While Americans were distracted by holiday preparations, a coordinated attack on the last vestiges of independent public media reached its final phase. The Center for American Rights' petition to the FCC isn't just about defunding NPR and PBS—it's about seizing their broadcasting spectrum entirely. This represents the culmination of a systematic campaign to eliminate any media outlet not aligned with authoritarian messaging. Yet, mainstream coverage treats it as a routine regulatory procedure rather than the unprecedented assault on press freedom it represents.

Why It Matters

Public broadcasting in America has faced sustained political pressure since its inception in 1967, but never anything approaching this level of coordinated attack:

  • The Corporation for Public Broadcasting was created during the Johnson administration as a firewall between government funding and editorial content
  • NPR and PBS have survived multiple defunding attempts from Reagan in the 1980s to Gingrich in the 1990s, always emerging with reduced but continued federal support
  • The current assault began systematically in 2024 with Carr's news distortion investigations targeting outlets that criticized Trump
  • CAR has been instrumental in these investigations, providing a legal framework for what critics call weaponization of FCC regulatory power

International context is crucial: authoritarian leaders from Orbán in Hungary to Putin in Russia have followed nearly identical playbooks—first defund independent media, then seize their infrastructure for state-aligned messaging. The spectrum seizure component represents an escalation beyond even these international precedents.

What Happened

The Center for American Rights (CAR), a conservative legal group closely tied to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's news distortion investigations, has formally petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to revoke broadcasting licenses from NPR and PBS stations nationwide.

This petition follows Congress's recent approval of President Trump's request to eliminate all federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), effectively shuttering the organization that has supported public media for over 50 years.

CAR's strategy is two-pronged: first, argue that without federal funding, NPR and PBS stations cannot prove viable long-term business models; second, claim these stations have failed their public interest obligations since elected representatives chose to defund them. The group wants the FCC to redistribute the broadcasting spectrum currently used by public media stations to other entities—presumably those more aligned with the current administration's messaging.

A Closer Look

This petition reveals the true scope of the authoritarian media strategy—it was never just about defunding, but about complete elimination of independent voices.

Critical questions being ignored by mainstream coverage:

  • Why is the FCC allowing a group so closely tied to the Chairman to drive regulatory policy?
  • What prevents this precedent from being applied to any media outlet that loses advertising revenue or faces financial pressure?
  • How does seizing broadcasting licenses from financially struggling outlets serve the public interest CAR claims to protect?
  • Who will receive the redistributed spectrum, and what are their political affiliations?

The most dangerous aspect is the circular logic: Congress defunds public broadcasting, then argues the defunding proves these outlets don't serve the public interest, therefore justifying seizure of their infrastructure. This creates a precedent for targeting any media outlet through economic warfare followed by regulatory seizure.

Voices being systematically silenced include not just NPR and PBS journalists, but the millions of Americans who rely on public media for local news coverage, educational programming, and emergency broadcasting services that commercial outlets often abandon.

Call to Action

The time for treating this as everyday politics has ended. Contact your representatives and demand they oppose any FCC license seizures from NPR and PBS stations. Support local public media directly through donations and volunteer work—they need independent funding now more than ever.

Most importantly: recognize this playbook and call it out when applied to other outlets. Today, it's NPR and PBS; tomorrow, it could be any media organization facing financial pressure. Document everything, share widely, and refuse to let infrastructure warfare against press freedom be normalized as a regulatory procedure. Your voice—and your support for independent voices—has never mattered more.

From Silence to Sound

This represents exactly why Silence to Sound exists—to amplify voices and expose authoritarian tactics that mainstream media treats as normal political maneuvering.

The seizure of public broadcasting infrastructure demonstrates how authoritarians don't just silence critics through direct censorship, but by systematically dismantling the platforms that enable independent journalism. When outlets lose their ability to broadcast, entire communities lose access to local news, emergency information, and educational content.

Our mission demands we connect these dots: from news distortion investigations to defunding to spectrum seizure, this is a coordinated campaign to eliminate any media voice not aligned with authoritarian messaging. Speaking up now means recognizing this as infrastructure warfare against press freedom itself.