Minnesota’s Lakeland PBS joins public media lawsuits over Trump funding cuts

PBS filed suit Friday against President Donald Trump and other administration personnel to block his order stripping federal funding from the -station masses television system three days after NPR did the same for its radio infrastructure In its lawsuit PBS relies on similar arguments saying Trump was overstepping his authority and engaging in viewpoint discrimination because of his claim that PBS news coverage is biased against conservatives PBS disputes those charged assertions in the strongest workable terms lawyer Z W Julius Chen wrote in the suit filed in U S District Court in Washington But regardless of any plan disagreements over the role of constituents television our Constitution and laws forbid the President from serving as the arbiter of the content of PBS s activities including by attempting to defund PBS It was the latest of numerous legal actions taken against the administration for its moves including several by media organizations impacted by Trump s orders Northern Minnesota PBS station joins in the lawsuit PBS was joined as a plaintiff by one of its stations Lakeland PBS which serves rural areas in northern and central Minnesota Trump s order is an existential threat to the station the lawsuit announced A spokesperson revealed that after careful deliberation PBS reached the conclusion that it was necessary to take legal action to safeguard population television s editorial independence and to protect the autonomy of PBS member stations Related Society Voices In a sea of algorithms PBS Kids still puts children first Through an executive order earlier this month Trump narrated the Corporation for Inhabitants Broadcasting and federal agencies to stop funding the two systems Through the corporation alone PBS is receiving million this year majority of which goes directly to individual stations PBS which makes much of the activities used by the stations revealed it gets of its revenue directly from the feds Sixty-one percent of its budget is funded through individual station dues and the stations raise the bulk of that money through the governing body Interrupting a rich tapestry of initiatives Trump s order would have profound impacts on the ability of PBS and PBS member stations to provide a rich tapestry of activities to all Americans Chen wrote The organization announced the U S Department of Learning has canceled a million grant to the system for educational activities used to make children s shows like Sesame Street Clifford the Big Red Dog and Reading Rainbow For Minnesota residents the order threatens the Lakeland Learns mentoring initiative and Lakeland News described in the lawsuit as the only television venture in the region providing local news weather and sports Besides Trump the lawsuit names other administration agents as defendants including Guidance Secretary Linda McMahon Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Shield Secretary Kristi Noem The broadcaster says its mechanism is used as a backup for the nationwide wireless urgency alert system The administration has fought with several media organizations Government-run news services like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty are struggling for their lives The Associated Press has battled with the White House over press access and the Federal Communications Commission is reviewing television news divisions David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP Follow him at http x com dbauder and https bsky app profile dbauder bsky social The post Minnesota s Lakeland PBS joins masses media lawsuits over Trump funding cuts appeared first on MinnPost