White House accuses outlets of using public money to spread ‘woke propaganda’ as alarm raised on media freedom.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order slashing subsidies to two United States public broadcasters.
Trump issued the order to halt federal funding to PBS and NPR late on Thursday, accusing them of biased reporting and spreading “left-wing” propaganda.
The order is the US president’s latest bid to halt government funding of media he considers unfriendly to his administration. It comes as Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warned of an “alarming deterioration in press freedom”.
In a social media post, the White House accused the outlets of receiving millions from taxpayers “to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news’”.
Trump directed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which distributes government funding to media, to “cancel existing direct funding to the maximum extent allowed by law and … decline … future funding”.
He also demanded that it root out indirect sources of public financing for the news organisations, endangering their future existence.
According to reports, CPB provide PBS and NPR with roughly half a billion dollars in financing annually, but they also rely heavily on private donations.
It is not clear how much of an immediate effect the order will have on the outlets, which are typically funded two years in advance by Congress in order to protect them from political influence.
Last Month, Paula Kerger, PBS’s CEO and president, warned that cuts in funding would “disrupt the essential service” of the outlet.
It has also been reported that the White House has asked Congress to rescind funding for the CPB, a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967 that is responsible for administering the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting.
‘Alarming deterioration in press freedom’
As part of a broad campaign to cut federal spending, Trump has cut hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to artists, libraries, museums and theatres since taking office in January. He has also threatened to withhold federal research and education funds from universities.
Media has been a significant target. In March, Trump sought to dismantle the US Agency for Global Media, including Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
However, federal courts called out the administration, saying that in it was overstepping its authority in seeking to hold back funds appropriated by Congress.
Critics slammed the bid to shutter the outlets, which broadcast in many foreign states with authoritarian regimes that suppress media freedom, as a gift to US enemies.
However, concerns over media independence in the US are rising since Trump returned to the White House.
Media rights watchdog RSF warned in its annual report published on Friday of “an alarming deterioration in press freedom” in the US under Trump and “unprecedented” difficulties for independent journalists around the world.
Aside from physical attacks, the media rights watchdog noted that “economic pressure” has become a major and “insidious problem” threatening journalism.