Support Public Media and Its Essential Role in American Democracy

I am writing to express my strong support for the continued funding and independence of PBS, NPR, and the public media system as a whole. As the current discussions in Congress threaten the future of public broadcasting, I urge you to consider the invaluable service that public media provides to millions of Americans—particularly in rural and underserved communities. Public media is one of the most effective investments in civic education, cultural enrichment, and fact-based journalism that our government makes. It serves as a trusted source of information, offering programming that is free from commercial influence, widely accessible, and dedicated to public service rather than profit. While critics have claimed bias, public media maintains rigorous editorial standards and provides an essential counterbalance to the increasingly polarized landscape of commercial news. The impact of PBS and NPR extends far beyond political discourse. PBS is a leader in educational programming, offering high-quality content such as Sesame Street, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, and PBS NewsHour, which have educated and informed generations of Americans. NPR and its member stations provide local, national, and international reporting that reaches communities where private media outlets have either scaled back or disappeared entirely. Moreover, the claim that public media is a burden on taxpayers is misleading. The federal allocation to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) amounts to approximately $500 million annually—just a fraction of the federal budget. NPR receives only about 1% of its funding directly from the government, while PBS stations rely on around 16% in federal funds. For smaller, local stations that serve as lifelines for their communities, these funds are critical. Removing them would disproportionately impact rural areas, where public media is often the only available source of in-depth news, educational content, and emergency broadcasting services. The attack on public media as “biased” is part of a broader effort to undermine independent journalism. Defunding NPR and PBS would not make the media landscape more balanced—it would make it more vulnerable to corporate and partisan influence. The strength of American democracy relies on a well-informed citizenry, and public media plays an essential role in ensuring that access to accurate information is not dictated by wealth or ideology. I urge you to reject any effort to strip funding from PBS and NPR. Instead, we should strengthen and support public media as a pillar of free expression, civic engagement, and national unity. Thank you for your time and consideration.