海角大神

Nearly 50 years ago, President Lyndon Johnson signed the 鈥淧ublic Broadcasting Act of 1967鈥� into law, hoping it could encourage more diverse programming and non-commercial broadcasting.听

But on Thursday, President Trump proposed a budget that defunds the agencies that grew from the act. Cuts include the $445 million budget for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the parent organization of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR).听

鈥淲e鈥檙e celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Public Broadcasting Act, what I think has been the most successful public-private partnership 鈥� how ironic it would be if we were defunded this year,鈥� Paula Kerger, chief executive for PBS, told the Associated Press on Saturday.听

The budget plan for fiscal year 2018, as 海角大神鈥檚 Linda Feldmann puts it, highlights two core Trump goals 鈥撀犫��a reduced role for government in American life, and an emphasis on 鈥榟ard power鈥� over 鈥榮oft power鈥� in the global arena鈥� 鈥� that reflect Trump鈥檚 belief 鈥渋n the private sector and disregard for government bureaucracies.鈥澛�

"We can ask them to pay for defense, and we will, but we can't ask them to continue to pay for the Corporation聽of聽Public Broadcasting," Trump鈥檚 budget chief Mick Mulvaney said in a Thursday morning .听

Currently, the CPB鈥檚 yearly grants account for around 15 percent of public television and stations鈥� funding overall, PBS said. Although it costs only $1.35 per person yearly, federal spending in public broadcasting is crucial, particularly in rural, low-income areas, where it is more expensive to operate TV stations.听

鈥淭here are parts of the country, particularly in rural areas, where is significant in terms of how we get our content to people,鈥� PBS's Ms. Kerger told Vox in 2016. 鈥淏ut it's also how we connect into a lot of cable systems.鈥�

The figures from CPB illustrate how local public broadcast stations rely on the allocation grants. The agency granted of its $445 million federal funds to local radio and television station in 2016, according to its federal appropriation report. The grant sizes vary depending on the size of the station and its market, but their goal is to enable the local stations to develop transmission, distribution, and membership, in addition to programming.听

鈥淢illions of Americans depend on their for the fact-based, objective, public service journalism they need to stay informed about the world and about the news in their own communities,鈥� NPR chief operating officer Loren Mayor said in a statement.

The potential loss of the subsidies, which could cut into educational channels such as PBS Kids, puts the youngest viewers at risk, too, said Lisa Henson, a television and film producer.

Citing the example of 鈥淪esame Street,鈥� which for the past 50 years has grown to be the cornerstone of inspiring a child鈥檚 interest in learning, Ms. Henson argued in an opinion piece for Newsweek that federal funding has made it possible for the program to reach the high number of young children who do not attend preschool, opening 鈥渁 world of possibilities鈥� to them.听

鈥淭his funding is especially important to stations in rural areas of our country, where 鈥� PBS is often their ,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淧BS stations across the country also provide community engagement that help bring the on-air learning to life with resources, events, educator support and digital learning media.鈥�

In response to the potential funding cuts, PBS has launched a campaign with a Twitter account named 鈥溾�� and a hashtag 鈥�,鈥� hoping its audience could reach out to their lawmakers and make their voices heard on the issue.听

This report includes material from the Associated Press.