News  AG Campbell Supports Lawsuit Challenging Public Media Funding Cuts

BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Campbell filed an amicus brief along with 22 other attorneys general in support of two lawsuits brought by National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) that seek to block proposed funding cuts to their organizations and local affiliates. 

At issue in the case is an Executive Order signed by President Trump on May 1 directing the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and executive branch agencies to end federal funding for NPR and PBS. On May 27, NPR and three Colorado public radio stations—Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio, and tribal-serving KSUT in southwestern Colorado—sued to block the proposed cuts. PBS and a Minnesota-based affiliate filed a separate lawsuit on May 30.

The attorneys general argue that public broadcast stations serve a critical role in delivering information to the public and the proposed cuts would gravely harm Americans. The coalition says the funding cuts would create risks to public safety and erode trust by threatening coverage of local news, creating disruptions to the distribution of emergency notifications, reducing critical educational services, and limiting public media’s unique reach to rural and tribal audiences.

In the brief, filed concurrently on Friday, June 20 in both lawsuits, the coalition outlines some of the harms people in their states will face if the cuts move forward. These include threats to emergency notification systems like the Emergency Alert System, or EAS. Other emergency notifications disseminated via public media include Amber Alerts for abducted children, Blue Alerts for notifying the public of suspects who have killed or seriously injured law enforcement officers, Silver Alerts used when older people or people with developmental disabilities go missing and Missing Indigenous Person Alerts that are critical for tribal communities.

The brief also highlights the important educational role public broadcasters play, citing PBS Learning Media—a partnership between PBS and WGBH Educational Foundation, a Massachusetts PBS member station—which has for years provided free, web-based access to thousands of educational resources from PBS stations and partners. These materials, which are aligned with state and national standards, are designed to complement and integrate with classroom instruction and are available at no cost to all educators from pre-K through 12th grade. PBS Learning Media is used in every state, with particularly high usage in low-income and rural communities. It also offers interactive lessons accessible to students with disabilities through assistive technologies.

Joining AG Campbell in filing the brief are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Read the complete brief filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia here.