Trump signs order to block funding for public broadcasters

The order calls for the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which distributes funding to PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) and NPR (National Public Radio) to "cease direct funding" to the "maximum extent allowed by law".

The US president’s order claimed that both organisations exhibited ideological bias. “Neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens,” said the order.

“At the very least, Americans have the right to expect that if their tax dollars fund public broadcasting at all, they fund only fair, accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news coverage. No media outlet has a constitutional right to taxpayer subsidies, and the Government is entitled to determine which categories of activities to subsidise.”

The broadcasters receive roughly half a billion dollars in public money through the CPB.

"We will vigorously defend our right to provide essential news, information and life-saving services to the American public," NPR said in the statement. "The President's order is an affront to the First Amendment rights of NPR and locally owned and operated stations throughout America to produce and air programming that meets the needs of their communities."

Paula Kerger, PBS' CEO and president, said in a statement last month that the Trump administration's effort to rescind funding for public media would "disrupt the essential service PBS and local member stations provide to the American people."

"There's nothing more American than PBS, and our work is only possible because of the bipartisan support we have always received from Congress," she said. "This public-private partnership allows us to help prepare millions of children for success in school and in life and also supports enriching and inspiring programs of the highest quality."