President Trump's new head of the Federal Communications Commission has ordered an investigation of NPR and PBS, with an eye toward unraveling federal funding for all public broadcasting.
"I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials," wrote on Wednesday to the presidents and chief executives of NPR and PBS, Katherine Maher and Paula A. Kerger, respectively. "In particular, it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements."
The FCC does not directly regulate the two networks. Instead, it evaluates the actions of roughly 1,500 public broadcasting stations across the country, which hold licenses granted by the FCC for use of public airwaves for radio and television, even in the digital age.
Public broadcasting stations are prohibited from running commercials. Instead they present what are considered corporate underwriting spots, which are supposed to stop shy of a "call to action" telling listeners and viewers to buy a product or service.
Both CEOs rejected the claim that the public broadcasters had violated federal laws or practices that stretch back decades.
"PBS is proud of the noncommercial educational programming we provide to all Americans through our member stations," Kerger said in a statement shared with NPR. "We work diligently to comply with the FCC's underwriting regulations and welcome the opportunity to demonstrate that to the Commission."
, Maher said NPR's corporate sponsorship credits and programs complied with federal regulations and FCC guidelines.
"We are confident any review of our programming and underwriting practices will confirm NPR's adherence to these rules," Maher stated. "We have worked for decades with the FCC in support of noncommercial educational broadcasters who provide essential information, educational programming, and emergency alerts to local communities across the United States."
Reviving debate about public funding
Carr noted in his letter that he was sharing it with lawmakers on Capitol Hill because he thought it could inform their debate over whether to cut off all taxpayer subsidies of NPR and PBS programming.
"For my own part, I do not see a reason why Congress should continue sending taxpayer dollars to NPR and PBS given the changes in the media marketplace," Carr wrote. He argued that any sign that taxpayer dollars are supporting a broadcaster running what are effectively commercials further undermines the case to send federal dollars to public broadcasters.
In a statement, FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, a Democratic appointee, said Carr's announcement was a source of "serious concern."
"Public television and radio stations play a significant role in our media ecosystem," Starks said. "Any attempt to intimidate these local media outlets is a threat to the free flow of information and the marketplace of ideas."
Carr's letter fits into Trump's calls for the end of public funding for NPR and for PBS and into the president's broader rhetorical onslaught against media outlets.
"There's no reason to believe there are significant or widespread violations of Section 399b of the Communications Act, as referred to in the letter, or of FCC guidelines adopted under that law," says Andrew Jay Schwartzman, a public interest media lawyer who has represented consumer groups before the agency. "It leads me to conclude it's much more of a scare tactic than the identification of a genuine problem."
Reinstating inquiries of other major networks
The FCC chair under former President Joe Biden, Jessica Rosenworcel, cited free speech principles in dismissing complaints earlier this month against local stations owned by three TV networks: CBS, NBC and Fox. Last week, Carr reinstated the complaints filed by a Trump-affiliated group against CBS and NBC for their treatment of the presidential campaign. He left untouched the dismissal of the one focusing on a Fox station owned by conservative media magnate Rupert Murdoch.
Underwriting has been an increasingly important part of public broadcasting finances in recent decades as federal and state governments have pulled back from such funding. On average, NPR receives about 1 percent of its funding directly from the federal government each year, according to publicly available materials. PBS receives 16 percent, according to a network spokesperson.
On average, NPR's member stations get 10% of their funds from the U.S.-chartered Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Rural stations are generally among the most dependent on such federal largesse. As a result, public broadcasting has often enjoyed bipartisan support.
Trump has used the conservative Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 as an informal blueprint for his second administration, nominating one of its co-authors as his budget chief. The section on public broadcasting called for the elimination of all federal funding.
"The next conservative President must finally get this done and do it despite opposition from congressional members of his own party if necessary," "To stop public funding is good policy and good politics."
In his first term, Trump r.
"There's an internal inconsistency with complaining about underwriting paying for public broadcasting and simultaneously objecting to public funding," Schwartzman adds. "There's an illogic to those two positions unless you don't really want the nation's audiences served by public broadcasting at all."
Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp and Managing Editor Vickie Walton-James. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.
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