Why Trump Dismantles Public Broadcasting - Part 2/3

May 14, 2025

“This is Voice of America.”
For generations around the world, those words echoed through iron curtains and Cold War nights — until Donald Trump shut it down with a stroke of the pen. And that was just the beginning: he wants to wipe out the entire American public broadcasting system.

In Part 1, we covered how Trump abruptly cut off Voice of America, replaced its international news with partisan content, and triggered a major legal showdown. We also traced VOA’s legacy as an independent international broadcaster. Although China wasn't mentioned directly, the episode was swiftly censored there—proof of its sensitivity. But the stakes are too high to ignore: this is a fight over who controls the public narrative.

Video: Why Trump Dismantles Public Broadcasting - Part 2/3

Previously Part 1: Why Trump Silences the Voice of America - Part 1/3

This is Part 2: a broader look at the 100-year history of public broadcasting and the unprecedented battle over federal media.
Coming up next, Part 3 will dive into Trump’s deeper motivations and whether he can actually succeed.

In Trump 2.0, the chaos multiplies: dismantling the Education Department and other critical federal operations, shutting down public media, breaking the system he calls the “deep state.” But when you start ripping out the federal structure’s load-bearing walls, things fall apart.

Some support him. Most don’t. Because there's no reconstruction plan—only demolition. And more often than not, the justification doesn’t hold up. Still, most criticism remains loud but shallow, failing to get to the core: why is this wrong?

Some say Trump—and the soon-to-exit Elon Musk—are just hammers. Everything looks like a nail. But this isn’t just political theater. Public broadcasting is at risk, and with it, a cornerstone of democratic communication.

So let’s ask the real questions:

If U.S. international broadcasting is truly independent, what about domestic public media?
Are Trump’s reasons for dismantling them legitimate?
More importantly, can he actually wipe them all out? How will it change things? And if he fails, what happens next?

Let’s start with a simple question: What is public broadcasting, really?

What Is Public Broadcasting?

NPR (National Public Radio) and PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) are not official mouthpieces. Like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, they are federally funded but editorially independent media institutions. There’s a critical distinction: public broadcasting is not state propaganda. It is public service media, built on an entirely different foundation.

Public broadcasting dates back a hundred years. Today, American public broadcasters are smaller in scale and presence compared to their European counterparts.

Let’s rewind.

The world’s earliest public broadcasters were actually private ventures: KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, launched in 1920 as a commercial station; the BBC, or British Broadcasting Corporation, began in 1922 as a private entity, too. In France, Radio France also began in 1922 and was later nationalized in 1933. Germany’s Berlin-based BR-Rundfunk (1923) evolved into RRG—Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft—eventually becoming a Nazi-controlled state broadcaster. Italy’s URI, founded in 1924, later became RAI under government ownership. Canada’s CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), created in 1936, was modeled after the BBC and continues to broadcast primarily in English and French.

The turning point came in 1927, when the British government granted the BBC a Royal Charter, formally creating the world’s first truly independent, non-commercial public broadcasting organization. Unlike commercial stations or state-run media, the BBC was funded primarily through household TV license fees, not advertising, and was legally shielded from government editorial control. The government could appoint some board members, but could not dictate content.

In 1932, the BBC launched international broadcasting—now known as the BBC World Service. It became Britain’s global voice, airing news and culture in over 40 languages.

During World War II, the BBC became a lifeline. Its wartime broadcasts delivered crucial information and anti-Nazi messaging across occupied Europe. Citizens of Nazi-controlled nations tuned in secretly to hear the famous words, “This is London”—calm, clear, and defiant in the darkness.

It was through the BBC that Winston Churchill’s legendary speech “We Shall Never Surrender” shook the world. Charles de Gaulle’s famous “Appeal of 18 June” was also broadcast from BBC studios to occupied France, igniting the Free French Resistance against Nazi and the Vichy regime.

Ten years later, in 1942, America joined the global broadcasting stage with the launch of Voice of America. Its first promise:

“The news may be good. The news may be bad. We shall tell you the truth. This is the Voice of America.”

Honest. Unvarnished. Real.

The Nazi regime viewed the BBC as a hostile force. Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda chief, once called the BBC “one of Britain’s most dangerous weapons.” It wasn’t hyperbole. The BBC became the global benchmark for credibility in public service broadcasting, respected for its objectivity, cultural depth, and commitment to truth.

The BBC became the blueprint.

To this day, it operates under the Royal Charter, renewed every 10 years. Its domestic services are funded by license fees; its international BBC World Service receives government grants but remains editorially independent by law. The UK government may appoint some board members, but it cannot control programming. No chain of command. No propaganda role.

After World War II, as the U.S. took over from Britain as the West’s leading power, it inevitably looked to the BBC as a model. But it took time. The BBC was chartered in 1927. The U.S. wouldn’t establish its own public broadcasting system for another 40 years—during the civil rights era and the post–New Deal push for public institutions in the 1960s.

PBS and NPR: America’s Public Broadcasting System

In 1967, Congress passed the Public Broadcasting Act with overwhelming bipartisan support—66 to 15 in the Senate, 266 to 91 in the House. The Act established the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), an independent nonprofit entity tasked with managing federal funding and distributing it to local public radio and television stations across the country.

