Corporation for Public Broadcasting says it is beginning to shut down

The Guardian  -   The nonprofit charged by Congress with allocating funds to NPR, PBS and other US public radio and television stations announced is dissolving after massive federal funding cuts under Donald Trump.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced on Monday that its board of directors had voted to dissolve the organization after nearly 60 years in operation.

Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of CPB, said in a statement Monday that the organization’s board of directors voted to dissolve the organization as it “faced a profound responsibility”.

She added: “CPB’s final act would be to protect the integrity of the public media system and the democratic values by dissolving, rather than allowing the organization to remain defunded and vulnerable to additional attack.”

The organization was created by the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, which built the organization to support NPR and PBS, along with 1,500 locally owned and operated public media stations. The organization was tasked with distributing $500m worth of funding annually to NPR, PBS and its network of local broadcast stations.

The Hill  -   “Despite the extraordinary efforts of millions of Americans who called, wrote, and petitioned Congress to preserve federal funding for CPB, we now face the difficult reality of closing our operations,” CPB President Patricia Harrison said in a statement.

“CPB remains committed to fulfilling its fiduciary responsibilities and supporting our partners through this transition with transparency and care,” her statement continued.

The CPB cited legislation passed by Republicans last month that yanked back two years’ of advanced funding at the request of President Trump, amounting to a clawback of more than $1 billion for fiscal 2026 and 2027. 

It also pointed to a lack of funding for the CPB in an annual funding bill advanced by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday, saying it was the first time in more than five decades the funding had been left out.