Well, howdy there, Internet people, it's Bell again. So today, we're going to talk about NPR and PBS as Trump closes the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. So, at Trump's direction, Republicans in Congress zeroed out funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

On the 1st of August, CPB announced that they will begin winding down operations and closing.

In a release, it said, quote,

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced today that it will begin an orderly wind-down of its operations,

following the passage of a federal recisions package, and the release of the Senate Appropriations Committee's

FY 2026, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill,

which excludes funding for CPB for the first time in more than five decades.

For nearly 60 years, CPB has carried out its congressional mission to build and sustain a trusted public media system

that informs, educates, and serves communities across the country. Through partnerships with local

stations and producers, CPB has supported educational content, locally relevant journalism, emergency communications,

cultural programming, and essential services for Americans in every community.

Now, one of the big questions arising from this news is what happens to NPR and PBS now that a source of funding

has been hit. So the first thing is to understand how the funding flowed. Funding left CPB and went to the

roughly 1,500 local stations. Then some of it flowed back up to the national offices

of NPR and PBS through dues and fees.

So, the damage to public broadcasting

will occur in a different order than you might expect.

It will first be the local stations that are hurt, while some stations in larger markets

will be able to make up the shortfalls. Those in smaller markets and rural hard-to-reach areas

won't get the support they need and they'll close. Yes, as has been the trend, the cuts initiated by MAGA are going to hurt communities

that are predominantly MAGA first. The closures, lost jobs, and damage to local economies

will almost certainly happen in red areas first, and maybe exclusively. There's a decent chance that stations in larger and medium-sized

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