Continuing Donald Trump’s attacks on press independence, newly appointed Federal Communications Commission chair Brandan Carr on Thursday ordered an investigation into sponsorships of NPR and PBS stations.
In a letter obtained by the New York Times, Carr suggested that NPR and PBS may be in violation of government rules by acknowledging major donors on-air. Carr asserted that these “announcements” — such, as say, the fact that Viking River Cruises underwrites portions of “Downton Abbey” on PBS — “[may] cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements” and thus “would further undermine any case for continuing to fund NPR and PBS with taxpayer dollars.”
Carr seeks to justify revoking funding the outlets get from the federal government, a major part of the playbook for destroying NPR and PBS laid out in Project 2025. Though Trump claimed during the election that he had no ties to the group, which seeks to radically remake U.S. government in starkly right wing, Christian and racist terms, his administration is packed with Project 2025 veterans. Including Carr, who wrote the the group’s communications document.
Katherine Maher, the chief executive of NPR, said in a statement that they have “worked for decades with the FCC in support of noncommercial educational broadcasters” and “are confident any review of our programming and underwriting practices will confirm NPR’s adherence to these rules.”
In a separate statement, PBS said it was proud of “noncommercial educational programming,” and worked “diligently to comply with the FCC’s underwriting regulations.”
Seth Stern, the director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation, told The Times that Car’s letter “tellingly goes far beyond underwriting and talks about his thoughts on whether public media should be funded at all.” He added that the letter was “troubling to read.”
Two FCC commissioners, both Democrats, have spoken out against Carr’s inquiry: Anna Gomez called it an an attempt to “weaponize the power of the FCC,”while Geoffrey Starks, also a Democrat, told the Times that it gave him “serious concern.”
In 2022, Trump called for NPR to be defunded after a senior editor publicly chastised the organization for “having an absence of diversity viewpoint,” that is to say, not enough conservative voices, on staff.
In late 2022, Carr began calling for the FCC to block TikTok, citing security issues with the Chinese-owned app. Former President Biden followed through on the ban, which has subsequently been reversed by Trump since retaking office.
TheWrap has reached out to the FCC for comment.
