A U.S. District Court judge ruled in favor of NPR and PBS on Tuesday, saying that President Trump's executive order against the two networks violated the First Amendment, and served as unlawful viewpoint discrimination. Executive Order 14290, issued May 1, 2025, attempted to block all federal agencies from providing direct or indirect support for NPR or PBS, and to block local stations from purchasing programming from those networks.
As U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss explained: “the First Amendment draws a line, which the government may not cross, at efforts to use government power—including the power of the purse—“to punish or suppress disfavored expression” by others.”
NPR's CEO Katherine Maher issued this statement following the ruling:
"Today’s ruling is a decisive affirmation of the rights of a free and independent press — and a win for NPR, our network of stations, and our tens of millions of listeners nationwide. The court made clear that the government cannot use funding as a lever to influence or penalize the press, whether as a national news service or a local newsroom. Public media exists to serve the public interest — that of Americans — not that of any political agenda or elected official. NPR and our Member Stations will continue delivering independent, fact-based, high-quality reporting to communities across the United States, regardless of the administration of the day."
This ruling DOES NOT reinstate the federal funding that was clawed back by Congress in a July 2025 rescission vote, and does not award any additional funding to NPR or public media stations. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting officially shut down earlier this year as a result of the Congressional defunding. The rescission of federal appropriations for public media remains in effect, and continues to be a significant challenge to public media organizations like KVPR. Listener donations are as essential as ever to ensuring continued station and newsroom operations.
What does this mean for KVPR?
With rescission, KVPR lost around $175,000 annually, plus an additional $36,000 in support for facilities, accounting for about 7 percent of the station's annual revenue. In response, local listeners are stepping up. KVPR has added over 1,000 new members in the last year, the largest surge in support in the station's 48-year history. This additional support has KVPR on pace to replace the lost funding for the current fiscal year, but long-term concerns about the sustainability of this approach going forward.
"Listeners are telling us how important KVPR is to their lives and their communities by stepping up with donations," said KVPR President & General Manager Joe Moore. "While this ruling is a win for public media, it only underscores the present reality that stations like KVPR are now 100 percent community supported. Our long-term plan envisions the need to continue to grow our base of local support. We're not counting on federal funding coming back. We're asking our listeners to step up and join the movement to help us build the future of public radio in the Central Valley."
How you can help:
Individual members remain the key building block in public radio's future. Though KVPR has seen a tremendous response from our listeners, there's still work to be done to make up that funding in the years to come.
Starting a monthly sustaining membership gift to KVPR is the most convenient and dependable way to guarantee that your continued support is a part of keeping this station central to the Valley.