NPR (National Public Radio) and PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) are nonprofit American public media organizations that provide educational, cultural, and news content to the public. NPR is a public radio network founded in 1970 that distributes news and cultural programming to over 1,000 member radio stations nationwide. It is known for flagship programs like Morning Edition and All Things Considered. NPR is funded through a combination of membership dues from its stations, corporate underwriting, and grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a federally funded nonprofit created by Congress. NPR operates independently of government control and has full editorial control over its content
. PBS is a public television network established in 1969, distributing educational and cultural programming through more than 330 member television stations. It is recognized for programs such as PBS NewsHour , Frontline , Sesame Street , and Nova. PBS receives about 15% of its funding from federal sources via the CPB, with the rest coming from member stations and private contributions
. Both NPR and PBS have historically received partial funding from the federal government through the CPB, which was created by the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 to support public media. However, federal funding constitutes a relatively small portion of their overall budgets-approximately 1% of NPR's revenue and about 15% of PBS's revenue
. Recently, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at ending federal funding to NPR and PBS, citing concerns about bias and partisanship in their programming. This move directs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to stop funding these organizations and prohibits federal agencies from providing direct or indirect financial support to them. NPR and PBS have announced plans to legally challenge this order
. In summary, NPR and PBS are key public media institutions in the U.S., providing news, educational, and cultural programming funded by a mix of public and private sources, with some federal support historically provided through the CPB