FCC Chair Brendan Carr Launches Investigation Into PBS, NPR As Lawmakers Decide Fate

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is launching an investigation into NPR and PBS he says will help lawmakers decide whether the government will continue funding the public news organizations.

In a Wednesday letter to both outlets, Carr said the inquiry would focus on whether the news organizations’ member stations violated government rules by recognizing financial sponsors on air.

According to Carr, NPR and PBS stations operate as noncommercial broadcast organizations, but that they may be airing announcements that ‘cross the line.”

“I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials. In particular, it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements,” Carr wrote.

“To the extent that these taxpayer dollars are being used to support a for-profit endeavor or an entity that is airing commercial advertisements,” Carr wrote, “then that would further undermine any case for continuing to fund NPR and PBS with taxpayer dollars,” the letter reads.

According to the report, station execs have been bracing for a potential battle with the Trump administration over government funding, and have been gaming out worst-case financial scenarioos.

Carr said he didn’t see a reason for lawmakers to continue funding the organizations, adding that he planned to notify members of Congress of his findings, according to the NY Times.

NPR CEO Katherine Maher said in a statement that the organization’s use of sponsorship – also known as underwriting, “complies with federal regulations.”

“We are confident any review of our programming and underwriting practices will confirm NPR’s adherence to these rules,” she said. “We have worked for decades with the F.C.C. in support of noncommercial educational broadcasters who provide essential information, educational programming, and emergency alerts to local communities across the United States.”

PBS also issued a statement, claiming to be proud of its “noncommercial educational programming,” and that it had worked “diligently to comply with the F.C.C.’s underwriting regulations.”

Two Democrat FCC commissioners released letters in protest of the investigation.

Anna Gomez, a Democrat, said that the investigation appeared to be an attempt to “weaponize the power of the F.C.C.” Geoffrey Starks, also a Democrat, said that Mr. Carr’s statement gave him “serious concern.”

Both stations have aired sponsorships for decades under rules set by the government. That said, public broadcasters are restricted by law from accepting traditional commercials, which the FCC has turned a blind eye to for years. The agency’s softened stance on the issue became a slippery slope – allowing public radio stations to become less dependent on government funding.

Former NPR executive and co-founder of consulting company Magnificent Noise, Eric Nuzum, said that sponsorships and underwriting are distinctly different from traditional advertising on TV and radio.

“The difference is, in a commercial, the sponsor can say anything they want — it’s their time,” said Nuzum. “In an underwriting situation, the station provides an acknowledgment of who’s providing the funding, along with basic information about the underwriter.”

Concurrently, there are multiple bills working their way through congress to defund public media – including the No Propaganda Act introduced by Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) and Representative Scott Perry (R-PA). Separately, the Defund NPR Act has been introduced by Rep. Jim Banks (R-IA).

Earlier this week, NPR executives informed staff that the Trump administration had sent a memo notifying them that two grant programs for local stations were on the chopping block – however the memo was rescinded after it was blocked by a judge.