US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing the withdrawal of federal funding from the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR), accusing them of biased and partisan reporting.
The order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which distributes federal funds to public media, to halt financial support for both organisations “to the maximum extent allowed by law” and to reject future funding requests.
A statement from the White House called public funding for media “outdated and unnecessary,” arguing it compromises perceptions of journalistic independence in a rapidly evolving media landscape.
“It does not matter which viewpoints NPR and PBS promote,” the statement read. “What matters is that neither provides a fair or unbiased portrayal of events to the American public.”
However, the CPB’s funding has already been approved by Congress through 2027, raising uncertainty over how much immediate impact the order will have.
PBS and NPR have previously warned that significant funding cuts could severely affect rural and underserved communities that depend on public broadcasting, especially during emergencies.
Media rights group Reporters Without Borders criticised the move, calling it part of a broader decline in press freedom in the US. The group cited increasing challenges faced by independent journalists under Mr Trump’s administration.
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