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AP Photo/Rick Scuteri
Brendan Carr, the Trump-allied chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, sent a letter this week to the heads of NPR and PBS announcing an investigation into the public outlets for airing sponsorships, a longtime practice.
Carr wrote in his Wednesday letter, “I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials. In particular, it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements.”
Katherine Maher, NPR’s chief executive, released a statement on Thursday in response, “NPR programming and underwriting messaging complies with federal regulations, including the FCC guidelines on underwriting messages for noncommercial educational broadcasters, and Member stations are expected to be in compliance as well.”
“We are confident any review of our programming and underwriting practices will confirm NPR’s adherence to these rules. 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,” she added.
Carr’s investigation comes amid President Donald Trump’s ongoing criticism of NPR and PBS. “NO MORE FUNDING FOR NPR, A TOTAL SCAM! EDITOR SAID THEY HAVE NO REPUBLICANS, AND IS ONLY USED TO ‘DAMAGE TRUMP,’” Trump fumed on his Truth Social platform last April. “THEY ARE A LIBERAL DISINFORMATION MACHINE. NOT ONE DOLLAR!!!”
Elon Musk has also taken aim at NPR in the past and called for it to be defunded. The right has long slammed any government funding for NPR and PBS, despite those numbers dropping substantially in recent years.
NPR’s David Folkenflik explained the issue behind Carr’s letter, which is unique to public media’s funding: “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.”
Carr also recently reinstated FCC complaints made against CBS and NBC by Trump-back groups. The former FCC chair under President Joe Biden had dismissed those complaints, along with one against Fox News, arguing they would have a chilling effect on free speech. Carr did not also reinstate the complaint against Fox.