PhotoPublic radio and television broadcasters are girding for battle after the Trump administration proposed a drastic cutback that they have long dreaded: the defunding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Mark Vogelzang, president of Maine Public, called the Trump proposal “the most serious threat to our federal funding” since he started in public broadcasting 37 years ago. “We’re always living on the edge in this ecosystem of public broadcasting,” Mr. Vogelzang said in an interview. PhotoThe Corporation for Public Broadcasting supports about 1,500 stations that carry a range of educational, journalistic and arts-related programming. Executives in public broadcasting were on alert since early this year, when rumors of major cuts began circulating, and on Thursday they did not hesitate to fire back.

Source: New York Times March 16, 2017 20:15 UTC