Clawback of public stations' funding is cultural arson

By the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial Board

The airwaves are about to get a lot dumber. For that, we can all thank President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans — Missouri’s own Sen. Eric Schmitt in particular.

Schmitt was the Senate sponsor of legislation passed last week yanking more than $1 billion in federal funding for National Public Radio and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In Missouri, it will mean the loss of more than $7 million for markets around the state served by nine NPR stations and four PBS stations.

Schmitt is supposed to be in Washington fighting to make life better for Missourians. Instead, he is proudly leading a charge that could mean service cuts to Missouri stations that will particularly impact rural residents in areas with spotty internet or cable services, areas that constitute much of Schmitt’s (and Trump’s) base.

We would stipulate that the entire concept of tax-funded public journalism is at the very least a valid topic for serious debate. It’s not irrational to suggest that’s not government’s function and that making it so could in principle erode the independence of journalistic entities.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-clawback-of-public-stations-funding-is-cultural-arson/