The order “also threatens the existence of a public radio system that millions of Americans across the country rely on for vital news and information,” according to the legal complaint against Trump and a handful of top officials and federal agencies. NPR and three of its member stations — Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio and KSUT Public Radio — want Trump’s order permanently blocked and declared unconstitutional. It “expressly aims to punish and control Plaintiffs’ news coverage and other speech the Administration deems ‘biased,’” attorneys for the news outlets wrote. “It cannot stand.” NPR and the Public Broadcasting Service, or PBS, had previously vowed to challenge Trump’s order, which asserts that government funding of the news is “not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.”
National Public Radio filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the Trump administration on Tuesday, alleging that President Trump’s attempt to defund NPR is a “clear violation of the Constitution.” Several NPR member stations from Colorado joined the national network in filing the suit, highlighting the local impacts of taxpayer-funded media.
