NPR and PBS Leaders Plan to Contest Trump Administration’s Federal Funding Reductions

Sure! Here’s the revised content with neutral language and no external website promotions:

A sign for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is seen on its building headquarters on Feb. 18, 2025, in Arlington, Virginia. Kayla Bartkowski | Getty Images The CEOs of NPR and PBS expressed their intent to explore options for challenging the Trump administration following the president's executive order aimed at cutting public funding to news and media organizations. "We're looking at whatever options are available to us," stated NPR CEO Katherine Maher on Sunday’s "Face the Nation" when asked about possible legal actions. "I think it's a little preliminary for us to be able to speak to specific strategies that we would take." "We have never encountered a circumstance like this, and obviously we're going to be pushing back very hard," noted PBS CEO Paula Kerger.

As of May 2, at least 135 lawsuits had been filed to temporarily pause some of the Trump administration's executive orders, as reported, covering issues such as the dismissal of thousands of federal employees, the Department of Government Efficiency, immigration policies, tariffs, and more. Maher highlighted that potential funding cuts would most significantly impact local stations and their audiences. NPR has 246 member organizations with newsrooms in every state. She remarked that federal funding cuts would adversely affect journalists covering their local communities, "especially at a time where we're seeing an advance of news deserts across the nation." "Twenty percent of Americans don't have access to another local source of news. The impact of this could really be devastating, particularly in rural communities," Maher noted.

The National Public Radio (NPR) headquarters in Washington, DC, US, on Saturday, April 15, 2023. Samuel Corum | Bloomberg | Getty Images Kerger emphasized that PBS receives 15% of its funding from the federal government overall, with some stations in smaller communities relying on public funds for 40% to 50% of their budgets. "To them, it's existential, and that's what's at risk if this funding goes away," she explained. Kerger also mentioned that the executive order could affect PBS's funding from the Department of Education, a 30-year partnership that has supported the development and creation of educational children's programming, such as "Sesame Street" and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." "Half of the kids in this country are not enrolled in formal pre-K," Kerger pointed out. "That's why programming for children on public television was created." She added that programming in development would "skid to a halt." "We work directly with preschool providers and parents, and this funds those activities, so the immediate impact would be fairly significant," she stated.

CORRECTION: This article has been updated to clarify that NPR has 246 member organizations with newsrooms in every state. An earlier version misstated the number of newsrooms.