Budget Cuts Series: Corporation for Public Broadcasting (NPR / PBS)

The Budget Cuts Series unfortunately continues forward endlessly in examination of the proposed White House budget cuts to learn what's hidden beneath the surface or in plain view.  We will later update based on Congressional budget proposals and actions.  

Today, let's take a brief look at the proposed defunded of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting which has fortunately received significant backlash and mainstream news coverage.  If you're the type of person to be visiting this web site, the PBS and NPR budget cut is one you already know about unlike some others in our series that we less apparent and not on the front pages.

"PBS and our nearly 350 member stations, along with our viewers, continue to remind Congress of our strong support among Republican and Democratic voters, in rural and urban areas across every region of the country. We have always had support from both parties in Congress, and will again make clear what the public receives in return for federal funding for public broadcasting. The cost of public broadcasting is small, only $1.35 per citizen per year, and the benefits are tangible: increasing school readiness for kids 2-8, support for teachers and homeschoolers, lifelong learning, public safety communications and civil discourse."

However, the negative impacts of the proposed defunding of CPB is misreported and misunderstood.  

... the majority of PBS programming is produced by outside entities ... and those outside entities usually secure their funding via means other than the government.... [government funding is] just over 23% of the CPB’s budget goes toward the development and acquisition of television and radio programming. Losing that....will hurt PBS and NPR though the difference will probably be covered by private funding, whether thanks to corporations, grant foundations, or the famous “viewers like you.”

But most (65%) of the government’s dollars to CPB go towards keeping rural PBS and NPR stations alive. These stations only continue to operate due to funding from the federal government.

PBS and NPR will continue to function even if federally defunded which includes local affiliates on television and radio in major urban areas.  However, many of the rural stations will cease to exist, depriving these areas from free educational programming of unequaled value.

The rural areas served by those stations backed Trump heavily. He received 62 percent of the vote in rural counties.  Thus, his budget’s proposed defunding of CPB is yet another way that a policy proposed by Trump seems as if it will have the most adverse effect on those who voted for him.

Sources: http://www.pbs.org/about/blogs/news/federal-funding-statement/

http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/3/17/14951868/trump-defund-pbs-npr