Study shows Americans trust PBS precisely because it’s publicly funded

On May 2, President Trump signed the executive order ordering CPB to halt all funding to PBS and NPR local stations. The justifications for this unprecedented action included the vast array of content available on multiple digital platforms and accusations of bias within public broadcasting’s newsgathering efforts and reportage.

Trump stated that CPB has violated its mandate of not endorsing “any political party.” Regarding PBS and NPR, he declared: “Neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens.” The executive order portends to be politically neutral in stating that “which viewpoints NPR and PBS promote does not matter,” yet a corresponding article from the White House chastised both public broadcasters for “spread[ing] radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news.’”