The White House accuses the outlets for the use of public funds to publish “wake up propaganda” with the expiry of freedom in the media.
President Donald Trump has signed executive support to reduce support for two public broadcasters in the United States.
Trump issued an order to stop federal funding to PBS and NPR late Thursday, accusing them of biased reports and publishing “left” propaganda.
The matter is the last attempt by the American president Stopping government funding for the media He is considered unobstructed for his administration. This comes at a time when correspondents are not limited (RSF) of “a worrying deterioration in the freedom of the press.”
In a post on social media, the White House accused the outlets of receiving millions of taxpayers “to spread the radicals, and to disguise it as” news “.
Trump directed the Public Broadcasting Corporation (CPB), which distributes government funding to the media, to “cancel the current direct financing to the maximum extent permitted by law and … decline … future financing.”
He also called for clarifying the sources of indirect general financing for news organizations, which is offered to be present in the future.
According to reports, the CPB PBS and NPR provides approximately half a billion dollars in financing annually, but they also rely heavily on special donations.
It is not clear how much the immediate impact that the matter will have on the ports, which is usually funded two years ago by Congress in order to protect them from the political influence.
Last month, Paula Kerger, CEO of PBS and its president, warned that the financing cuts would “disrupt the basic service” of the port.
It was also reported that the White House asked Congress to cancel CPB financing, a private non -profit company established by Congress in 1967 responsible for the Federal Government Investment Department in the public broadcasting.
“A worrying deterioration in the freedom of the press”
As part of a wide campaign to reduce federal spending, Trump has cut hundreds of millions of dollars from funding for artists, libraries, museums and theaters since he took office in January. He also threatened to block federal research and education funds from universities.
The media was an important goal. In March, Trump sought to dismantle the US Agency for Global Information, including America’s voice And free radio Europe/Radio Freedom.
However, federal courts called for the administration, saying that in that he was overcoming its authority to seek to curb the money allocated by Congress.
Critics criticized an attempt to close the ports, which are broadcast in many foreign countries with authoritarian regimes that suppress freedom of the media, as a gift to the enemies of the United States.
However, concerns about the independence of the media in the United States have risen since Trump returned to the White House.
In its annual report, which was published on Friday, the monitoring of the RSF media rights warned of “a disturbing deterioration in the freedom of the press” in the United States during the Trump era and “unprecedented” difficulties for independent journalists all over the world.
Regardless of material attacks, the Media Rights Control Authority noted that “economic pressure” has become a major and “treacherous” problem threatening the press.
https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AFP__20250326__37XW636__v1__HighRes__UsPoliticsMediaProtest-1746174496.jpg?resize=1920%2C1440
Source link