The fundraising arms of PBS and NPR were already on the defensive over challenges to their overwhelmingly biased reporting on the taxpayers’ dime. Now comes President Trump’s executive order Thursday night cutting taxpayer funding of PBS and NPR. The text of the order was posted on the Trump team’s “Rapid Response 47” account on X.
Before that storm broke, both outlets took advantage of the latest “Public Media Giving Days” (they need two?) to release pleading emails on early Thursday afternoon, stressing different angles while asking the public to give generously. As if the public doesn't do that already, to the tune of over half a billion dollars a year to PBS and NPR via the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, at least for now.
The PBS email subject line fostered a sense of panic: “Urgent: PBS funding threats,” was signed by Alyson Brokenshire, identified as "PBS News Hour Principal and Major Gifts.”
Dear Friend,
We’re at a pivotal moment. Public media is facing intensifying threats to federal funding, which makes up 35% of PBS News Hour’s annual budget through direct federal appropriations and indirect PBS station contributions.
The stakes are high. If federal funding is eliminated, the consequences for PBS News Hour could be significant. At a time when public media is more essential than ever, your donation doubled will help us navigate the uncertainty ahead.
That’s why the 3rd annual Public Media Giving Days -- May 1 and 2 -- are especially important this year. This nationwide campaign is a chance for friends like you to stand up for the essential services that public media stations and programs like PBS News Hour provide in communities across the country.
Brokenshire promised "integrity." Did she not dare to claim "objectivity," given PBS's clearly liberal skew?
We’re committed to bringing you journalism with integrity. But with the mounting threats to federal funding, we’re concerned about our future.
By contrast, the NPR email subject line laid down a mild guilt trip – do something for us, after all we’ve done for you! “On Public Media Giving Days, Give Back.”
NPR's emphasis was on local reporting.
It's Public Media Giving Days! As calls to defund public media get louder, we ask you to join people all around the country in reflecting on all that public media adds to your life.
The NPR Network is a vital piece of the public media ecosystem. We provide:
- Independent, local journalism: Across the NPR Network, over 3,000 local journalists live and work in the communities they serve.
- Full, free access to fact-based reporting: With rising paywalls and closing news services, fewer media outlets provide high-quality information to those who can’t pay. We are a vital lifeline, leveraging our newsrooms in all 50 states to make our coverage available to nearly 99% of the U.S. population–free of charge.
- Eye-opening conversations about local arts, culture and music: We aim to reflect the whole human experience through its reporting on artistic expression and entertainment–from beloved cultural traditions to new work by hometown artists.
This is actually the third annual “Days” pitch, a puzzlingly plural phenomenon which resulted in awkward headlines this year like “Public Media Giving Days is Today.” (Apparently Sesame Street can’t teach you everything.)
