NPR CEO Katherine Maher on GOP Attacks, Editorial Criticisms & Digital Evolution

For the past five decades, every Republican president except Gerald Ford has tried to cut funding for public media. But it has never dealt with a moment like this. The Trump administration is attacking public media from every possible angle. His executive order demanded the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and all executive agencies halt all funding for NPR and PBS; the FCC is investigating NPR and PBS’s corporate underwriting; and this week, the House is expected to take up a rescissions package that would claw back all federal funding for NPR and PBS. Katherine Maher, the CEO of NPR, is fighting back. On May 27th, NPR and three Colorado member stations filed a suit challenging the president’s executive order. (PBS followed suit a few days later.) Suing the president is, obviously, an uncomfortable position for a media organization which has to cover him, But according to Maher, NPR is doing its patriotic duty to defend the First Amendment. Kara and Maher discuss the potential effects of that defunding would have on PBS, its member stations, and the communities that it serves; the criticisms of NPR and Maher herself has received, from conservatives, on one hand, and some journalists, on the other; and her approach to innovation within NPR. Questions? Comments? Email us at [e-mail] or find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices