NPR CEO Katherine Maher traveled over to Comedy Central and The Daily Show on Tuesday to ring the alarm bells over what could happen should NPR lose its federal money. Maher painted a nightmarish scenario where people go without news, Sesame Street gets shut down, and political polarization increases because, according to her, public media is the “foundational infrastructure” that holds the country together.

Host Jordan Klepper began by wondering, “The criticism from the right is, what do we need public funds to go towards NPR for? What is that argument? People are getting their news from all sorts of people. Most people get their news from the TikTok feed from their neighbor. So, why do they need their taxes to go to a place like NPR?”

Maher began her defense by claiming those TikTokers need to get their news from somewhere, so it might as well be them, “I have no problem with TikTok influencers or other people resharing that news. I think that’s actually great. But we want them to have credible sources of news to begin with to be able to base that work on.”

 

 

She also doom-mongered, “I think the biggest misconception is that this money goes to NPR or to PBS. The reality is the vast majority of funds in public broadcasting resources go directly to local stations. We covered 99.7 percent of the country with our broadcast coverage, and that allows for Americans to have access to news even in places where news deserts are growing, where disasters happen. That's what your federal funds go to; they go to your local station. They go to your local reporters.”

Klepper then asked, “So, what does that look like? So, I mean, the threat right now is, they take a billion dollars away from NPR, PBS over the next couple of years, correct?... They take a billion dollars away, what happens?”

Maher’s habit of talking about another other than NPR’s actual news operation continued as she urged people to consider the children, “It's not great. I think Americans need to be aware that it is going to be harmful to the system, right? A lot of us probably grew up on kids' television, PBS Kids. I mean, it is a crown jewel of American public broadcasting programming, and whether you think about, you know, your history with Mr. Rogers, whether you’re thinking about Sesame Street, whether you’re thinking about more contemporary programming, that is so important.”

Returning to the idea of local news, Maher added:

When you think about your local radio stations, those may not be able to provide the same sorts of services, and the first thing that will go, I have to tell you, is local reporters' jobs. We have news deserts. Twenty percent of Americans live in a place where they have no local news coverage other than public radio. We know that the existence of local news and public news in particular contributes to lower rates of polarization, higher rates of civic engagement, and higher rates of civic trust. This is foundational infrastructure for our country, even when we disagree, this is the sort of thing that can start to peel some of these disagreements and bring us together.

It was Klepper who first approached the topic of NPR’s actual content and the real reason for the current controversy, “I don't see a situation where there is an articulation of, like, a fairness that both sides can agree upon. The right asks you to be less progressive or less liberally biased, but I think any actions towards that will be seen as strict capitulation from the left. Is that where you are at?”

 

 

Maher saw nothing wrong with NRP’s current state of affairs, “what I love about our mission and mandate is that it's actually our responsibility to strive to serve everyone. No other commercial media organization has that mandate. They can hyperserve a particular audience, and that contributes to polarization. It’s actually our job to bring folks together.”

As for criticisms that NPR is too woke, Maher essentially told people to get over it:

What I do think is that we’re missing some voices, and so I would take this opportunity to extend again an invitation to conservative voices who feel like they are not being heard. I think that we can't shirk from our responsibility to serve all Americans. And so another criticism that we see is that, you know, we are too woke. The reality is, this is a very diverse nation, and our mandate on the public broadcasting act is to serve everyone, including the unserved and underserved, and we can't pull away from that either. We have to be able to represent America in all of its diversity, even when that makes us sometimes uncomfortable. That means expanding the tent to be as big a tent as possible rather than, sort of, moving the tent around the country to accommodate different groups.

Moving the tent around the country is exactly what NPR does now. If public radio really is the only way 20 percent of Americans can get their news in the internet age, then their state governments could pick up the bill. There is no reason why everyone else should have their tax dollars go to defend looting.

Sign the petition to help us defund another MSNBC in PBS and NPR at defundpbsnpr.org.

Here is a transcript for the April 29 show:

Comedy Central The Daily Show

4/29/2025

11:24 PM ET

JORDAN KLEPPER: NPR, PBS is often -- it's part of the conversation. I think there has been a lot of push for many, many years to take funding away, but in, like, in 2025, the criticism from the right is, what do we need public funds to go towards NPR for? What is that argument? People are getting their news from all sorts of people. Most people get their news from the TikTok feed from their neighbor. So, why do they need their taxes to go to a place like NPR?

KATHERINE MAHER: Well, there's also a very big difference between disseminating the news and gathering news and what we do newsgathering. It allows for people to come in and add their spin and their commentary on it.

So, I have no problem with TikTok influencers or other people resharing that news. I think that’s actually great. But we want them to have credible sources of news to begin with to be able to base that work on.

But more importantly, I think the biggest misconception is that this money goes to NPR or to PBS. The reality is the vast majority of funds in public broadcasting resources go directly to local stations. We covered 99.7 percent of the country with our broadcast coverage and that allows for Americans to have access to news even in places where news deserts are growing, where disasters happen. That's what your federal funds go to; they go to your local station. They go to your local reporters.

KLEPPER: So, what does that look like? So, I mean, the threat right now is, they take a billion dollars away from NPR, PBS over the next couple of years, correct?

MAHER: Corporation for Public Broadcasting, NPR, PBS, and all of public media.

KLEPPER: What does that look like if that goes through—

MAHER: Yeah.

KLEPPER: They take a billion dollars away, what happens?

MAHER: It's not great. I think Americans need to be aware that it is going to be harmful to the system, right? A lot of us probably grew up on kids' television, PBS Kids. I mean, it is a crown jewel of American public broadcasting programming. and whether you think about, you know, your history with Mr. Rogers, whether you’re thinking about Sesame Street, whether you’re thinking about more contemporary programming, that is so important. 

And that is a threat, under threat. When you think about your local radio stations, those may not be able to provide the same sorts of services, and the first thing that will go, I have to tell you, is local reporters' jobs. We have news deserts. Twenty of Americans live in a place where they have no local news coverage other than public radio. We know that the existence of local news and public news in particular contributes to lower rates of polarization, higher rates of civic engagement, and higher rates of civic trust. This is foundational infrastructure for our country, even when we disagree, this is the sort of thing that can start to peel some of these disagreements and bring us together.

KLEPPER: Now, it’s interesting, though. Folks on the right are claiming there's a liberal bias in places like NPR. And we're in a politically charged time and you have to, as the CEO, you have to walk what that line is and appeal to all of America. But I also fear from the left, they feel like moving towards the right looks like capitulation. In some ways, I feel like you are between a rock and a hard place. 

How do you balance this? I don't see a situation where there is an articulation of, like, a fairness that both sides can agree upon. The right asks you to be less progressive or less liberally biased, but I think any actions towards that will be seen as strict capitulation from the left. Is that where you are at?

MAHER: I mean, I won't lie. It is—we are always in a tough spot. But what I love about our mission and mandate is that it's actually our responsibility to strive to serve everyone. No other commercial media organization has that mandate. They can hyperserve a particular audience, and that contributes to polarization. It’s actually our job to bring folks together.

What I do think is that we’re missing some voice, and so I would take this opportunity to extend again an invitation to conservative voices who feel like they are not being heard. I think that we can't shirk from our responsibility to serve all Americans. And so another criticism that we see is that, you know, we are too woke. The reality is, this is a very diverse nation, and our mandate on the public broadcasting act is to serve everyone, including the unserved and underserved, and we can't pull away from that either. 

We have to be able to represent America in all of its diversity, even when that makes us sometimes uncomfortable. That means expanding the tent to be as big a tent as possible rather than, sort of, moving the tent around the country to accommodate different groups.