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PBS and NPR are in a once-in-a-generation funding fight. They might well lose PBS和NPR正在进行百年一遇的资金战,他们很可能会输
People rally to call on Congress to protect funding for Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio outside the NPR headquarters in Washington, DC, on March 26, 2025. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images 2025年3月26日,DC华盛顿NPR总部外,人们集会呼吁国会保护公共广播服务和国家公共广播电台的资金。索尔·勒布/法新社通过盖蒂图片社
CNN有线电视新闻网—— America’s two biggest public broadcasters, PBS and NPR, are facing an up-or-down vote over their federal funding for the first time in decades. 美国最大的两家公共广播公司PBS和NPR几十年来首次面临对其联邦资金的支持或反对投票。
The Trump administration sees it as a worthwhile cultural fight, casting PBS and NPR as wastes of money that “spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news’” in a statement earlier this week. 特朗普政府认为这是一场有价值的文化斗争,在本周早些时候的一份声明中,将PBS和NPR视为“传播激进、唤醒伪装成‘新闻’的宣传”的浪费金钱。
Station leaders assert that if you tune in, you’ll see that the White House’s portrayal is just plain wrong. 电视台领导断言,如果你收听,你会发现白宫的描绘是完全错误的。
“There’s nothing more American than PBS, and our work is only possible because of the bipartisan support we have always received from Congress,” PBS CEO Paula Kerger said in a statement. PBS首席执行官Paula Kerger在一份声明中说:“没有什么比PBS更美国的了,我们的工作之所以成为可能,是因为我们一直得到国会的两党支持。”
Without the federal funding, some local stations could be forced off the air, especially in rural areas that are Republican strongholds. In many cases “these are the last locally owned broadcasters in these communities,” Ed Ulman, the CEO of Alaska Public Media, told CNN. 如果没有联邦资金,一些地方电视台可能会被迫停播,尤其是在共和党据点的农村地区。阿拉斯加公共媒体首席执行官埃德·乌尔曼告诉美国有线电视新闻网,在许多情况下,“这些是这些社区最后一家当地拥有的广播公司”。
So station leaders from Alaska to Maine are rallying public support and lobbying persuadable lawmakers, hoping to fend off the funding threat.因此,从阿拉斯加到缅因州的电台领导正在争取公众支持,游说有说服力的立法者,希望抵御资金威胁。
“The plan is to remind people of the value proposition,” said Jim Schachter, the CEO of New Hampshire Public Radio. 新罕布什尔州公共广播电台首席执行官吉姆·沙赫特说:“这个计划是为了提醒人们价值主张。”
In Schachter’s view, the Trump White House’s attempt to defund NPR and PBS is part of a wider effort to control information and clamp down on independent news coverage. 在沙赫特看来,特朗普白宫试图取消对NPR和PBS的资助是控制信息和压制独立新闻报道的更广泛努力的一部分。
“This is not about the money,” he said. “It’s a minuscule amount of money in the federal budget, though it’s critical to meeting public media’s civic responsibilities. This is about attacking a free press.” “这不是钱的问题,”他说,“这是联邦预算中极小的一笔钱,尽管这对履行公共媒体的公民责任至关重要。这是在攻击新闻自由。”
At an annual cost to taxpayers of $535 million, or roughly $1.60 per American taxpayer, stations provide free and universal access to educational shows, emergency alerts and a wide array of news and cultural content. 电视台每年花费纳税人5.35亿美元,即每个美国纳税人大约1.6美元,提供免费和普遍的教育节目、紧急警报以及各种新闻和文化内容。
Normally the funding is a barely-noticed line item in a gigantic budget bill. In fact, the funding bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump last month included another $535 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the entity that disburses funds to 1,500 local radio and TV stations. 通常情况下,这笔资金是巨额预算法案中很少被注意到的项目。事实上,国会通过并于上月由唐纳德·特朗普总统签署成为法律的拨款法案包括向公共广播公司再拨款5.35亿美元。该实体向1500家当地广播和电视台支付资金。
(L-R) President/CEO of NPR Katherine Maher and President/CEO of PBS Paula Kerger testify during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on March 26, 2025 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer/AFP via Getty Images 2025年3月26日,在华盛顿特区国会山举行的众议院监督和政府改革委员会听证会上,NPR凯瑟琳·马希尔总统/首席执行官和公共广播公司保拉·科格总统/首席执行官作证。德鲁·安吉尔/法新社通过盖蒂图片社
Congress budgets money for public broadcasting two years in advance, so there is nearly $1.1 billion currently allocated for the future – and that’s the amount the Trump administration wants to take back. 国会提前两年为公共广播预算资金,因此目前有近11亿美元用于未来——这是特朗普政府想要收回的金额。
In a Fox News appearance on Tuesday, Trump’s budget chief Russ Vought confirmed that the administration will send a rescission proposal to Congress at the end of April. 在周二福克斯新闻的一次露面中,特朗普的预算主管拉斯·沃特证实,政府将在4月底向国会提交一份撤销提案。
Such a proposal would start a 45-day clock for the House and Senate to either vote to cut the funding or ignore the proposal and keep the funding intact. 这样的提议将开始众议院和参议院在45天内投票削减资金或忽略该提议并保持资金不变。
