From: YourName@YourISP.com   
      
       Corporation for Public Broadcasting to Shut Down After 58 Years   
       Due to Trump Eliminating Funding   
       ---------------------------------------------------------------   
       Less than a year after the Trump administration and Congress voted   
       to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the entity -   
       which helped fund the operations of local public TV and radio   
       stations - has voted to shut down. The CPB announced Monday that   
       its board of directors voted to close the organization after   
       58 years, rather than continue to exist and potentially be   
       "vulnerable to future political manipulation or misuse."   
      
       The CPB was created by Congress by the Public Broadcasting Act of   
       1967 to support the federal government's investment in public   
       broadcasting. The org noted that the rescission of all of CPB's   
       federal funding came after years of political attacks.   
      
       "For more than half a century, CPB existed to ensure that all   
       Americans - regardless of geography, income, or background - had   
       access to trusted news, educational programming, and local   
       storytelling," said CPB president/CEO Patricia Harrison. "When the   
       Administration and Congress rescinded federal funding, our Board   
       faced a profound responsibility: CPB's final act would be to   
       protect the integrity of the public media system and the democratic   
       values by dissolving, rather than allowing the organization to   
       remain defunded and vulnerable to additional attacks.   
      
       CPB Board of Directors chair Ruby Calvert called the move - and what   
       has happened to public media - "devastating."   
      
       "After nearly six decades of innovative, educational public   
       television and radio service, Congress eliminated all funding for   
       CPB, leaving the Board with no way to continue the organization or   
       support the public media system that depends on it," Calvert said.   
       "Yet, even in this moment, I am convinced that public media will   
       survive, and that a new Congress will address public media's role in   
       our country because it is critical to our children's education, our   
       history, culture and democracy to do so."   
      
       The news doesn't come as a surprise after the Republican Congress in   
       July approved Trump's rescission package, eliminating $1.1 billion in   
       crucial funding for public broadcasting that had been approved for   
       the next two years. Without that money, the Corporation for Public   
       Broadcasting was set to shut down. And the fate of hundreds of TV and   
       radio stations remains up in the air.   
      
       The funding was used to support both public radio and public   
       television stations, directing over 70 percent of CPB's appropriation   
       straight to local stations. The funds also supported independent   
       filmmakers. Without the funds, PBS has been scrambling to support and   
       protect some of its most vulnerable member stations. Some stations   
       have announced plans to shut down; Arkansas' PBS stations   
       disaffiliated with the service and went independent to save money.   
      
       "CPB's support extends to every corner of the country - urban, rural,   
       tribal, and everywhere in between," the org noted." In many   
       communities, public media stations are the only free source of   
       trusted news, educational children's programming, and local and   
        national cultural content."   
      
       The CPB said that without funding, its board determined that   
       "maintaining the corporation as a nonfunctional entity would not   
       serve the public interest or advance the goals of public media.   
       A dormant and defunded CPB could have become vulnerable to future   
       political manipulation or misuse, threatening the independence of   
       public media and the trust audiences place in it, and potentially   
       subjecting staff and board members to legal exposure from bad-faith   
       actors."   
      
       As it closes, CPB is distributing its remaining funds, and also   
       supporting the American Archive of Public Broadcasting in digitizing   
       and preserving historic content. The CPB's own archives will be   
       preserved at the University of Maryland, which will make it accessible   
       to the public.   
      
       In September, the Television Academy honoured CPB with its Governors   
       Award, presenting it to Harrison\, who had led the organisation since   
       2005, at the Creative Arts ceremony.   
      
       "Public media remains essential to a healthy democracy," Harrison   
       added. "Our hope is that future leaders and generations will recognize   
       its value, defend its independence, and continue the work of ensuring   
       that trustworthy, educational, and community-centered media remains   
       accessible to all Americans."   
      
      
      
      
      
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