Trump cuts public media funding, prompting concerns over liberal bias
- Donald Trump cuts $535 million in federal funding for NPR and PBS.
- Concerns raised about increased liberal bias without public funding.
- Critics advocate for reforms in public media accountability.
In 2025, Donald Trump moved forward with his plan to eliminate federal funding for public media, cutting $535 million that supported National Public Radio (NPR) and PBS. This decision comes as a result of long-standing accusations that these public media outlets have shown biases in their coverage, particularly leaning towards liberal narratives. Several entities have already provided financial support to these media outlets in various capacities, which raises questions about the influence of private donors on journalistic integrity. Critics suggest that without federal funding, there could be further bias in favor of liberal viewpoints as wealthy donors could dominate the narrative. The push to defund public broadcasting has connections back to 2017 when Trump first expressed his intent to eliminate support for PBS and NPR. His actions follow a pattern of responses to perceived bias against his administration in media representations. Notably, Trump tied this funding cut to character parodies from the children's educational program