On Fox, Vought said “we’re really excited about” defunding public media, justifying the proposal by claiming PBS and NPR are “putting drag queens in children’s programs, doing documentaries pushing for reparations, and dividing the country on the basis of race.” 在福克斯电视台,沃特说“我们真的很兴奋”取消公共媒体的资金,声称公共广播公司和NPR正在“将变装皇后放在儿童节目中,制作纪录片推动赔偿,并根据种族分裂国家”,以此来证明这一提议的合理性。
Republicans made the same charges at a House hearing last month. Public media executives debunked some of the claims; for instance, “the drag queen was actually not on any of our kids shows,” Kerger testified, pointing out that an image was cherry-picked from a single station’s website, and “it was immediately pulled down.” 共和党人在上个月的众议院听证会上提出了同样的指控。公共媒体高管揭穿了一些说法;例如,“变装皇后实际上不在我们的任何儿童节目中,”克尔格作证说。他指出,一张照片是从一个电视台的网站上挑选出来的,然后“立即被撤下”
The White House published a list of grievances with public media earlier this week. The list contained news reports about race, sexuality and gender identity along with many allegations of liberal bias. 本周早些时候,白宫公布了一份对公共媒体不满的清单。这份清单包括关于种族、性和性别认同的新闻报道,以及许多关于自由偏见的指控。
Public media leaders want to reframe the discussion altogether. After all, stations carry a wide array of radio and TV programming, from award-winning newscasts like “Morning Edition” and magazine shows like “Fresh Air” to educational programs like “NOVA” and children’s staples like “Sesame Street.” 公共媒体领导人希望彻底重新构建讨论框架。毕竟,电台播放的广播和电视节目种类繁多,从获奖新闻广播《早间版》和杂志节目《新鲜空气》,到教育节目《新星》,以及儿童必需品《芝麻街》。
“Without PBS member stations, Americans will lose unique local programming and emergency services in times of crisis,” Kerger said in a statement. “如果没有PBS成员电台,美国人将在危机时期失去独特的本地节目和紧急服务,”Kerger在一份声明中说。
NPR similarly highlighted its “trusted local and national news, culture, lifesaving emergency alerts, and public safety information.” NPR同样强调了其“值得信赖的地方和国家新闻、文化、救生紧急警报和公共安全信息”
In the country’s northernmost state, Alaska Public Media operates a radio station in Anchorage and partners with 26 locally owned and operated radio stations, which reach almost every corner of the frontier. Those stations combine to form Alaska’s only statewide news network, which employs nearly 60 journalists, Ulman said. “It is fair to say that many of these stations will close if federal funding is eliminated,” he said. 在阿拉斯加最北部的州,阿拉斯加公共媒体在安克雷奇经营着一家广播电台,并与26家当地拥有和经营的广播电台合作,这些电台几乎覆盖了边境的每一个角落。乌尔曼说,这些电台组成了阿拉斯加唯一的全州新闻网络,雇佣了近60名记者。“公平地说,如果联邦资金被取消,其中许多电台将会关闭,”他说。
That’s because smaller outlets tend to need more federal support. 这是因为较小的商店往往需要更多的联邦支持。
This year Schachter’s stations in New Hampshire will get $542,000 from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting – less than 6% of his $10 million budget. He said the federal funds “give us a solid starting point” and enable the stations to raise more money from listeners, foundations and other sources. “We fight every day for every dollar,” he said. 今年,沙赫特在新罕布什尔州的电台将从公共广播公司获得542,000美元——不到他1000万美元预算的6%。他说,联邦基金“给了我们一个坚实的起点”,使电台能够从听众、基金会和其他来源筹集更多资金。“我们每天都在为每一美元而战,”他说。
If the federal dollars dried up, “the knock-on effects would be huge,” Schachter said. 沙赫特说,如果联邦资金枯竭,“连锁效应将是巨大的”。
That’s because, in addition to the direct support to local stations, the nationwide system provides for satellite connections, content management platforms and even music licenses. 这是因为,除了对当地电台的直接支持,全国系统还提供卫星连接、内容管理平台甚至音乐许可证。
With fewer stations able to pay dues and pick up syndicated programming, the system could start to fall apart, executives warn. 高管们警告说,随着能够支付会费和接收辛迪加节目的电视台越来越少,该系统可能会开始崩溃。
That’s exactly what longtime conservative critics of PBS and NPR want to see happen. But public media executives are banking on public support, which they hope will translate to Republican votes to protect the funding. 这正是PBS和NPR的长期保守派批评者希望看到的情况。但公共媒体高管指望公众支持,他们希望这将转化为共和党的投票来保护资金。
In a recent Pew Research poll, only 24% of adults said the government should stop funding public media, while 43% said it should continue and 33% were not sure. 在皮尤研究中心最近的一项民意调查中,只有24%的成年人表示政府应该停止资助公共媒体,而43%的人表示应该继续,33%的人不确定。
“The majority of Americans think it’s worth the $1.60 that they pay in taxes,” Ulman said. 乌尔曼说:“大多数美国人认为他们缴纳的1.6美元税款是值得的。”
In the coming weeks, advocates for the networks will also point to the ongoing cutbacks in for-profit local news coverage to argue in favor of public media. 在接下来的几周里,网络的倡导者还将指出营利性地方新闻报道的持续削减,以支持公共媒体。
“The commercial marketplace for this kind of civic-minded, community-building, public service journalism is broken,” Schachter said. 沙赫特说:“这种具有公民意识、社区建设、公共服务新闻的商业市场已经崩溃。”
来源:CNN(美国有线电视新闻网) 编辑:张席睿
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