NPR and three Colorado public radio entities filed suit against Donald Trump and other administration officials today over the president’s executive order to cease federal funding for the media outlets.
“The Executive Order is a clear violation of the Constitution and the First Amendment’s protections for freedom of speech and association, and freedom of the press,” Katherine Maher, the CEO of NPR, said in a statement. “It is an affront to the rights of NPR and NPR’s 246 Member stations, which are locally owned, nonprofit, noncommercial media organizations serving all 50 states and territories. Today, we challenge its constitutionality in the nation’s independent courts.”
Trump’s executive order also targeted PBS, which was not part of the lawsuit.
Trump’s executive order directed federal agencies and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to halt federal funding for NPR and PBS, as the president has alleged that the entities trafficked in “left-wing propaganda.”
“This is retaliatory, viewpoint-based discrimination in violation of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court has ruled numerous times over the past 80 years that the government does not have the right to determine what counts as ‘biased,’” Maher said. “NPR will never agree to this infringement of our constitutional rights, or the constitutional rights of our Member stations, and NPR will not compromise our commitment to an independent free press and journalistic integrity.”
More to come.
