The Corporation for Public Broadcasting To Be Dissolved

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Voted Monday To DIssolve Itself.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the independent nonprofit organization that distributed federal funds to PBS, NPR, public media programming and more than 1,500 public media stations across the country for nearly 60 years, voted Monday to dissolve itself.

The board’s vote in the new year came after Congress voted last summer, at the Trump administration’s request, to defund the corporation and claw back about $1.1 billion of federal funding for public broadcasting.

The corporation determined that remaining dormant without funding left the organization “vulnerable to future political manipulation or misuse, threatening the independence of public media and the trust audiences place in it,” according to a statement.

Since its inception with the enactment of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, the corporation has distributed funding to programs such as “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” “Sesame Street,” films by Ken Burns and the PBS News Hour.

“For more than half a century, CPB existed to ensure that all Americans — regardless of geography, income, or background — had access to trusted news, educational programming, and local storytelling,” Patricia Harrison, the president and CEO of the corporation, said in the statement. “When the administration and Congress rescinded federal funding, our board faced a profound responsibility: CPB’s final act would be to protect the integrity of the public media system and the democratic values by dissolving, rather than allowing the organization to remain defunded and vulnerable to additional attacks.”

In its remaining time, the corporation said it would finish distributing its remaining funds, continue its support of the American Archive of Public Broadcasting’s digitization and preservation work. The corporation said its own archives will be preserved in partnership with the University of Maryland and made publicly available.

~PBS NEWS

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PEOPLE ON SOCIAL MEDIA ARE ASTONISHED:

"This is a tragedy for American cultural life. PBS and NPR have prioritised depth over speed, complexity over superficiality and nuance over conflict, as well as prioritising education, art and journalism in broadcasting. Farewell and thank you so much for Sesame Street!" -Stephen Clark

"we are witnessing the demise of free speech in the US--the so-called "bastion of democracy" - alfa

"All gone. The once rich tapestry of learning they offered is gone forever. Next it will be books. They’ll come for books next." - Diane

"God Bless the CPB and the board. It was instrumental in my early childhood education and I am greatly saddened by the Republican Party who has for decades been against PBS stations." - SonofaBiscuiteatr

"“For more than half a century, CPB existed to ensure that all Americans — regardless of geography, income, or background — had access to trusted news, educational programming, and local storytelling,”

"Utterly heartbreaking. At a time when we need it most, this is truly painful to see. The good that these programs & their initiatives have done can not be measured but their impact is unquestionably evident in public education. Stay informed out there. Godspeed."

"Trump's regime is determined to shit on every good thing in both the USA and other countries."