directly to our stations to help them support their operations.”
During the interview, Nawaz presented Kerger with the latest Pew Research data showing that 57% of Americans are either unsure or don’t want to see federal funds committed towards public media. “As I travel around and meet people in communities that are part of the fabric of the communities that we do serve, they tell us that what you do is tremendously important,” Kerger replied.
“They especially love their local stations,” she added. “They treasure what they do, and they want to see them continue.”
