Broadcast for All
What is Public Media?
Public media refers to non-commercial broadcasting services that prioritize education, public service, and accessibility over profit. It was formally established through the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, which created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). More than 70% of CPB’s federal funding goes directly to local public media stations.
Each local public media station maintains sole authority and responsibility for selecting, presenting, and scheduling the programs that it airs. Along with programs that they produce themselves, stations can join nation networks such as PBS and NPR and then can distribute programs produced by other stations. Public broadcasting differs greatly from traditional media. Public media has no advertisements and relies solely on federal funding and personal donations for revenue.
The funding that CPB provides also allows the CPB to issue messages that are then broadcast on all PBS and NRS affiliated stations, allowing emergency messages to be heard all across the country. Otherwise, CPB gives the right to decide and schedule what to broadcast to the local stations, allowing the stations to remain independent to air their own messages.
PBS stations have historically produced content including children’s programs, such as Arthur; Sid, The Science Kid; Odd Squad; The Cat in the Hat; and more. Also, all American Public Television programs are available to PBS stations, which includes the largest collection of free programming, as well as a collection of paid titles.
Department of Education grants support public media organizations, which include TV and radio stations across the country. These can include PBS, NPR, etc. These programs allow for the creation of educational programs, documentaries, and Public Service Announcements.
Under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965) authorized the Ready to Learn Grant. The Grant Program is a key initiative by the U.S. Department of Education that works in collaboration with public media to improve early childhood education. Every five years grants are given to producers of children's media such as education TV shows and games. Historically, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS have won grants in every cycle. These grants help further those efforts, ensuring that public media remains an important tool for education across the country. In the past fiscal year, 36 million TV viewers were reached by Ready To Learn shows, Ready to Learn videos were streamed 1.8 billion times and Ready to Learn apps were downloaded 1.6 million times (CPB).
The Issue
On May 1st, 2025 President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14290 titled, "Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media", sought to end federal funding for NPR and PBS by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and all other federal agencies. "Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence."
The executive order sought to eliminate direct funding to NPR and PBS as well as indirect funding such as independent news stations buying NPR or PBS programming, like “All Things Considered,” the most listened-to afternoon radio news program in the country, and popular cultural programming like the Tiny Desk concerts.
The primary root cause of the defunding issue is the politicization of public media. Critics, particularly from conservative circles, argue that NPR and PBS exhibit a liberal bias and should not receive government funding. This perspective has led to efforts to dismantle public media funding, viewing it as an unnecessary expenditure that supports opposing political views.
This is a problem because in reality public media such as NPR and PBS provide significant public benefits such as news, educational programming, and emergency communication—especially in underserved or rural communities.
Education
Public media plays a crucial role in creating an informed and educated society. Unlike commercial media, public media outlets such as PBS and NPR are mission-driven and committed to serving the public interest rather than maximizing profit. They provide free, accessible content that supports education, civic engagement, and cultural enrichment for people of all ages and backgrounds.
PBS plays an important role in education overall by providing a variety of educational programming and resources for learners of all ages. One major and popular way they use the platform is programming for young children. They stream shows that enrich children and teach them foundational concepts in literacy, numeracy, emotional development, and social skills, often before they even enter a classroom. PBS has historically distributed popular shows such as Sesame Street, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, and Curious George.
Beyond its television programming, PBS significantly contributes to early childhood education through the Ready To Learn Initiative, funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Launched in the 1990s in response to growing concerns about children's preparedness for school, this initiative awards grants every five years to support the development of educational television and digital media specifically designed for preschool-aged children. Its primary goal is to enhance school readiness by providing young learners, particularly those from low-income families, with access to high-quality educational content before they enter elementary school. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and PBS have consistently received these grants each cycle, working in partnership to produce innovative media and learning resources aimed at children ages 2 to 8. These grants fund not only television programming but also websites, educational games, books, magazines, and community outreach efforts. Programs such as Martha Speaks, Odd Squad, and The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! were all developed with Ready To Learn funding.
As a result of Trump's executive order, one day later on May 2, the US Department of Education terminated the 2020-2025 Ready To Learn grant (which was approved by the first Trump Administration). CPB then informed PBS and 44 public media stations in 28 states and the District of Columbia that receive RTL grants to stop work immediately. Current shows that are funded by the RTL grants, such as “Molly of Denali,” “Work It Out Wombats!” and “Lyla in the Loop" have to cease operations. This is detrimental to education in America.
