President Trump’s new head of the Federal Communications Commission has ordered an investigation of NPR and PBS, with an eye toward unraveling federal funding for all public broadcasting.
“I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials,” Chairman Brendan Carr wrote on Wednesday to the presidents and chief executives of NPR and PBS, Katherine Maher and Paula A. Kerger, respectively. “In particular, it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements.”
The FCC does not directly regulate the two networks. Instead, it evaluates the actions of roughly 1,500 public broadcasting stations across the country, which hold licenses granted by the FCC for use of public airwaves for radio and television, even in the digital age.
If the corporate sponsors really want to support PBS and NPR, they’ll quickly trim the announcements to a bare minimum mention.
I for one will be paying attention.
If anyone in authority at NPR happens to read this comment, I’d like to point out that it’s possible to report on what the current president and his administration are doing without subjecting listeners to his mosquito-whine voice before we’ve had our coffee. Your Morning Edition journalists can quote him in their mellifluous tones, we’ll still know it’s the bloodsucker.