The threat is now real: the White House is taking steps to defund public media. This is despite the fact that total federal funding of this resource accounts for less than one-hundredth of one percent of the federal budget.

The President signed an Executive Order on May 2, 2025, instructing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) — a nonprofit authorized by Congress since 1967 to steward the government’s investment in public broadcasting, via grants to individual stations — to cancel existing funding “to the maximum extent allowed by law” and cease any future funding to NPR and PBS.

The Executive Order also prohibits any radio or TV station receiving a Community Service Grant from the CPB from using those monies towards any NPR or PBS programming.

The CPB has responded that it is “not a federal agency subject to the President’s authority” and is authorized and funded by Congress to be wholly independent.

What does this mean for WXPN?

The Executive Order is targeted specifically towards NPR and PBS and does not directly call for funds to be rescinded or removed from other stations that receive CPB funding, like WXPN…for now.

That said, there are a number of far-reaching potential actions currently being considered by the administration that would remove federal support of public media in its entirety. These include, most notably, a rescission package asking Congress to claw back previously appropriated funds for the next two years, a “zeroing out” of the CPB in the upcoming federal budget and a commitment to zero funding for a ten-year period.

Without a doubt, if enacted there would be long term effects on WXPN and the entire public media system from these actions. If zeroed out, WXPN would have to raise an additional million dollars per year to offset the loss of funds and services.

In sharp contrast, there are many ways we are remaining focused and generous in our mission to serve our community of artists and audiences. Our work powers the local music ecosystem and the creative economy through concerts and promotional partnerships; opens up free access to experiences, both in person and digitally, for music fans; expands and builds upon our place as a national leader in musical discovery through our hosting of the annual NONCOMMvention; and invites community to take root through regular shared events like weekly Free At Noon concerts and the XPoNential Music Festival.

WXPN has had the capacity, the resources, and the commitment to steadily grow our impact over the last three decades. This is thanks in large part to support from our listeners.

In order to plan with confidence as we move into an uncertain future where resources are under threat, we need to rely more than ever on the sustaining generosity of our listening community to bridge the gap.

The most important thing you can do is support WXPN in a way that is meaningful, by joining as a member or increasing existing support. Together, we will weather this storm.

Click here to make a donation to WXPN

To learn more about how to make your voice heard in support of public media, visit Protect My Public Media