Public broadcasting cuts hurt red states

Just read that Rhode Island public radio and public broadcasting will have to downsize, but are far from out of business. That looks to be the case for many blue states and blue cities in red states. You know who will be hurt? Trump voters in rural parts of red states:

“When Donald Trump directed Congress to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), he and his allies pushed a long time, right-wing narrative about targeting liberal “bias” at NPR and PBS.

Instead, the Republican rollback of $1.1 billion in CPB funding that had previously been approved by Congress is hurting vulnerable, rural-America communities in red states. 

 

“On Monday, CPB officially announced it could no longer manage the Next Generation Warning System (NGWS), a federal grant program that helps public broadcasting stations provide alerts about severe weather. CPB administered the NGWS in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, another agency whose funding Trump has sought to slash by the billions. FEMA on its own website touts the crucial role of broadcasting networks for emergency preparedness. “[R]adio and TV stations continue to operate when other means of alerting the public are unavailable,” the site says. 

“NPR’s larger stations in cities like New York and D.C. will be less impacted than rural communities which rely on public broadcasting for everything from keeping abreast on local government meetings to public safety alerts. Much like the effects of Trump’s deep cuts to Medicaid funding on rural hospitals, defunding CPB is expected to disproportionately impact the very people the president purports to represent.

 

“This is one more example of rescission consequences impacting local public media stations and the communities they serve — in this case, weakening the capacity of local public media stations to support the safety and preparedness of their communities,” said Patricia Harrison, CPB President and CEO, in the press release about ending the warning system.

 

“If FEMA doesn’t assume responsibility, already-approved funds from fiscal years 2022, 2023 and 2024 “will go undistributed,” the release continues. “As a result, critical emergency alerting equipment will not be purchased, leaving communities, especially those in rural and disaster-prone areas, without the upgrades Congress intended.”

As a Democrat in a blue state, I could be excused for a sense of schadenfreude. But unlike Trump and his supporters, I’m an American patriot who wants the best for all the citizens in my country. Why does Trump hate America?

 

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-public-broadcasting-cpb-npr-rural-severe-weather

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