“I am writing to inform you that I have asked the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau to open an investigation regarding the airing of NPR and PBS programming across your broadcast member stations. As you know, NPR and PBS distribute their programming through a network of approximately 1,500 NPR and PBS member broadcast stations. The relevant broadcast stations, which are licensed to operate by the FCC, are limited by the terms of their federal authorizations to operating as noncommercial educational broadcast stations- or NCES. Federal law prohibits any NCE station from running commercial advertisements. More specifically, Sec 399B of the Communications Act prohibits an NCE station from airing commercials or promotional announcements on behalf of for-profit entities.”

“For-profit entities that contribute funds to NCE stations may receive on-air acknowledgements, but the FCC has long held that underwriting announcements are for identification purposes only. These announcements should not promote the contributor’s products, services, or businesses, and they may not contain comparative or qualitative descriptions, price information, calls to action, or inducements to buy, sell, rent, or lease. I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials. In particular, it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements. It is important to me, as Chairman of the FCC, that NCE broadcast stations stay true to their important missions and refrain from operating as noncommercial in name only,” writes FCC chief Brendan Carr to NPR CEO Katherine Maher and PBS CEO Paula Kerger.

So this, rather than defunding the tiny fractions of their operating budgets coming from taxpayer budgets, is the new angle of attack on public broadcasting, which for how many fucking decades has aired brief promos identifying their sponsors without anyone complaining. Rich too that a concern over private interests intruding on a public institution coming from the regime whose Commander-in-Chief not three hours ago posted a link to buy a copy of his picture book that costs like $60, among a great deal of other scams large and small that he’s been at the center of.