For the Tax Day edition of CNN’s Inside Politics on Tuesday, media correspondent Brian Stelter joined host Dana Bash to allege that President Trump wants to defund PBS and NPR for “simply covering the news.” If Stelter really believes that then he has a funny definition of what is newsworthy.
Of course, any media segment about defunding public broadcasting has to include a good deal of fearmongering and Stelter saw no reason for this one to be any different:
It would mean that local stations, smaller stations, and some of these smaller producers would be hardest hit. For example, the group that produces Sesame Street only relies on government funding for about four percent of the production. Sesame Street would still suffer, but it wouldn't go off the air as a result of losing government funding. However, there are all smaller stations in smaller states and rural areas that would really suffer if they lost this funding and those are the kinds of preparations that are now underway. As you said, this would be a big victory for Republicans who have wanted this to happen for decades. But it would also be, in many cases, Republican constituents that would suffer, Dana.
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