Late last night President Donald Trump signed an executive order that could slash public subsidies to PBS and NPR.

The president’s order alleges bias in the broadcasters’ reporting, and stated government funding of news media is “not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.” The order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies “to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS,” and further requires that they work to root out indirect sources of public financing for the news organizations.

Congress has already authorized two years of funding toward the Corporation for Public Broadcasting through 2027. GBH President and CEO Susan Goldberg said she expects the administration to try to claw back those funds. Even if Trump is successful, Goldberg said GBH will continue to create content and cover local news.

“There will still be GBH, of this I can assure you,” she told Boston Public Radio on Friday.

Eight percent of GBH’s annual revenue comes directly from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. GBH also receives indirect funding from smaller member stations that pay for GBH-produced content, and grants that support educational programming.

Federal funding is more important for smaller stations where it makes up a larger portion of their budgets. Sometimes, these stations serve as the only local news sources and their public broadcasts are accessible in places without broadband, Goldberg said.

While Trump legally can’t control how the Corporation for Public Broadcasting spends its funding, Goldberg said the president does have the authority to tell the Department of Education to stop sending money to public television.

“We get millions of dollars from the Department of Education through a special program called Ready to Learn. And it finances the research that goes into our children’s programming,” Goldberg said. Money from this program helped GBH create Work It Out Wombats and Molly of Denali, Goldberg said.

“We’re not making kids programming to sell sugared cereal,” Goldberg said. “We’re making kids programming so parents can put, safely, put their children in front of a television and they can learn to read, they can learn to do math, they can learn to have good social skills.”

Goldberg acknowledged this is a stressful time in the media and Trump’s targeting of public media is “a new level of threat.” But right now, she said, “We’re going to just keep doing that work.”

Earlier Friday, Goldberg shared this statement with GBH News:

The President’s blatantly unlawful Executive Order, issued in the middle of the night, threatens our ability to serve the American public with educational programming, as we have for nearly 75 years. Public media leaders, including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, NPR and PBS are currently exploring all options so that we may continue to service our audiences.

While we sort out what this means to us in the short term, we are also looking to the future. We intend to maintain our independence, strengthen our business model and ensure the continuation of our award-winning local news and national programs.

And we’re doubling down on our commitment to cover the issues that millions of people care about, from education and science to international affairs, the environment and the arts. We will fight to protect the right of future generations to enjoy, learn, and be informed through the free public access we provide to the highest quality programming, news, and information.

Although we have a broad base of support, all of our trusted and award-winning offerings for local, national, and international audiences could be impacted by the loss of federal funding. While the conversation continues in Washington, we’re preparing for what we can, and staying focused on doing the work that makes us a vital community resource. We’re asking those who value public media’s contribution to American society to contact Congress to protect public media funding, which amounts to about 0.01% of federal spending – only about $1.60 per person per year. It is a highly successful example of a private-public partnership serving the entire country. Because GBH is the largest content producer for PBS, a partner to NPR and PRX, and the home of PBS Learning Media, we serve students, teachers, and audiences in every state, including our home base of Massachusetts, where we are the most trusted local media outlet.
Susan Goldberg