The Trump GOP's Efforts To Silence Stephen Colbert, NPR, And PBS Aren't A Coincidence

The entire public broadcasting system is going to be severely impacted by the Republican stripping of funding from NPR and PBS, while the cancellation of Stephen Colbert could have a chilling effect.

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At first, it may seem like the Republican congressional passage of the recession package, which takes $1.1 billion in funding away from NPR and PBS, and the cancellation of the top-rated late-night host by CBS have little in common.

No one would ever confuse a Stephen Colbert monologue for Nova.

They seem to be very different kinds of programming, but NPR, PBS, and Colbert all have something in common.

They are widely available across the country, broadcast over the air for free.

That’s all about to change for NPR, PBS, and Stephen Colbert.

The New York Times reported:

An analysis by Public Media Company identified 78 public radio organizations and 37 TV organizations that were at risk of going dark as a result of the cuts. In some cases those organizations operate multiple stations, allowing them to reach even greater populations.

The stations rely on grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal funding for at least 30 percent of their budgets, and some of them serve counties with limited access to local news.

Most of the stations that are at risk are in rural America, but even stations that aren’t rural are facing difficulties because the public broadcasting system is one where stations depend on each other. If stations close, there will be fewer stations bidding on programming and producing programming. There will be fewer donors, and it will all combine to result in less revenue and less programming for the rest of public broadcasting.

Stephen Colbert is a different story. He is available over the air for free for any American with a CBS station nearby and a TV antenna. Colbert’s clips usually rack up millions of views on YouTube. Even with fewer people watching television, CBS’s claim that canceling Colbert was a financial decision doesn’t make sense.

One of the attractions of late-night talk shows is that they can be produced relatively cheaply.

The answer to why Republicans are launching this attack on Colbert, NPR, and PBS is about more than Trump, as we will discuss below.