On Thursday, May 1, 2025, President Donald Trump made another attack on the US multimedia when he signed an executive order aimed at cutting funding for public news outlets NPR and PBS.
Both stores have recently stated that Trump’s plan to cut for money may have a “devastating effect” on US citizens who rely on them for trustworthy local and national media, including in case of emergency.
The Trump administration and his allies have had the American media in their sights from their attempts to end Voice of America (VOA ) and to a ban on the Associated Press from the Oval Office.
Some of Donald Trump’s media problems began before he won the presidency. Before the 2024 presidential election, Trump sued CBS for editing an appointment with Kamala Harris in a way he found unpleasant.
He even brought legal action against a paper in Iowa, the Des Moines Register, and researcher J. Ann Selzer for publishing a survey that showed Harris leading Trump in the state’s election campaign.
Those incidents continue.
Smaller always wins.
However, some stores are retaliating and claiming victories.
A federal prosecutor ordered the Trump administration to recoup its money for VOA and recoup its contractors and staff. More than 1, 000 of them were fired following the president’s signing of an executive order to dismantle US Agency for Global Media (VOA ) as its parent company.
A judge also agreed with the AP in its petition to recover exposure after it was barred from the Oval Office for refusing to speak to the Gulf of Mexico as the” Gulf of America.” The lake should become referred to as the former, according to President Trump. US area judge Trevor N. McFadden ruled in a choice on April 8 that the ban constituted a First Amendment violation for the cable service. The Trump administration announced that it would appeal the decision.
The First Amendment, in accordance with the US Constitution, guarantees the safety of basic liberties like freedom of speech, media, assembly, and plea.
However, free speech advocates warn that Trump’s assault on the free press shows that the First Amendment requires effective defense, even though these freedoms are outlined in the US law.
Who did communicate up?
Nadine Strossen, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, noted that” no matter how wonderfully defensive the First Amendment and Supreme Court decisions upholding the First Amendment are in theory, they are not self-enforcing.” It requires attorneys to lobby the courts to defend and preserve First Amendment rights, and it’s very frightening when law firms are threatened by locking horns with the Trump administration because it could force them to shut down.
A number of senior purchases, most of which are directed at law firms that he deemed “risks,” were signed by President Trump, which included those that prosecuted people or causes that Trump is philosophically opposed to, such as diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. That might reduce the number of people who want to oppose free speech breaches in the Trump presidency.
With Trump indicating further actions against the free click in the future, legal action is only going to be more important.
A White House post reportedly addressed the public-funded commentators on April 14. The Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS ) and National Public Radio ( NPR ), which have been spreading radical, woke propaganda disguised as “news,” have been on the hook for years, according to the statement.
In the upcoming weeks, the Trump presidency is expected to issue a letter directing the government to stop NPR and CBS from financing.
directing the tale
According to NPR’s media editor, Donald Trump’s decision to shut down publicly held outlets aligns with his wider plan to ensure he commands the attention of the public.
The notion that taxpayer funds and authorities money would go to help a news outlet that wants to provide separate, credible reporting with its own editorial judgment is offensive, Folkenflik said.
However, according to press freedom organizations, state control over messaging conflicts with the practice of politics in society.
We’re in a real anti-free talk and anti-accountability, according to Nora Benavidez, who leads politics efforts at Free Press, a non-profit dedicated to defending press freedom.” It’s a process that you frequently find folks don’t really want to talk about, or they don’t really understand why it would connect to them, until they’re under threat of targeting or silencing or chilling,” said Benavidez, who leads politics efforts at Free Press
Benavidez warns that the lack of transparency and misinformation that Trump has created as a result of his disenfranchisement of media outlets. The former White House bureau chief for the organization, as well as the Trump administration.
VOA is frequently one of the few sources of uncensored news in nations with oppressive governments, like Iran, Russia, Belarus, Afghanistan, and North Korea.
The Trump administration’s actions also have a very personal impact.
One VOA employee who works on a contract basis told DW that non-American employees who had to leave the US after losing their VOA jobs and working visas could face repercussions once there. He spoke to DW in secret out of concern for potential retribution.
There are so many journalists who came to VOA for the chance to practice press freedom in a nation where it is constitutionally guaranteed, he said. Many of those journalists are not citizens, and they face legal consequences if they are forced to return to their home countries. They could be imprisoned or worse, forced to leave this nation.
The VOA contractor said,” My hope is that there are people in high places, as well as the average voter, who ] will stand up for constitutionally protected freedom of the press.”
