President Trump’s new head of the Federal Communications Commission has ordered an investigation of NPR and PBS, with an eye toward unraveling federal funding for all public broadcasting.
“I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials,” Chairman Brendan Carr wrote on Wednesday to the presidents and chief executives of NPR and PBS, Katherine Maher and Paula A. Kerger, respectively. “In particular, it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements.”
The FCC does not directly regulate the two networks. Instead, it evaluates the actions of roughly 1,500 public broadcasting stations across the country, which hold licenses granted by the FCC for use of public airwaves for radio and television, even in the digital age.
Bets that somehow, for some reason, they’ll be found to have violated the law as a result of their not violating the law- and trump’s Bizarro World goons will figure out how to shut them down because of It.
Gonna investigate Koch for his NPR sponsorship?
Yeah, didn’t think so. This is fascism.
NPR doesn’t have ads, they just mention the names of underwriters. Not only that, but they’ve been tame, if anything, in regards to their coverage of Trump.
If this is what he’s wasting government time and resources on, We’re at the 4th box
How about investing non-profit churches for illegal political activity? Oh weird how that’s not a priority.
Amen, hallelujah, praise Jeebis! These nonprofit evangelical douche-lords need to start paying some taxes.
Talibangelicals going after knowledge and more honest reporting? Wait until they go through the museums and remove anything critical or against their agenda.
“I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials"
Could you do us a solid and investigate every single other channel for the same thing? That would be pretty sweet.
Not sure if you’re being sarcastic, but just in case: they’re using this excuse specifically because the stations in question are publicly funded and their charter prohibits them from airing commercial advertisements. Of course, the fact that they have to take funding from corporate sponsors in the first place is a pretty good indication of just how insufficient their public funding is. And then there’s the annual pledge drives…
But yeah. I’m sure he’s real concerned that they might be violating federal law. So very concerned.
Thanks for the info! I did kinda figure it had something to do with being public funded, but I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to make a joke about hating commercials lol
This isn’t about ads. This isn’t about them getting too much funding….they aren’t. This is about them not blasting the propaganda 24/7 and making massive profits for the talking Cheetos butt buddies.
For NPRs response
https://pca.st/episode/239d6f73-03a3-4645-8aeb-14c87dee7f77
Basically it won’t affect them, but they’ll cut the river watch program in Alaska
I didn’t even know they had that program
NO!! DEAR GOD NO!!
THOSE BEARS ARE A GOD DAMN JOY TO WATCH!!
Pitchfork or trident?
3 years, 355 days to go
Till he extends his reign.
I’m laughing to stop the hurt
Would you do us a public service and just keep this counter going in random comments? I could really use some indication that time is actually passing and not just looping.
They know good and fucking well that gov’t funding for NPR and PBS is so fucking small a percentage compared to what they pull in annually from donations from corporations and individuals, that they’re going directly after those contributors by taking away the measly ‘thank you, pajamagram, for your contribution’ call outs. Anything and everything that can be attributed to malice when attacking or gutting programs should be.
Edit: also, I’ve purchased twice from pajamagram because of their call out and donations to NPR. If anyone at NPR or pajamagram reads this comment, your donation ad worked on me.
The proper response might be for NPR and PBS to just privatize and rely on donations for the duration of this shitty administration.
Being private in a time of predatory billionaires is a bad time. They will be consumed and become a shell of their former selves, like Sesame Street after HBO bought them.
I’d normally entirely agree with you - we trust the government to keep the predators from devouring public services…
But right now those predators are in the Whitehouse and both PBS and NPR are too valuable to be allowed to become conservative propaganda tools.
This isn’t a simple situation and pretty much all options come with significant downsides.
NPR and PBS receive single digit funding from federal funding. They would be better suited to remain that way and having the freedom to continue publishing their own content than go private and be steered by profit minded board members. Going private opens them up to a hostile takeover. Remaining public gives them more freedom.
Being public exposes them to being taken over by the administration. Going private as a non-publicly owned entity with a stewardship board would likely end up increasing their journalistic freedom. Overtime corruption would likely seep in (as it has with most news organizations) but it’d likely start out quite mission driven.
Things like takeovers and corrupt boards only happen if greed is allowed to be a driver.
If the corporate sponsors really want to support PBS and NPR, they’ll quickly trim the announcements to a bare minimum mention.
I for one will be paying attention.
If anyone in authority at NPR happens to read this comment, I’d like to point out that it’s possible to report on what the current president and his administration are doing without subjecting listeners to his mosquito-whine voice before we’ve had our coffee. Your Morning Edition journalists can quote him in their mellifluous tones, we’ll still know it’s the bloodsucker.
If Mister Rogers was here today, I don’t think even he could save PBS from this psychopath.
Don’t mess with Rogers and his blood stained sweater.
Rogers would be victorious over all, as proven by the ultimate showdown.
Wow, that’s so crazy that Republicans care about stuff like this now. I’m sure there isn’t any political agenda behind it
It’s all altruism for the people (above in the last tax bracket).
All we have are fellow non-bootlickers.
Bye, Big Bird. I love you and I will miss you.
Sesame Street sold out to HBO who eventually dropped them like a ton of bricks.
They may not make it but not because of this. They were relying on DVD sales until streaming killed that and HBO picked them up. HBO got the new content first, PBS got reruns.
Who knows what will happen, now.
It’s okay, Sesame Workshop is a separate non-profit, and makes approximately jillions in merchandizing annually. I’m sure it will continue on in some bastardizes, heavily privatized form.
