Major philanthropies are rushing to provide a liberal bailout for NPR and PBS after President Donald Trump cut $1.1 billion in federal funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. According to the New York Times, “The Knight Foundation is committing $10 million to the fund, which aims to disburse the money before the end of the year.” Alongside Knight, the Ford, MacArthur, Schmidt Family, Pivotal Ventures, and Robert Wood Johnson foundations have pledged nearly $27 million through the new “Public Media Bridge Fund.”
In May, President Trump signed an executive order halting all direct and indirect federal funding to PBS and NPR. He followed up with legislation slashing $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting over the next two years. That action forced NPR to cut $8 million from its budget and PBS to reduce spending by 21 percent, with both networks preparing widespread layoffs.
NPR and PBS have long been criticized for left-wing bias while drawing over $500 million in taxpayer money annually. Now, liberal donors are stepping in with their own agenda. The Knight Foundation previously gave $5 million to launch a journalism chair at Howard University filled by Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of the controversial “1619 Project.” The MacArthur Foundation awarded $625,000 to activist Ibram X. Kendi, who claims America is “an inherently racist country.” Both MacArthur and Ford also funded HistoryMakers, where Elias Rodriguez—an anti-Israel activist later accused of murdering two Israeli embassy staffers—once worked.
