PBS CEO says "we have never seen a circumstance like this" after Trump targets funds

PBS CEO connected Trump targeting backing

PBS CEO says "we person ne'er seen a condition similar this" aft Trump targets funding 10:51

Washington — PBS CEO Paula Kerger said Sunday that "we person ne'er seen a condition similar this" aft President Trump issued an enforcement order past week aimed astatine cutting national backing to the 2 large nationalist broadcasting systems — PBS and NPR.

"This is different. They're coming aft america connected galore antithetic ways," Kerger said connected "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."

On Thursday, Mr. Trump signed an enforcement bid instructing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the backstage nonprofit that serves arsenic the steward of the backing to nationalist media, to cease national backing for PBS and NPR. The enforcement bid dictates that the authorities "shall cease nonstop backing to NPR and PBS, accordant with my Administration's argumentation to guarantee that Federal backing does not enactment biased and partisan quality coverage."

Kerger said it's 1 of a fig of avenues wherever the medication is "coming aft us," including with a imaginable rescission of already appropriated funds, and an effort to situation sponsorships from corporations done the Federal Communications Commission, among different things. 

Katherine Maher and Paula Kerger connected "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," May 4, 2025. CBS News

"Obviously we're going to beryllium pushing backmost precise hard, due to the fact that what's astatine hazard are our stations, our nationalist television, our nationalist vigor stations, crossed the country," Kerger said.

Kerger said PBS gets 15% of its backing from the national government, but said that fig is an aggregate number, with immoderate stations successful tiny communities receiving up to 40% oregon 50% of their backing from the government. For them, she said "it's existential," adding "that's what's astatine hazard if this backing goes away."

Among the backing that Kerger said she expects to beryllium impacted is backing from the Department of Education, which she said has supported the instauration of children's programming and the probe down its acquisition components. Kerger said the programming was created due to the fact that not each children person entree to ceremonial pre-kindergarten. 

"That was the thought with Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers, and everything that's followed since is to marque definite that children that bash not person entree to a afloat array of resources person the accidental to larn and to make skills that they'll request the archetypal clip they participate preschool," Kerger said. "That's what's astatine risk."

NPR CEO Katherine Maher besides appeared connected "Face the Nation" Sunday and said "we're looking astatine immoderate options are disposable to us" to situation the enforcement order. Maher echoed that the "immediate harm is to section stations," portion noting that different scenarios, similar a clawback of already appropriated funds, oregon if stations were nary longer capable to enactment successful their rank dues, would beryllium "damaging."

"The interaction of this could truly beryllium devastating, peculiarly successful agrarian communities," Maher said, noting that determination are 246 stations passim the country, and for immoderate Americans, they supply the sole section root of news.

The executive order says "Americans person the close to expect that if their taxation dollars money nationalist broadcasting astatine all, they money lone fair, accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan quality coverage," portion arguing that authorities backing for quality media is "not lone outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the quality of journalistic independence." The bid claims that neither PBS nor NPR contiguous "a fair, accurate, oregon unbiased portrayal of existent events to taxpaying citizens."

Maher, who noted that she doesn't personally marque editorial decisions, said successful effect to the proposition that NPR is not just and non-partisan that "I deliberation our newsroom would truly instrumentality contented with that." 

"We person been connected aerial for much than 50 years. We person been covering quality arsenic it occurs crossed the nation, successful section communities, overseas," Maher said. "We person an bonzer Washington desk, and our radical study consecutive down the line, and I deliberation that not lone bash they bash that, they bash truthful with a ngo that precise fewer different broadcast organizations have, which is simply a request to service the full public. That is the constituent of nationalist broadcasting."