THE Public broadcasting service Friday heard President Donald Trump To block his attempt to cut his federal funding and accused the president of retaliation against the public broadcaster On “light political people perceived in media coverage”.
Trump’s executive decree targeting the funding of PBS “will overthrow public television”, the lawyer’s lawyers behind “Mister Rogers’ Quartier” and “Sesame Street” written in the American district court of Washington, DC.
The American Constitution and the law of public television old half-century prohibit Trump to try to undo PBS or to “serve as a arbiter” of its programming, argued PBS.
The trial of PBS and one of its member stations in Minnesota came three days after National public radio, or NPR, has filed a similar prosecution Against Trump and his administration.
“After a meticulous deliberation, PBS reached the conclusion that it was necessary to take legal measures to protect the editorial independence of public television and to protect the autonomy of member stations of the PBS,” a spokesperson for PBS in a statement.
Public non -profit media both want the courts to invalidate Trump on May 1st executive decree Commander of the public distribution company, or CPB, and all executive agencies to “cease federal funding for NPR and PBS”.
The White House said that after filing PBS pursuing, the CPB “created media to support a particular political party on taxpayers.”
“Consequently, the president exercises his legal power to limit funding at NPR and PBS,” said spokesman Harrison Fields in a statement on Friday evening. “The president was elected with a mandate to ensure effective use of taxpayers’ dollars, and he will continue to use his legal authority to achieve this objective.”
Trump’s order said the idea that the government is funding the media is “not only obsolete and useless but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence”. He also accused PBS and NPR of not having presented “a just, precise or impartial representation of current events to taxpayers”.
PBS lawyers said they challenge Trump’s claims “in the strongest possible terms.” But whatever, the president is legally prohibited to mingle with the financing of the broadcaster or its content, they wrote.
They quoted a Federal telecommunications law Dictate that no “department, agency, agency, officer or employee of the United States” can “exercise management, supervision or control over public telecommunications, or more (CPB) or one of its beneficiaries”.
This also applies to “the content or distribution of public telecommunications programs and services,” said the law.
Trump’s ordinance also violates the protections of the constitution of speeches and the freedom of the press, argued PBS. He “does not try to hide the fact that he cuts the flow of funds to PBS due to the content of the PBS programming and the desire to modify the content of the word”.
“It is a blatant discrimination of point of view and a violation of the private editorial discretion of PBS and PBS for the stations of the members of PBS,” wrote the lawyers of the diffuser.
They added that the order “feels reprisals because, among other things, perceived the mild politicians of media coverage”.
The CPB was created when the president of the time, Lyndon Johnson, signed the 1967 law on the 1967 law. The private non -profit company was responsible for describing the federal government allocated to public broadcasters.
THE CPB operating budget For the year 2025, he totaled $ 545 million, the majority of which was allocated to local public television and radio stations. This financing covers some, but not all, budgets of these stations – which include the purchase of national programming from PBS and NPR.
“PBS News Hour” obtains approximately 35% of its annual financing from a combination of CPB credits and station contributions, while the rest is generated from donations, foundation subsidies and business sponsorships, said PBS.
NPR said These 30% of its funding comes from the station costs of local members, while only 1% of its revenues come directly from the federal government. Most of its financing, 36%, comes from the sponsorship of companies, said NPR.
