Summary
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has launched an investigation into NPR and PBS, alleging they may be violating federal law by airing commercial advertisements.
He also urged Congress to defund them, arguing taxpayer support is outdated.
Critics, including FCC Democratic commissioners and media advocacy groups, say the move is politically motivated and aimed at intimidating independent journalism.
Carr has previously acted on Trump’s media complaints and contributed to Project 2025.
NPR and PBS deny wrongdoing, asserting their underwriting practices comply with FCC regulations.
Trump will demand all non right wing news banned it seems.
All the major news outlets are bending the knee
FWIW this is a really dumb move. The only thing stopping PBS and NPR from becoming the leading leftist voice is the Federal accountability.
If they pull federal funding, they will mostly survive (thanks to “viewers like you”). They will just be untethered from government obligations.
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Honestly, that’s a fair point.
I love the intellectual humility.
How would this end any differently from other mainstream media outlets, though?
Obviously because it’s viewer and listener supported. I thought that was pretty clear, but maybe it bears repeating.
Any news source anywhere near the scale of PBS or NPR is supported by advertisers and owned by a media conglomerate.
There are certainly advertisers, excuse me, corporate donors contributing. They get their blurbs and ads read at a pretty regular basis, at least between programs. Bur yes, I would hope that the large % of listener donations would keep NPR/PBS the way they are.
Next up, Alex Jones appointed Czar of Information Accuracy Committee. This consists of Himself, David Icke, Greg Hunter, Candace Owens, and An0maly.
Mr. Rogers went to bat for PBS and was able to secure their funding by just chatting with congress critters for a short while. Why would any of these people want to undo his work… (I likely know why… I just need to vent)
Because they think he’s evil
Lol yeah it’s Mr. Rogers’ fault that kids work hard and aren’t rewarded. Nothing to do with policy changes in their lifetime that prevent them from getting ahead.
With the whole industry Infowars thing in jeopardy, if PBS or NPR was to be sold to a private holder, could Global Tetrahedron buy one or both? The Onion is already ending up more respectable than The Washington Post, after all.
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Saw this coming from a mile away. I was wondering when this ax would drop. What a shame; I grew up to PBS/NPR.
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Everything done on and by social media though? Perfectly fine. FCC has zero notes.
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NPR and PBS are different things though… ?
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Ah gotcha
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Weaponizing the government
“Defunding” a privately funded service is known more popularly as theft
“investigates”
The rabid right wing has become so unhinged that they think Nice Polite Republicans and Petroleum Broadcast System are in any way “liberal”.
Hey just change the laws so they’re no longer complicit, then say “see, they’re breaking the law.”
The only thing I care about with the under-writers is that the get the word “Carnegie” as in “Carnegie hall” right.
The number of times I’ve winced when they say they are supported by the car-NEY-gee (three syllables) foundation instead of car-na-gie (one syllable) foundation …
