Trump Executive Order To Impact Rhode Island Public TV, Radio Stations

RHODE ISLAND — National Public Radio and PBS television stations in Rhode Island will no longer receive federal funding under an executive order signed late Thursday by President Donald Trump to stop what he called “biased and partisan news coverage.”

Rhode Island Public Radio (also known as The Public's Radio) broadcasts in Rhode Island on WNPN 89.3 FM in Newport-Tiverton. It also has several other signal repeater stations at WNPE 102.7 FM at Narragansett Pier, WPVD 1290 AM and W275DA 102.9 FM in Providence, WNPH 90.7 FM in Portsmouth, and 89.5 FM WNPW in Westerly. The network is also working at starting 91.9 FM WNPK on Block Island.

Rhode Island PBS recently merged with The Public's Radio.

The executive order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies “to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS” and further requires that they work to root out indirect sources of public financing for the news organizations.

" Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence," the executive order says.

The White House, in a social media posting announcing the signing, said the outlets “receive millions from taxpayers to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as 'news.'”

The broadcasters get roughly half a billion dollars in public money through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and have been preparing for the possibility of stiff cuts since Trump's election, as Republicans have long complained about them.

In Rhode Island, the radio network said about 6 percent of its funding comes from the CPR. Rhode Island PBS gets about 9 percent of its funding from the CPR.

Paula Kerger, PBS’ CEO and president, said in a statement last month that the Trump administration’s effort to rescind funding for public media would “disrupt the essential service PBS and local member stations provide to the American people.”

“There’s nothing more American than PBS, and our work is only possible because of the bipartisan support we have always received from Congress,” she said. “This public-private partnership allows us to help prepare millions of children for success in school and in life and also supports enriching and inspiring programs of the highest quality.”

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting sued Trump earlier this week over his move to fire three members of its five-person board, contending that the president was exceeding his authority and that the move would deprive the board of a quorum needed to conduct business.

Just two weeks ago, the White House said it would be asking Congress to rescind funding for the CPB as part of a $9.1 billion package of cuts. That package, however, which budget director Russell Vought said would likely be the first of several, has not yet been sent to Capitol Hill.

The move against PBS and NPR comes as his administration has been working to dismantle the U.S. Agency for Global Media, including Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which were designed to model independent news gathering globally in societies that restrict the press.

Those efforts have faced pushback from federal courts, who have ruled in some cases that the Trump administration may have overstepped its authority in holding back funds appropriated to the outlets by Congress.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.