CEOs of NPR and PBS on federal funding block

WASHINGTON (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - NPR CEO Katherine Maher and PBS CEO Paula Kerger spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday saying they are both looking at legal options after President Donald Trump last week signed an executive order aimed at slash public subsidies for both organizations.

"We're looking at whatever options are available to us. I think it's a little preliminary for us to be able to speak to the specific strategies that we might take," Maher shared.

"I would just say the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a funding mechanism, but they actually don't oversee PBS or NPR. We're independent organizations," Kerger added.

Maher and Kerger also explain why his order stands out from previous attempts to cut their government funding.

"I've been at PBS almost 20 years, and I remember even going back to the Newt Gingrich days. But this is different. They're coming after us on many different ways. We're waiting for a possible rescission of those funds that have already been appropriated. There was an effort within the FCC challenging our ability to accept sponsorships from corporations, which is something that we have worked with the FCC on for many, many years. There was the executive order. There was the effort to try to remove a few members of the CPB board. So we have never seen a circumstance like this, and obviously we're going to be pushing back very hard, because what's at risk are our stations, our public television, our public radio stations across the country. We get 15% of our funding from the federal government. That's one-5% but that's an aggregate number. Some of our stations in small communities, it's 40 to 50% of their funding. And for them, it's existential, and that's what's at risk if this funding goes away."

Paula Kerger, CEO of PBS

When Brennan asked if it was immediate for NPR, Maher said:

"In a similar fashion, if we were to see a clawback of these funds, which we know is part of the conversation from a rescission standpoint, or if we were to see that stations were no longer able to participate in their membership dues, that would be damaging. But I think that Paula's point is the one that really people need to hear, the immediate damages to local stations. And with NPR, we have stations in more than 246 stations with more than 200 newsrooms in every state in the country, and that includes journalists who are out there covering their local communities, especially in a time where we're seeing an advance of news deserts across the nation, 20% of Americans don't have access to another local source of news. The impact of this could really be devastating, particularly in rural communities."

During the interview, Brennan asked Kerger if children's programming airing on PBS, like Sesame Street, would also be impacted by President Trump's executive order, to which Kerger answered saying:

"Absolutely. And out of this executive order, we believe it impacts our funding out of the Department of Education, which is a 30 year program that has supported the develop, not only the creation of many of the children's programming that you see on public television, but also the research that we do to ensure that that programming is not just safe and enjoyable, but that children, after watching, come away with understanding of basic letters and numbers. Half the kids in this country are not enrolled in formal pre K. That's why programming for children on public television was created. That was the idea with Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers and everything that's followed since is to make sure that children that do not have access to a full array of resources have the opportunity to learn and to develop skills that they'll need the first time they enter preschool, that may be at age two or three or four and sometimes five, not until they start kindergarten. That's what's at risk."

Brennan followed up by asking Kerger if PBS has the money to keep functioning, and Kerger said, "we have programming. So you're not going to turn on your TV set and not see our children's programming anymore, but if that funding is cut off, we have programs in development right now, and that will suddenly skid to a halt. We also have stations around the country that work directly with preschool providers and parents, and this funds those activities, so the immediate impact would be fairly significant."

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Maher and Kerger, click here.