So like, Trump, the big boss, told all the agencies to stop giving money to NPR and PBS. The local NPR station peeps are freaking out, warning that this move could seriously mess up news and education services for a ton of people. The White House said that NPR and PBS are getting taxpayer money to spread “radical, woke propaganda disguised as news.” But like, can Trump really do this? Congress is the one who decides where the money goes, and they already said the funding is chill until 2027.
If the funds get cut, it’s gonna be a huge bummer for those who rely on the station for news and education, especially kiddos. The GBH President is all like, “Yo, shows like ‘Arthur’ and ‘Molly of Denali’ could be in danger, and kids already struggle with math and reading.” Plus, with newspapers shutting down and social media skipping out on fact-checking, losing local news outlets would suck big time.
Even if Trump pulls the plug on the money, GBH is gonna keep creating cool stuff and covering local news. The prez is all like, “We gotta keep doing what we do, no matter what goes down.” They produce shows like “Frontline” and “Antiques Roadshow” and just got nominated for a bunch of Emmys.
WBUR, another public radio station, is also shook by this move. Losing federal funding could mean millions of peeps won’t have access to public radio anymore. Like, that’s not cool.
About 3% of WBUR’s budget comes from the feds, and smaller stations rely even more on that money. NPR only gets about 1% of its budget from them. But without federal support, stations might not be able to afford to air NPR’s programs.
The GBH Prez said that even though only 8% of their dough comes from the feds, the whole media system could get messed up if that goes away. She’s saying that the annual federal cash to CPB is actually a great deal, only $1.60 per American per year.
Beth, a reporter for Boston.com, is all over this story, bringing you the deets on what’s going down. So like, keep an eye out for more updates on this wild ride.
