Millionaire donors and judges stop Trump's blow against US public broadcasting

Since Trump set out to dismantle the National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), the country's public radio and television stations, a two-tiered response has emerged that is managing to keep the service afloat. On the one hand, federal judge Randolph Moss declared Donald Trump's executive order to cut federal funding to these state-level media, which have over a thousand associated radio and television networks operating at the local level, "unconstitutional" this April. However, the judge's ruling has not resulted in the return of the already cut funds, and this has already led to a hundred layoffs at PBS, representing 15% of the total, to which must be added approximately 500 more jobs lost at associated local radio or television stations.

This is where a sudden maneuver comes into play when, on April 16, NPR announced that it had received two notable donations: one from philanthropist Connie Ballmer, wife of former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and who had been a member of the station's board, for $80 million, and another from an anonymous donor who contributed an additional $33 million. “An informed populace is the bedrock of society, and democracy requires strong independent journalism,” Ballmer stated. The donation will allow NPR to strengthen its digital strategy and provide support to other public media organizations.

What did the executive order consist of?

The Trump administration achieves the closure of the CPBIn response to this attack, the two networks denied these claims. But the strong point of the executive order does not fall on them, but on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). This non-profit entity created by Congress in 1967 during the presidency of Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson became the main channel for distributing federal funds aimed at public media. Each fiscal year it had more than 500 million dollars to distribute among media throughout the country, in addition to being the main source of support for the technological development, programming, and research of these media. Trump's order required the corporation to do the following: "The CPB Board shall cease to directly fund NPR and PBS, consistent with my administration's policy to ensure that federal funding does not support biased and partisan news coverage. The CPB Board shall cancel existing direct funding to the maximum extent permitted by law and shall refuse to provide future funding."

The Trump administration achieves the closure of the CPB

Three months after the lawsuit was filed, in August of last year, the CPB announced the gradual cessation of its activities, after the administration of Donald Trump completely suppressed federal funding, after almost sixty years of operation. The corporation ended up ceasing its operations entirely at the beginning of this year. As for NPR, the federal funds it received accounted for 1% of the total budget, but for its affiliated stations, of which there are more than 1,300, it represented between 8% and 10%. Along with these smaller-reach stations, PBS and its associated stations also felt this blow severely, for whom federal funds represented approximately 15% of the revenue that the CPB provided them.

At this point, public information services in various sparsely populated areas of the territory see their possibility of continuing their activities seriously endangered. Although donations from individuals have increased, and these stations are still committed to the constant search for new investments, they are aware that federal funds will not arrive, which has already put their survival in check.

The decision of Magistrate Randolph Moss, however, provides legal breathing room. The judge indicated that Donald Trump's executive order against the stations is "illegal and unenforceable." He considers that it violates the right to freedom of the press guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution and amounts to "viewpoint discrimination" by the president. Moss ruled that the United States government cannot discriminate against people based on the opinions they express, and also protected news coverage services. Appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama in 2014, he wrote: "It is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence than governmental action being directed at viewpoints that the president dislikes and seeks to suppress."

This declaration may have future implications and could facilitate the entry of new funds that Congress decides to allocate to public media. It would eliminate one of the obstacles that would have prevented the restoration of funding. Let us remember that the general midterm elections will take place on November 3, and the new Congress will take effect in early 2027.

The reaction of the defendants and the administration

For their part, the heads of the two stations directly attacked also expressed their opinions through several statements. The president and CEO of NPR, Katherine Maher, celebrated the decision as a victory for the free press: "Public media exist to serve the public interest – that of Americans – not that of any political agenda or elected official." Paula Kerger, head of PBS, who considers the executive order an unconstitutional discrimination, communicated: "At PBS we will continue to do what we have always done: serve our mission to educate and inspire all Americans as the nation's most trusted media institution."

In contrast, the White House spokeswoman and special advisor to the president, Abigail Jackson, explained in a statement: "This is a ridiculous ruling by an activist judge trying to undermine the law. NPR and PBS have no right to taxpayer funding, and Congress has already voted to defund them. The Trump administration expects final victory on the matter."

Until then, the court has reversed the cuts, although the Government is expected to file an appeal against the verdict, as it has systematically done before.