The company announced in August that it would begin an “orderly wind down of its operations” after Congress withdrew $1.1 billion in appropriated funds.
Public Broadcasting Corporation to close due to funding cuts
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting will be shut down after Congress provides $1 billion in funding.
- Congress stripped NPR and PBS of more than $1 billion in funding in July after President Donald Trump said both NPR and PBS “present fair, accurate, or unbiased representations” of news.
- The corporation said it would distribute the remaining funds and support archival efforts.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced on January 5 that its board of directors had voted to dissolve the nearly 60-year-old organization, citing a lack of federal funding and “sustained political attacks.”
According to a news release announcing the results of the vote, these factors “made it impossible for CPB to continue to operate as intended by the Public Broadcasting Act.”
A 1967 law established the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as a non-profit, non-governmental organization tasked in part with developing “programming of high quality, diversity, creativity, excellence and innovation,” with “strict observance of objectivity and balance in all programs or series of programs of a controversial nature.”
For decades, programming aired on PBS with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting included children’s programs such as Sesame Street, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, and Arthur. Cooking shows featuring celebrities such as Julia Child. FRONTLINE documentary. Science programs like NOVA. And a masterpiece drama. Federal funding also supported public alert systems that alert viewers and public radio listeners to impending danger.
President Donald Trump has called on the federal government to cut funding to National Public Radio and PBS, which receive operating funds from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. President Trump claimed that “neither organization provides a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpayers.”
Congress voted in July to take back $1.1 billion earmarked for the public broadcaster over the next two years, and the company announced the next month it would begin an “orderly winddown.”
Employees at the organization were told on August 1 that most of its approximately 100 staff positions would be cut by the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Some staff will remain until January 2026 to “ensure a responsible and orderly closure,” the company said in a news release.
The corporation said more than 70 percent of the federal funds went to local public media outlets. PBS supporters previously told USA TODAY that the budget cuts would disproportionately impact rural areas.
Patricia Harrison, the company’s president and CEO, praised the service it has provided to Americans “regardless of geography, income, or background” for decades in a statement on January 5.
“With the administration and Congress revoking federal funding, our board faced a significant responsibility. CPB’s ultimate action will be to protect the integrity of our public media system and our democratic values by dissolving the organization rather than cutting off funding and leaving it vulnerable to additional attacks,” Harrison said.
Ruby Calvert, president of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, said recent events were “devastating” for public media.
“But even in this moment, I am confident that public media will survive and that the new Congress will address the role of public media in our country, because doing so is critical to the education of our children, to our history, to our culture, and to our democracy,” Calvert said.
The corporation said its “orderly closure” would include distributing remaining funds and assisting the Archives of American Public Broadcasting in its efforts to preserve “historic content.” Additionally, the company added that it has partnered with the University of Maryland to maintain its own archives, which will be made available to the public.
Breanna Frank is USA TODAY’s First Amendment reporter. please contact her bjfrank@usatoday.com.
USA TODAY’s coverage of First Amendment issues is funded by the Freedom Forum in collaboration with our journalism funding partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.
