EUGENE, Ore. – President Donald Trump wants to defund National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, also known as NPR and PBS.
CEOs with both organizations appeared at a DOGE subcommittee hearing on Wednesday where its chairwoman, Marjorie Taylor Greene, called NPR and PBS “radical left-wing echo chambers.” Greene called for a dismantling of the “Corporation for Public Broadcasting,” the entity that disburses funds to local NPR and PBS stations. KLCC, a Eugene-based NPR member station shared their thoughts on the situation.
“The proposed cutbacks are happening at a time where journalism is in a sad state,” said Jim Rondeau, KLCC’s general manager, “where we are seeing newspapers closing. Even here in Oregon, we're seeing newspapers go dark. So, for our part in the last five years, we've been heavily investing in local news and public affairs.”
Rondeau said he hopes to see KLCC’s continued association with NPR in terms of not only providing national content but also contributing local voices to the national conversation, as well.
“We'd love to continue our association with NPR in a way that allows us to not only provide the national coverage to NPR,” said Rondeau, “but also to contribute our local voices to the national conversation as well, and all of that is sort of in limbo not knowing what the funding is going to look at.”
The funding bill passed by Congress and signed into law by Trump earlier this month includes $535 million for CPB. Congress budgets money for CPB two years in advance, so that means public broadcasting is funded through 2027.