The law made one thing clear: public broadcasting must remain editorially independent. The CPB does not produce programs or control content. Its role is purely financial—allocating funds to stations, not telling them what to air. Local stations are free to join national networks like PBS (established in 1970) and NPR (1971), but they maintain full operational autonomy. The result is a decentralized, federal-style system: shared resources, local control, and protected independence.

PBS serves as a national content provider for local public TV stations, while NPR supplies news and cultural programming to public radio affiliates. Neither is a government agency. Neither is a political mouthpiece. Both are independent, nonprofit institutions—editorially autonomous, legally separate, and accountable to boards selected by local stations, not by the White House or Congress. Presidents cannot appoint their CEOs. Congress cannot dictate their content. The only formal power the president holds is to nominate members of the CPB board, and even the CPB has no editorial authority.

As of 2024, the CPB receives about $485 million from Congress. Nearly all of that goes directly to local stations, not to NPR or PBS themselves.

NPR’s funding breakdown: roughly 40% comes from corporate sponsors, about 30% from affiliate station fees and program licensing, 15% from individual donors, 10% from universities and nonprofits, and less than 5% from government sources (mostly indirect via CPB and local grants).

PBS funding is similar: about 40% from member station fees, 25% from corporate and foundation sponsors, 20% from individual viewers, and around 15% from CPB and government grants. Local stations themselves depend on city and state support, universities, and local donations.

So, despite receiving modest federal support, PBS and NPR operate with remarkable independence. Their leadership is chosen internally. Their editorial decisions are protected. They’re not government-run. They’re not partisan megaphones. They are, by design, insulated from federal control.

And for six decades, they’ve delivered. NPR and PBS have produced some of America’s most respected, beloved, and iconic programs: Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Sesame Street, PBS NewsHour, American Masters, Masterpiece, Frontline, Nova, Nature, Independent Lens—just to name a few. These are staples of American life, known around the world. They embody American values, American storytelling, and American soft power. These programs are woven into the fabric of American culture and have become embedded in the American cultural DNA.

So here’s the question: What crime have they committed?

Why the calls to shut them down?

PBS and NPR are not propaganda. They’re not state media. They’re not partisan players. They’re public goods—built for education, journalism, culture, and civic life.

So if you truly believe in free speech, in press freedom, in cultural independence—why would you want to kill them?

Defunding public broadcasting isn’t a budget tweak. It’s not some harmless stunt. It’s a deliberate strike on independent media, a frontal attack on American civic infrastructure.

If you want to do something this reckless, this unpopular, this unjustified—at the very least, you owe the public a reason. What is it?

Bulldozing the Truth

As we’ve said, this isn’t about saving money. It’s about seizing the microphone.

Trump’s move to defund public broadcasting may be wrapped in fiscal rhetoric, but the real goal is control—control of the national narrative. Of course, his methods are often legally dubious, rhetorically twisted, and strategically chaotic. But that’s part of the game. We’ll get to that later.

For now, the core question remains: can a president just dismantle public broadcasting on a whim? PBS and NPR were created by an Act of Congress. They are protected by law. To wipe them out by executive order isn’t just wrong—it’s unconstitutional.

No previous president has dared this. Not Nixon. Not Reagan. Not Bush. But Trump is not a normal president. He isn’t constrained by precedent or decorum. Still, even Trump needs an excuse.

So, on March 25, Trump did what he always does: attack. He claimed that PBS and NPR are “deeply biased” and pledged to cut off their funding. Weeks later, on World Press Freedom Day, he moved to wipe out public broadcasting entirely—a move that may be the most extreme abuse of power against a free press in the history of the modern democratic world.

What’s the goal? To silence the American voice abroad? To replace Voice of America with Voice of Trump?

Apparently, yes.

And the worse the consequences, the better. That’s the point. The chaos, the shock, the defiance—they’re features, not bugs. The lack of legal or factual grounding only makes it more effective in the media circus. “Bold,” they call it. “Authentic.”

As for justification? Who needs it? Make it up. If the emperor wants new lyrics, he’ll invent new grief to sing.

Trump’s statements are vague. His spokespeople contradict each other. Ask five officials at five times and you’ll get five answers. That’s by design: to sow confusion, to provoke reactions, to create viral outrage. It paralyzes courts. Outruns Congress. Leaves employees in limbo. Shocks the public.

Kari Lake, a Trump surrogate, offered three main claims: one, that the system is “anti-Trump to the core”; two, that public broadcasters are “deeply corrupt”; and three, a “massive burden” on taxpayers. No evidence. No proof. Just vibes. “Bias” means they don’t praise him enough. “Corruption” means they dare to investigate.

And even if, just hypothetically, bias existed, does that justify total defunding? Does it justify shutting down every public broadcaster in America?

Trump just announced he’s come back not just to run the country, but to rule it. And to run the world, in his words. He says he “doesn’t know” if he’ll protect the Constitution, against his own presidential oath. He even posted a papal-style declaration to his followers: One Trump, one throne.

These are not metaphors. These are his words and deeds.

But he is not a king—at least not yet. His executive orders are still being challenged in court. His DOJ still answers lawsuits. His actions still face congressional scrutiny. For all the Republican enabling, America’s legal system remains intact—if battered.

So this question remains:

Why exactly are they trying to dismantle public broadcasting?

Can their excuses hold up?

And behind those excuses, what is the real motive?

You tell me. Think about it. Share this if it matters to you. Let more people see, question, and judge.

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