Another essential resource is PBS LearningMedia, launched in 2011 through a collaboration between PBS and the WGBH Educational Foundation. This free online platform provides PreK–12 educators and students with access to thousands of curriculum-aligned videos, lesson plans, and interactive tools.
With cutting funding to PBS there will be a loss to a lot of high-quality free educational resources. Impacting low-income families to education they can no other way afford and this will overall reduce preschool and elementary school children's performance like literacy, numeracy, and social-emotional skills. PBS LearningMedia provides teachers with free, high-quality educational resources, lesson plans, and multimedia materials that support classroom instruction across various subjects. Without these resources, educators, especially those in underfunded or rural areas, may have fewer tools to enhance their lessons and engage students in creative and effective ways.
In addition to PBS, National Public Radio (NPR) is another pillar of American public media that provides immense value, particularly in the realm of news, culture, and civic education. NPR offers in-depth journalism, thoughtful commentary, and a wide range of programs that explore science, history, economics, and the arts. Programs like Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Code Switch bring diverse perspectives and trusted reporting to millions of listeners each day.
Rural Stations
According to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, over 99% of Americans have access to public media services, and more than 1,500 local stations across the country depend on CPB grants to operate. In rural areas, CPB grants represented 17 percent of an average rural station’s revenue, versus 9 percent for non-rural stations. 33 rural stations, many on Native American reservations, relied on CPB funding for at least 50 percent of their revenue.
Cutting CPB funding could have drastic consequences, potentially leading to the closure of local stations and the creation of “news deserts”—areas with little to no access to local news or culturally relevant programming. Such losses would disproportionately affect low-income and indigenous communities that already face barriers to accessing reliable information.
Rural Audience Service Stations (RASS) are public radio stations, with a coverage area population of less than 40 people per square kilometer within the broadcasting range. Community Service Grants (CSGs), are annual grants provided by the CPB to eligible stations. RASS’s receive CSGs with higher funding percentages than other stations.
Funding provided by CSGs is often leveraged by the station to produce more funds through fundraising and other methods. A TV station can usually get a return of about $3.10 per federal dollar, and a radio station can usually get a return of about $10 per federal dollar.
There are 36 stations across the nation affiliated with a tribe according to the CPB. Listeners rely on their local station for access to tribal news. For example, KYUK in southwestern Alaska broadcasts local news in the native language Yup'ik. KYUK serves 20,000 people in rural Alaska including elderly people who only speak the native language. Access to public media is vital to these communities.
Emergency Warning & Alert System
The PBS WARN system, which stands for Warning, Action, Response Network, is crucial for distributing Wireless Emergency Alerts, or WEAs, in the event of an outage on cell services. WEAs are short message alerts sent to people’s phones in geo-specific areas, ensuring the awareness of a local community in the event of an emergency and potentially saving lives. These WEAs are sent from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, which is responsible for providing assistance before, during, and after disasters in the United States. For example, FEMA provides aid with creating action plans in the case of emergencies, coordinates the federal response to disasters, and supports local governments in the aftermath of emergencies or disasters.
The Next Generation Warning System (NGWS) is a series of grants used to modernize the current WARN system, to ensure its effectiveness in times of emergency. FEMA and the US Department of Homeland Security have awarded $136 million to local tv and radio stations for the goal of upgrading communication infrastructure. Improved technology at local stations expands the capabilities of the warning system, as it can reach more people, faster. Specifically, these grants are used by stations to pay for technical assistance in the maintenance and purchasing of equipment, emergency generators to continue broadcasts in the event of a power outage, broadcast equipment to expand the range of emergency messages, and translation equipment to distribute messages to people who do not speak english
Rural communities are especially vulnerable to emergencies, where natural disasters can have a much larger impact on the community. In rural areas, each community often has a niche, which most of the population relies on for their well-being. In the event of a disaster, this niche can be upset, interfering with the occupation of many in the community. For example, many rural communities rely upon farming, which can be upset by floods, extreme storms, or other weather disasters. Thus, leaving the community without the means to provide for themselves and their families. In these areas, often the only way a community can receive emergency alerts is through the local news or radio station, which receives messages from FEMA. Without the funding to continue emergency communications, these communities could become cut off from key warnings, potentially leading to economic hardship, which an early warning could have prevented.