Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA-07), Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology and Congressmen Dan Goldman (D-NY-10) and Mark Amodei (R-NV-02), Co-Chairs of the Public Broadcasting Caucus led a group of 19 lawmakers in a letter toFederal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr, emphasizing the importance of federal funding for public radio and television. The letter highlighted how such funding preserves local communities’ access to vital public safety alerts, trusted news, and educational information.
Public Broadcasting has longstanding bipartisan support due to these essential roles. In states such as Alaska, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Texas, rural public radio stations are often the only weekly or daily news source in their communities.
On January 29th, Chairman Carr sent a letter to the heads of both National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) informing them that he was launching a probe into both of their underwriting practices. In that letter he stated that “I do not see a reason why Congress should continue sending taxpayer dollars to NPR and PBS given the changes in the media marketplace.” However, the letter presented no evidence of wrongdoing or deviation from their longstanding sponsorship disclosure practices. Since then, follow-up letters have been sent to 13 public radio stations.
“We respectfully disagree that Congress should stop funding NPR and PBS,” wrote the lawmakers. “Without federal support for public broadcasting, many localities would struggle to receive timely, reliable local news and educational content, particularly remote or rural communities that commercial newsrooms are less likely to invest in. […] Additionally, public media plays an essential role in providing lifesaving information, including emergency alerts, in times of crisis.”
During catastrophic events like Hurricanes Helene and Milton, as well as various California wildfires, public media was a critical resource to get out essential public safety coverage. Public media has also been crucial for children and families, averaging 16 million monthly users and more than 350 million monthly streams across digital platforms on their educational content.
“We must ensure that Americans continue to have access to important public broadcasting programs and services. This includes preserving public broadcast stations’ federal funding and their longstanding, legitimate underwriting practices,” the lawmakers concluded.
Congresswoman Matsui has been a long-time supporter of public media and a free and open press. Earlier this month, she introduced the Broadcast Freedom and Independence Act, legislation that would prohibit the FCC from revoking broadcast licenses or taking action against broadcasters based on the viewpoints they broadcast.
Full text of the letter can be found below or HERE.
Dear Chairman Carr,
We write to express our support for public broadcasting and its vital role in delivering quality educational and informational programs to local communities across the country. As members of the bipartisan Public Broadcasting Caucus (“Caucus”), we see firsthand the valuable services that public broadcasting provides for our districts and across the nation. These range from public safety information to local news, children’s educational content, and in-depth workforce training courses.
In January, you wrote to the presidents and chief executives of National Public Radio (“NPR”) and Public Broadcasting Service (“PBS”), signaling that you have asked the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau to open an investigation regarding underwriting practices at PBS, NPR, and their broadcast member stations. You also wrote that you personally “do not see a reason why Congress should continue sending taxpayer dollars to NPR and PBS given the changes in the media marketplace.”
We respectfully disagree that Congress should stop funding NPR and PBS. Since its founding almost 25 years ago, our Caucus reflects the longstanding bipartisan nature of public support for federal funding of public broadcasting. Today, this mission remains as critical as ever. More than half of U.S. counties have little to no locally based source of local news, and over 200 counties are news deserts.
The vast majority of federal funding for public radio and television goes directly to individual stations, with Community Service Grants accounting for at least 25 percent of revenue for 120 rural stations (almost half of all rural grantees) and at least 50 percent for 33 rural stations. Stations are able to build on this federal investment to raise non-federal funds to help sustain their local broadcasting services, representing a return of over $3.70 for every appropriated dollar for rural stations and about $7 when also accounting for nonrural stations.
Without federal support for public broadcasting, many localities would struggle to receive timely, reliable local news and educational content, particularly remote or rural communities that commercial newsrooms are less likely to invest in. In states such as Alaska, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Texas, rural public radio stations are often the only weekly or daily news source in their communities. Even in places with other daily or weekly news sources, those outlets may not be directing resources toward original or locally based stories, leaving it to public stations to fill the gap.
Additionally, public media plays an essential role in providing lifesaving information, including emergency alerts, in times of crisis. During Hurricanes Helene and Milton, even as many other news sources lost power and internet, Blue Ridge Public Radio remained online in the Asheville, North Carolina area and delivered hourly local updates and statements from public officials to the over 500,000 people impacted by power outages in the region. In Florida, a network of 14 public media stations across the state began coverage of Hurricane Helene a week before its major landfall, granting residents direct access to real-time weather alerts and updates across all platforms and apps. Similarly, during the 2017 Northern California Wildfires, local public radio outlets combined office space to streamline information released by public officials and maximize their ability to get essential public safety coverage across the region.
Public broadcasting networks also support educational content that parents nationwide rely on to help their children learn, averaging 16 million monthly users and more than 350 million monthly streams across digital platforms. This is particularly true for low-income families, as PBS stations reach more children from those households than any of the children’s cable television networks in one year. In 2025, PBS Kids was named the most educational media brand, with 63 percent of respondents voting for PBS Kids compared to other television or online platforms. Local stations like PBS Reno offer a “Curiosity Classroom” service that provides free STEM, literacy-based workshops, specifically designed for Pre-K through fourth grade classrooms, to communities in northern Nevada and northeastern California. It is little wonder that 90 percent of the parents surveyed said PBS Kids helps prepare children for success in school, and 82 percent of voters, including 72 percent of President Trump’s voters, value PBS for its children’s programming and educational tools.
We must ensure that Americans continue to have access to important public broadcasting programs and services. This includes preserving public broadcast stations’ federal funding and their longstanding, legitimate underwriting practices. In 1981, Congress specifically amended our public broadcasting rules to relax prior restrictions upon public broadcasters’ fundraising activities, to ensure that public media could better leverage nongovernment funding as an exchange for reducing federal funding. It is critical that the FCC does not chill legitimate underwriting practices that are compliant with its underwriting rules. Our public media must be able to remain financially viable to provide critical news and educational information to their communities.
We appreciate your attention to this important issue and request a briefing by April 4, 2025 on how the FCC plans to ensure that any investigation does not undercut public media’s role in providing important services to their local communities.
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