Court reaffirms CPB's independence

[cc333]

Some of those came from lawmakers

They're among the worst offenders!

I saw comments about "those rural areas don't need left-wing propaganda". God forbid they hear any criticism of their state's GOP Supermajority.

Here in California, there are many Democrats who are behaving similarly, almost as if to prove the GOP's dubious and nonsensical point.

It would be hysterically amusing if it weren't so seriously dangerous.

At this point, letting it all burn is probably the only direction to take.

Unfortunately, you may be right, but it has to be contained, or else it will burn out of control and eventually destroy everything.

And when they're done with public radio, commercial radio is next.

The break glass moment happened 6 months ago. This is now a five alarm fire that's spreading.

CBS says it's dismissing Stephen Colbert due to "budget problems". Really? Colbert is their biggest star.

Something is very, very odd about that. Especially when Trump followed that news with not-so-subtle threatening of Jimmy Kimmel's show....

Do not normalize this. Do not normalize any of this....

Yes, very odd. Especially given the timing, just after the settlement was announced. Combined with Stephen Colbert's strident criticism of T, it looks quite bad for CBS.

c

 

[kevtronics]

Do not normalize this. Do not normalize any of this....

And we ask "why didn't the Russian people do anything to stop Putin's takeover of the media and silencing of opposition voices?"

Do we need to wait until people start mysteriously falling out of windows?

 

[ted chittenden]

This morning, Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep interviewed NPR CEO Katherine Maher on "Morning Edition" on this issue. Both the audio and transcription are at the below website.

https://www.npr.org/2025/07/18/nx-s1-5471394/npr-ceo-katherine-maher-discusses-the-future-of-public-radio

One of the things that Ms. Maher said was that Republican moderates, such as Don Bacon of Nebraska, were persuaded to turn their opposition of the rescissions bill to a "yes" vote when House leadership assured them that money for public radio would be considered as part of the regular annual budget process. Forgive me for being skeptical but I don't really think the current executive branch leader would even be supportive of having an annual public radio appropriation vote. We'll see.

 

[Delete My Account]

As far as reconsideration of funding from this administration, I'll quote a lesser-played 80s song... "you gave me, promises, promises, you knew you'd never keep."

 

[TheBigA]

One of the things that Ms. Maher said was that Republican moderates, such as Don Bacon of Nebraska, were persuaded to turn their opposition of the rescissions bill to a "yes" vote when House leadership assured them that money for public radio would be considered as part of the regular annual budget process.

That's an interesting story. The reason congress did the 2-year advance funding system was because the annual budget appropriation process always got bogged down in politics. The goal was to remove politics from this appropriation. It worked for 60 years. I doubt very much returning it to the normal process will eliminate politics. Once the money is pulled, and the people get fired, it's hard to put humpty dumpty back together again. The executive branch leader has no interest in returning federal funding for a guy from Nebraska. They got what they wanted from congress. They now know how to play the game.

 

[CTListener]

And we ask "why didn't the Russian people do anything to stop Putin's takeover of the media and silencing of opposition voices?"

Do we need to wait until people start mysteriously falling out of windows?

We can do something or think about something or talk about something all we want, but these forums are about broadcasting, and only broadcasting, and any discussion of the people behind what's happening to broadcasting right now is generally prohibited on these forums unless somehow you can refrain from expressing any opinion on whether those people are right, wrong, good, evil or ... anything. It's a nearly impossible task, as we find out every time the RadioDiscussions Iron Curtain descends upon a thread.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

I'd be very curious to see how many of the religious networks swoop in and pick up stations like the one you run. This is a day that many of them have waited *so* long for!

very very few would want mine, specifically, thankfully.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Can you please say which station so people can donate to them?

I will once i know its public information

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

PBS Statement on the Senate Approval of the Rescissions Package

ARLINGTON, VA; July 17, 2025 — PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger released the following statement after the Senate voted to pass the rescissions bill that wil…

www.pbs.org

CPB Statement on Congress' Approval of the Rescission Package Eliminating CPB Funding

WASHINGTON, DC (July 18, 2025) -- Patricia Harrison, President and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), issued the following statement today in response to the U.S. Senate and House voting this week to approve the Rescissions Act of 2025, which eliminates CPB funding: “The vote...

cpb.org

Local Public Television Stations Will Close After U.S. Congress Votes to Rescind Essential Funding | APTS

apts.org

PBS, CPB and APTS has responded over the recessions affecting their side of Public Broadcasting funding.

 

[Delete My Account]

Some good analysis here:

The House Voted to Rescind Public Media's Funding. What Now?

A brief history of rescissions, plus a public media cheat sheet.

semipublicco.substack.com

From his perspective, these are the stations he claims are most at risk due to being unable to cover a year or more of expenses, with more liabilities than assets.

