Brendan Carr, the President Trump-appointed FCC chairman, warned the CEOs of PBS and NPR that they “could be violating federal law by airing commercials” — and that he has ordered an investigation by the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau into the matter.
For decades, PBS and NPR have engaged in the practice of airing underwriter acknowledgements to companies and groups that donate funding. However, they are not allowed to run commercial messages. Both public media organizations maintained that they comply with the FCC’s underwriting guidelines, in response to a letter Carr sent this week to NPR president and CEO Katherine Maher and PBS president and CEO Paul Kerger.
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“I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials,” Carr wrote in the letter, dated Jan. 29, which was obtained by the New York Times. “In particular, it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements. It is important to me, as Chairman of the FCC, that [noncommercial educational] broadcast stations stay true to their important missions and refrain from operating as noncommercial in name only.”
Carr’s letter did not cite examples in which PBS or NPR broadcasts may have aired explicitly commercial ads.
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Carr told the CEOs in the letter that he will provide a copy of the letter to “relevant Members of Congress” given that “Congress is actively considering whether to stop requiring taxpayers to subsidize NPR and PBS programming. For my own part, I do not see a reason why Congress should continue sending taxpayer dollars to NPR and PBS given the changes in the media marketplace since the passage of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967.”
Democratic FCC commissioner Anna Gomez, appointed by President Biden, wrote in a post on X about Carr’s letter to NPR and PBS: “This appears to be yet another Administration effort to weaponize the power of the FCC. The FCC has no business intimidating and silencing broadcast media.”
PBS said in a statement responding to Carr’s letter, “PBS is proud of the noncommercial educational programming we provide to all Americans through our member stations. We work diligently to comply with the FCC’s underwriting regulations and welcome the opportunity to demonstrate that to the Commission.”
NPR’s Maher said in a statement, “NPR programming and underwriting messaging complies with federal regulations, including the FCC guidelines on underwriting messages for noncommercial educational broadcasters, and Member stations are expected to be in compliance as well.”
She continued, “We are confident any review of our programming and underwriting practices will confirm NPR’s adherence to these rules. We have worked for decades with the FCC in support of noncommercial educational broadcasters who provide essential information, educational programming, and emergency alerts to local communities across the United States.”
(Pictured above: FCC Chairman Brendan Carr)
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