Corporation for Public Broadcasting to shut down after being defunded by Congress, targeted by Trump

By TED ANTHONY and KEVIN FREKING WASHINGTON AP The Corporation for Inhabitants Broadcasting a cornerstone of American practices for three generations released Friday it would take moves toward its own closure after being defunded by Congress marking the end of a nearly six-decade era in which it fueled the production of renowned educational initiatives cultural content and even crisis alerts Related Articles Trump orders US nuclear subs repositioned over statements from ex-Russian leader Medvedev US employers slash hiring as Trump advances a punishing arrangement agenda In the modern day in History August America gets its MTV US childhood vaccination rates fall again as exemptions set another record American Eagle s good jeans ads with Sydney Sweeney spark a debate on race and beauty standards The demise of the corporation known as CPB is a direct consequence of President Donald Trump s targeting of general media which he has repeatedly commented is spreading political and cultural views antithetical to those the United States should be espousing The closure is expected to have a profound impact on the journalistic and cultural landscape in particular general radio and TV stations in small communities across the United States CPB helps fund both PBS and NPR The corporation also has deep ties to much of the nation s largest part familiar initiatives from NPR s All Things Considered to historically Sesame Street Mister Rogers Neighborhood and the documentaries of Ken Burns The corporation disclosed its end years after being signed into law by President Lyndon B Johnson would come in an orderly wind-down In a report it commented the decision came after the passage of a package that included defunding and the decision Thursday by the Senate Appropriations Committee to exclude funding for the corporation for the first time in over years The corporation had hoped that the new budget might restore its funding but that did not happen Despite the extraordinary efforts of millions of Americans who called wrote and petitioned Congress to preserve federal funding for CPB we now face the hard reality of closing our operations commented Patricia Harrison the corporation s president and CEO The closure will come in phases CPB revealed it informed employees Friday that preponderance staff positions will end with the fiscal year on Sept It revealed a small transition unit will stay in place until January to finish any remaining work including it announced ensuring continuity for music rights and royalties that remain essential to the society media system Populace media has been one of the majority trusted institutions in American life providing educational opportunity emergency alerts civil discourse and cultural connection to every corner of the country Harrison noted We are deeply grateful to our partners across the system for their resilience leadership and unwavering dedication to serving the American people NPR stations use millions of dollars in federal money to pay music licensing fees Now multiple will have to renegotiate these deals That could impact in particular outlets that build their programs around music discovery NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher estimated in recent months for example that specific of all classical music broadcast in the United States is on masses radio stations Federal money for society radio and television has traditionally been appropriated to the Corporation for General Broadcasting which distributes it to NPR and PBS Roughly of the money goes directly to the PBS and NPR stations across the country although that s only a shorthand way to describe its possible impact Trump who has called the CPB a monstrosity has long commented that citizens broadcasting displays an extreme liberal bias helped create the momentum in new months for an anti-public broadcasting groundswell among his supporters in Congress and around the country It is part of a larger initiative in which he has targeted institutions particularly cultural ones that produce content or espouse attitudes that he considers un-American The CPB s demise represents a political conquest for those efforts His impact on the media landscape has been profound He has also gone after U S regime media that had independence charters including the venerable Voice of America ending that media outlet s operations after a multitude of decades Trump also fired three members of the corporation s board of directors in April In legal action at the time the fired directors announced their dismissal was governmental overreach targeting an entity whose charter guarantees it independence