1. WSCL - Salisbury, MD
2. KCCU - Lawton, OK
3. KCSN - Northridge, CA
4. KXJZ - Sacramento, CA
5. KCHO - Chico, CA
6. KXPR - Sacramento, CA
7. Georgia Public Broadcasting - Atlanta, GA
8. WLAE - Metairie, LA
9. WJSP - Atlanta, GA
10. WUGA - Atlanta, GA
11. KABU - Saint Michael, ND
12. WPBS - Watertown, NY

 

[davideduardo]

Question for those involved with non-commercial NPR affiliated stations:

The PBS statement says, "Many of our stations which provide access to free unique local programming and emergency alerts will now be forced to make hard decisions in the weeks and months ahead."

What emergency alert system does PBS have that is other than the national EAS system that every station must be equipped to participate in?

 

[K.M. Richards]

Question for those involved with non-commercial NPR affiliated stations:

The PBS statement says, "Many of our stations which provide access to free unique local programming and emergency alerts will now be forced to make hard decisions in the weeks and months ahead."

What emergency alert system does PBS have that is other than the national EAS system that every station must be equipped to participate in?

My guess is that PBS meant to have "local programming" subject to the "unique" qualifier, and "emergency alerts" not similarly subject to that qualifier.

It was not worded clearly.

 

[CTListener]

PBS Statement on the Senate Approval of the Rescissions Package

ARLINGTON, VA; July 17, 2025 — PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger released the following statement after the Senate voted to pass the rescissions bill that wil…

www.pbs.org

CPB Statement on Congress' Approval of the Rescission Package Eliminating CPB Funding

WASHINGTON, DC (July 18, 2025) -- Patricia Harrison, President and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), issued the following statement today in response to the U.S. Senate and House voting this week to approve the Rescissions Act of 2025, which eliminates CPB funding: “The vote...

cpb.org

Local Public Television Stations Will Close After U.S. Congress Votes to Rescind Essential Funding | APTS

apts.org

PBS, CPB and APTS has responded over the recessions affecting their side of Public Broadcasting funding.

Just to clarify, the word is "rescissions" -- actions rescinding previously promised payments. It has nothing to do with "recessions," which are economic slowdowns. There is a recession going on in advertising right now, but it has nothing to do with the public broadcasting issue.

 

[JJSPC]

While some folks may lose jobs after this which is always sad, the sun will still rise in the morning and people will still be able find left centered, moderate, or right centered programming somewhere else on the radio dial or online. Let's stop this silly notion that NPR is the only unbiased source of truth in our country or the rest of the world.

 

[K.M. Richards]

Let's stop this silly notion that NPR is the only unbiased source of truth in our country or the rest of the world.

It's not, but it is one of the most visible such sources, hence this politically motivated attempt to kill it.

 

[davideduardo]

My guess is that PBS meant to have "local programming" subject to the "unique" qualifier, and "emergency alerts" not similarly subject to that qualifier.

It was not worded clearly.

While I am not a P1 to PBS, there are a variety of shows that I find very interesting (see note) . However, in the last 30-some years I have been in the LA service area, I have never seen any "emergency alert" other than EAS tests and the like. What does "PBS Socal" (their newer name) do in this area that is not totally duplicated on other OTA TV stations?

Note: back in the time of Downton Abbey, I sent several donations. That resulted in excessive and frequent requests for more money, so I had to block their email address after an "unsubscribe" attempt did not help.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Question for those involved with non-commercial NPR affiliated stations:

The PBS statement says, "Many of our stations which provide access to free unique local programming and emergency alerts will now be forced to make hard decisions in the weeks and months ahead."

What emergency alert system does PBS have that is other than the national EAS system that every station must be equipped to participate in?

We are in some places the only radio station and offer news and weather listeners wouldnt have otherwise.

 

[davideduardo]

We are in some places the only radio station and offer news and weather listeners wouldnt have otherwise.

How many such locations have an NPR or PBS affiliate that have no other service? I know your situation is definitely one of them. I am wondering if there are any in the "Lower 48" that fit that definition.

 

[Delete My Account]

In Minnesota, MPR and their network form a reliable backbone of the EAS system, including in some very remote and wilderness areas with often harsh conditions. And while they aren't the "only" station in those small communities, they're definitely the only ones with much in the way of resources should there be a severe event affecting significant portions of the state.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

How many such locations have an NPR or PBS affiliate that have no other service? I know your situation is definitely one of them. I am wondering if there are any in the "Lower 48" that fit that definition.

Northern MN... parts of MT.. parts of ND.. parts of SD.....

plenty of other places in alaska.... KUHB.... KIYU.. KBRW.......