Trusty Backs Rescission of CPB's Advance Federal Funding

CPB has played a “long-standing role … in supporting educational and cultural programming across the country, particularly in rural and underserved areas,” Trusty said. But it's “not unreasonable for taxpayers to expect transparency, accountability, and balance from any outlet receiving federal support. Nor is it unreasonable for Congress to reassess whether public funding models established in a different media era remain justified today, especially when Americans have more access to more content from more sources than ever before.”

CPB’s loss of advance funding “does not signal the end of public media. Instead, it presents an opportunity for innovation, partnerships, and more localized decision-making,” Trusty said. “As a regulator, I will continue to support policies that promote access and competition in media, without presupposing that one model of funding or content creation should be immune from public scrutiny or reform.”

The National Religious Broadcasters also backed CPB’s defunding, which, CEO Troy Miller said, “is a necessary step toward a media environment that is open, fair, and free.” U.S. taxpayers “should not be compelled to fund a media ecosystem that increasingly operates as a mouthpiece for one political perspective,” Miller added. “Public broadcasting has long benefited from taxpayer dollars while excluding many voices, especially faith-based and conservative perspectives.”