Washington - "We have never seen this before," PBS CEO Paula Kerger said on Sunday President Trump issues executive order Last week, it aims to cut federal funds to two major public broadcast systems - PBS and NPR.
"It's different. They follow us in many different ways." Keg said: "Faced the country with Margaret Brennan. ”
On Thursday, Mr. Trump signed an executive order directing Public Broadcasting Corporationis a private nonprofit that provides funds to public media to stop federal funds for PBS and NPR. The Executive Order states that the government “stops direct funding to NPR and PBS, which is consistent with my administration’s policies to ensure federal funding does not support biased and partisan news coverage.”
Kerger said this is one of many ways the government "follows us" including the potential to revoke funds already allocated, and efforts to propose sponsorship to companies through the FCC through the FCC.
"Obviously, we will be trying very hard to back down because there are dangers that are our radio stations, our public television stations, our public radio stations and public radio stations across the country," Kelger said.
Kerger said PBS received 15% of the funding from the federal government, but said the figure was a total, with some stations in small communities receiving up to 40% or 50% of the funding from the government. For them, she said “this is there,” plus “if this money goes away, there will be risks.”
Kerger said she hopes the impacted funds are funding from the Ministry of Education, which she said supports the research behind the creation of children’s programs and the educational components. Kerger said the show was created because not all children have access to formal kindergartens.
“That’s what Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers think, and everything that’s followed afterward is to ensure that kids who don’t have access to the full resources have the opportunity to learn and develop skills that they need for the first time they enter preschoolers,” Kelger said. “That’s risky.”
NPR CEO Katherine Maher also appeared on Face the Nation on Sunday and said “we are looking for any option that can challenge the executive order.” Maher replied that “direct damage is for the local station” while pointing out other circumstances such as rebates for funds that have been allocated or if the station is no longer able to participate in its dues, it would be “damage”.
"It's really devastating, especially in rural communities," Mach said, noting that there are 246 sites nationwide, and for some Americans, they provide the only source of local news.
The executive order states: "Americans have the right to expect their taxes to fund public broadcasts, they only fund fair, accurate, impartial and nonpartisan news coverage, while arguing that government funds for news media are not only outdated and unnecessary, but also corrode the appearance of independent news." The order claims that neither PBS nor NPR made a “fair, accurate or impartial description of current affairs of taxpayers”.
Maher noted that she did not make an editorial decision in person, and in response to the suggestion, he said that NPR was not a fair and nonpartisan, "I think our newsroom would really pose a question about it."
"We've been airing for over 50 years. We've been covering news across the country, local communities, overseas," Mach said. "We have an extraordinary Washington table, our people report straightforwardly, and I think not only do they do it, but they have very few tasks that other broadcasting organizations have, and it's a requirement to serve the entire public. It's the focus of public broadcasting."