NPR is the very liberal-leaning radio station that, like Sesame Street, is partially funded by the government. Rumor has it that President Trump plans on defunding NPR when his new budget is released.
Currently, NPR receives funding via the “Corporation for Public Broadcasting” or CPB, which is allocated $445 million annually to dole out to assorted media channels.
From Washington Free Beacon
Defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, an idea floated by the Trump administration, would likely take two years to go into effect.
The funding for CPB, which receives roughly $450 million a year for public television and public radio, is allotted two years in advance. Any appropriations bill that did not include new funding for the CPB would mean that it would not be defunded until fiscal year 2019.
President Donald Trump is expected to release his budget blueprint on Monday. Transition officials have signaled that the president plans dramatic cuts, including privatizing the CPB and eliminating both the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities.
The move would cut funding to National Public Radio, widely considered liberal- leaning, which recently failed to disclose during an interview with Trump-bashing former CIA analyst Ned Price that he was a Hillary Clinton donor. NPR claims federal funding is “essential,” even though it also acknowledges that on average “less than 1 percent” of its annual operating budget comes from grants from the CPB.
Exact funding that NPR receives from the taxpayer is unclear. The CPB allots $99.1 million of its $445 million budget to public radio in the form of grants. Roughly $69 million are “unrestricted” grants for producing local content and covering station costs, and $22.8 million are “restricted,” which are used to acquire and produce programming that is distributed nationally.
NPR said it received $1.272 million in CPB competitive grants in fiscal year 2015 and $65,000 from federal agencies. The nonprofit listed total assets of $344.2 million.
The CPB, however, lists $1.6 million in station grants to NPR for 2015. NPR also operates the Public Radio Satellite System (PRSS), an interconnected system of over 1,500 local stations.
In 2014, the CPB issued 410 grants to 1,119 public radio stations. Grants included partnering a local radio station with the Environmental Protection Agency and church youth groups for an anti-littering campaign, and a “transgender awareness” program in Delaware.
In addition, since 2012 NPR has received $891,504 in grants and contracts from various federal agencies.
