Less than a year after the Trump administration and Congress voted to cut funds to the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, which helped support PBS and local TV and radio stations, it has been forced to shut down. According to Variety, the board of directors elected to cease operations rather than be “vulnerable to future political manipulation.”
Variety reports that the CPB was created in 1967 by Congress to support federal public broadcasting nationwide. However, the organization cites years of political attacks for the full recession of funding.
“For more than half a century, CPB existed to ensure that all Americans—regardless of geography, income, or background—had access to trusted news, educational programming, and local storytelling,” said CPB president/CEO Patricia Harrison via Variety. “When the Administration and Congress rescinded federal funding, our Board faced a profound responsibility: CPB’s final act would be to protect the integrity of the public media system and the democratic values by dissolving, rather than allowing the organization to remain defunded and vulnerable to additional attacks.”
Ruby Calvert, CPB Board of Directors chair, views the reduction of public media as “devastating.” “After nearly six decades of innovative, educational public television and radio service, Congress eliminated all funding for CPB, leaving the Board with no way to continue the organization or support the public media system that depends on it,” Calvert said via Variety. “Yet, even in this moment, I am convinced that public media will survive, and that a new Congress will address public media’s role in our country because it is critical to our children’s education, our history, culture and democracy to do so.”
Without the support by the funds provided by the government and viewers, PBS has been scrambling to support paying the stations and its workers. According to Variety, many stations like Arkansas’ PBS, were cut to save money, with many more to follow.
“Public media remains essential to a healthy democracy,” Harrison added via Variety. “Our hope is that future leaders and generations will recognize its value, defend its independence, and continue the work of ensuring that trustworthy, educational, and community-centered media remains accessible to all Americans.”