NPR, alongside Aspen Public Radio, Colorado Public Radio, and KSUT Public Radio, this week filed suit to challenge President Trump’s unlawful Executive Order targeting NPR and PBS. They did so to defend our First Amendment rights and the rights of public media stations across the country.
As a nonprofit public media organization, WYSO exists to serve the people of Southwest Ohio with independent, fact-based news, enriching music and cultural content, critical civic information, and deep community engagement. Our mission and our responsibility are grounded in the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of the press.
Said WYSO General Manager Luke Dennis, “This attempt to claw back $1.1 billion in federal funding for public media, to renege on a decades-long agreement between Congress and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, is about something way more important than money. It’s about the media’s right and obligation to be independent and speak truth to power in a democracy.”
NPR and the co-plaintiffs have released statements that you can find here: NPR, Aspen Public Radio, Colorado Public Radio, and KSUT Public Radio.
WYSO is proud to stand with our colleagues in defending the role of public media in a healthy, functioning democracy.