NPR sues Trump administration over executive order to cut public media funding

Free press is not optional in a democracy — it is foundational. At a time when trust in American institutions is fragile and disinformation is rampant, the public’s access to independent, verified news and information is more essential than ever,

said a statement from Aspen Public Radio, CPR and KSUT

Katherine MahercEO

By basing its directives on the substance of NPR's programming, the executive order seeks to force NPR to adapt its journalistic standards and editorial choices to the preferences of the government if it is to continue to receive federal funding,

Katherine Maher, NPR's CEO, said Tuesday

These participating Colorado stations reflect the diversity of public radio across the country — we are each independent, nonprofit organizations that represent rural, mountain and urban communities and together serve every district of Colorado,

according to a statement from Aspen Public Radio, CPR and KSUT

Public broadcasting is an irreplaceable foundation of American civic life,

Maher said

PBS is considering every option, including taking legal action, to allow our organization to continue to provide essential programming and services to member stations and all Americans,

PBS spokesman Jeremy Gaines said Tuesday

Congress directly authorized and funded CPB to be a private nonprofit corporation wholly independent of the federal government,

the statement said

The White House released a document accompanying the executive order criticizing PBS and NPR’s coverage of the pandemic and Hunter Biden, among other things,

Couric said

We’re in a difficult time right now in our country around news coverage where people forget that news is news and it is not about hearing information that is reaffirming what you think you know,

Kerger said

In terms of the you know, the COVID origins, we actually did fairly extensive coverage of, you know, the various theories, including the Wuhan lab theory,

Kerger said

Unlike in 1967, when the CPB was established, today the media landscape is filled with abundant, diverse, and innovative news options,

the executive order reads

The Executive Order is a clear violation of the Constitution and the First Amendment's protections for freedom of speech and association, and freedom of the press,

NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher said in a statement

The Order targets NPR and PBS expressly because, in the President's view, their news and other content is not 'fair, accurate, or unbiased,

the complaint added

Neither entity presents a fair, accurate or unbiased portrayal of current events to tax-paying citizens,

the order declared

Peter Mandelsonambassador

We’ve lived in a fantasy created by the U.S. security guarantee, complacent that a friendly heavyweight across the water would be always there when the going gets tough,

Ambassador Peter Mandelson said during a speech at the Atlantic Council’s Washington office

We would have liked to have it at the Vatican and we were pretty set to do something like that, but the Russians didn’t want to go there, to the Vatican, so I think Geneva may be the next stop,

Kellogg said in an interview Tuesday on Fox News Channel

This is retaliatory, viewpoint-based discrimination in violation of the First Amendment,

NPR CEO Katherine Maher said in a statement

The intent could not be more clear – the executive order aims to punish NPR for the content of news and other programming the president dislikes,

NPR CEO Katherine Maher said in a Tuesday statement

This is retaliatory, viewpoint-based discrimination in violation of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court has ruled numerous times over the past 80 years that the government does not have the right to determine what counts as 'biased.' NPR will never agree to this infringement of our constitutional rights, or the constitutional rights of our Member stations, and NPR will not compromise our commitment to an independent free press and journalistic integrity."

Katherine Maher, CEO of NPR, in a statement on Tuesday

I think the lawsuit lacks substance and teeth and is most likely for press purposes. ... I believe with the current case law this lawsuit is ripe for a motion to dismiss,

Cohen said

Antonin Scaliajustice

Frequently an issue of this sort will come before the Court clad, so to speak, in sheep's clothing: the potential of the asserted principle to effect important change in the equilibrium of power is not immediately evident, and must be discerned by a careful and perceptive analysis,

Scalia wrote in his dissent