Making Sense of MAGA’s Attacks on PBS, NPR, & Public Broadcasting:

Public Broadcasting Across the Board is Under Siege. Here's Why:

Feel free to check the past Biden Era archives and follow the editions to come in the Trump Era on Substack, Medium, and LinkedIn (First Come, First Serve!).

Let me recommend one more book from former Ohio Democratic Party chair David Pepper. It’s called Laboratories of Autocracy. Check out his other books as well if you have the time.

Via anamericanviewofbritishsciencefiction.com

How could I begin this post today without commenting on the Trump-Vance blowup in the Oval Office? All we need to know about what happened yesterday is that the Russians and Putin are in full celebration mode over Trump’s total sellout of Ukraine. If you don’t believe me, check out Dmitri Medvedev’s (the former puppet President between Putin’s multiple terms) tweet: “the insolent pig finally got a proper slapdown in the Oval Office. And

@realDonaldTrump

is right: The Kiev regime is ‘gambling with WWIII.’”

By the way, how did a Russian state media reporter gain entry to the Oval Office for the Trump-Vance blowout when Reuters and AP can’t? Again, I ask: what does Vladimir Putin have on Donald Trump?

Biden was the one who gave the essential money and military aid to Ukraine, preventing Russia from overrunning a free and sovereign country. Trump is attempting to give away Ukraine and destroy a bulwark against Russian aggression.

And before the main thing, let me summarize everything that has happened this week (all of which and more shows exactly why you need fact checkers like CNN’s Daniel Dale regularly):

• Unemployment claims have spiked with rising inflation and the civil service purge

• House Republicans advance a draconian budget plan endorsed by Donald Trump for more top-down tax cuts and budget austerity (meaning, cuts to essential government services)

• The GOP budget will inflict massive pain especially on the majority of working class households earning less than $50,000 who voted for Trump in 2024

• Co-President Elon Musk was the main attraction and first speaker in the first Trump Cabinet meeting

• Elon Musk also got a FAA contract for (his company) Starlink from the Trump Administration (conflict of interest?)

• Private mercenary groups may now be responsible for mass deportations.

• 21 DOGE officials quit from the agency in protest of Musk’s civil servant purge (the true goal behind the lie of “finding waste, fraud, and abuse”)

• NOAA employees and forest firefighters are now under the ambush of Musk’s chainsaw

• Donald Trump Jr.’s friend will be running the food regulation program at the FDA

  

• The measles outbreak has now turned deadly in Texas, and is rapidly spreading across the country. “Where have you gone Bobby Kennedy, / Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you”

  

• Trump unveiled a garrish AI video confirming his plans to convert Gaza into real estate

• Trump is threatening to sue journalists who use anonymous sources

• Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin baselessly accuses his own state’s colleges of misusing federal grants. Way to show some pride in your educational institutions

• Wealthy foreign elites can potentially get a gold card visa to come to the United States, including Russian oligarchs

That’s right. It’s the oligarchy, stupid.

And Democrats have to fight back at it hard.

Part of it must start with defending public broadcasting. The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) was created by Lyndon B. Johnson and passed into law by the Democratic Congress during the height of the Great Society. It is one of those programs—whether from FDR’s time or LBJ’s—that we in the past have greatly cherished and yet don’t appreciate nowadays. Unless, of course, you really look into their origins and what they were designed to do.

The National Public Radio (NPR) was established at roughly the same time (though it actually first aired segments in 1970, under the shadow of the Nixon Presidency).

We see its impacts today. One, for journalism. Public broadcasting, like with Voice of America, has ensured the transmission of information and investigative reporting across the world. PBS NewsHour is an example of that exceptional, and pretty balanced, reporting on the national level, especially thanks to anchors and widely-respected correspondents like Judy Woodruff and Jim Lehrer, some of whom have even moderated presidential debates.

In Rhode Island, as in other local communities, public broadcasting journalism is crucial, from RI PBS’s A Lively Experiment and State of the State, to Public Radio reports from longtime journalist Ian Donnis. They provide a basis for a civil dialogue about the issues, and they avoid the ratings-driven coverage to provide real substance.

But journalism is not all there is to public broadcasting. Many children’s shows have originated on PBS, like Sesame Street, Thomas & Friends, and Curious George. Other popular programs came and still come through public broadcasting, such as Frontline, Rick Steves Europe, Firing Line, Bob Ross’s The Joy of Painting, The French Chef, Arthur, and much more. Our own local PBS hosts trivia shows like Rhode Island’s high school quiz show competitions.

The model of PBS and NPR is not only one that most people hardly ever complain about. It is a model people have lavished praise on throughout the decades.

Which is why Donald Trump’s attacks on PBS and NPR ought to scare everyone. This is more than just government spending.

The benefits of public broadcasting far outweigh the costs of spending—whether for child development, education, cultural awareness, emergency notifications, civic engagement, entertainment, and knowledge generally. The studies and findings on such are unquestionable. The contributions of public broadcasting are real.

That serves as an obstacle to Donald Trump, who demands unwavering loyalty and submission to him and him only. Independent institutions like PBS and NPR are threats to that as government watchdogs, not vulnerable to the corporate bullying and fanfare that exists in other corners of the media.

Again, PBS and NPR are places of safety from the reach of the oligarchs. And that function of public broadcasting—combined with its mission and its role in our history—is one that undermines Trump’s vision of authoritarianism and kleptocracy (government of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich). Why? Because it relies on turning a blind eye to reality and distracting people with misinformation. Which is what you get on Russian-style, practically state-run propaganda outlets like Newsmax and One America News.

And so, it is why Trump’s FCC chief is investigating NPR & PBS in hopes of revoking federal funding to them. It is why PBS & NPR are both in the crosshairs of Project 2025, which would dismantle all of their contributions to society.

Sure, many things could be run better anywhere. But that is not why Trump is targeting PBS and NPR. Let’s make this clear: the costs of dismantling entire institutions are enormous and carry much more risk than they do assets.

This retribution will hurt rural areas a lot more than most people think. That I can tell you for certain. They are already experiencing quite startling news deserts.

Then combine that with the effects of the USAID attacks on the farmers who will lose a lot from that agency shutting down operations—and letting go to waste all the food that we send overseas to drive profits at home and feed the hungry abroad, and you’ve got a double, triple, quadruple whammy to Rural America.

But on top of all that, dictatorial/authoritarian regimes like Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, Belarus, & Hungary will be celebrating this just like they celebrated the attacks on USAID and PEPFAR. We are turning away from being a model democracy and republic by intimidating and controlling the press.

Democrats have a job to save public broadcasting for the betterment of all of us as a collective society.

With that, two more 2026 endorsements:

Josh Shapiro for Governor (Pennsylvania)

Tony Evers for Governor (Wisconsin)