With the stroke of a pen, President Trump approved a $1.1 billion cut in July that ends federal support for public media, jeopardizing independent journalism across America. Now, rural and tribal stations face severe cuts or closure, and stations like Detroit Public Radio, which depends on hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in federal funding, might never be the same.

This should concern every American who cares about democracy. The U.S. stands among a select few nations with a truly free press, protected by the First Amendment. But democracy doesn’t sustain itself; it demands active support.

Here at WDET, I am proud to say our journalists are part of that scaffolding. We speak truth to power, hold government officials accountable, and bring you essential reporting that digs into what local leaders are doing and how it affects you.

How WDET works for its community

On The Metro, the daily news and culture show I co-host with Tia Graham, we put local leaders in the hot seat and amplify unheard community voices daily.

Without this type of independent journalism, democracy weakens.

I am also proud to say that, unlike so much of the media competing for your attention, public broadcasters like WDET do not chase clicks or corporate sponsors — our mission is rooted in the public interest. That independence makes us a watchdog against corruption, a provider of emergency alerts, and a trusted news source.

But because we inform people honestly, it upsets powerful people — those who benefit from public ignorance or propaganda.

Without a free press, power goes unchecked, transparency disappears, and trust erodes. In the absence of local independent media, who is holding city council accountable? Who is investigating your local school board or monitoring law enforcement transparency? Studies show when local news disappears, voter turnout drops, polarization rises, and people feel less connected to their community.

A rising trend

While the erosion of local journalism may feel gradual, the danger to press freedom is neither new nor confined to city limits. Around the world, journalists face harassment, imprisonment, and even death for pursuing the truth. We don’t need to look further than the Committee to Protect Journalists to see myriad documented examples of that, abroad and here in the U.S.

But let’s fix our gaze abroad for a moment, because this playbook — weakening independent media — is a timeless tactic deployed by authoritarian rulers across the globe.

In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has packed its public broadcaster with loyalists. This has silenced critical voices and rewritten national narratives.

In Poland, the ruling party seized control of public media, firing hundreds of journalists. It has turned it into a government mouthpiece.

Without a free press, power goes unchecked, transparency disappears, and trust erodes

In Greece, the government abruptly shut down ERT—public radio and TV—with no warning, claiming cost savings, then it hijacked its equipment. It was seen as an attempt to silence independent media.

In Argentina, the far-right President Javier Milei dissolved Télam, the national news agency founded in 1945, accusing it of being “propaganda.” Observers say this is part of his battle with the press and comes amid deep cuts to the public sector.

In the Philippines, Congress refused to renew the license of its leading broadcaster. This move was widely viewed as retaliation for the network’s critical news coverage of President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.

Again, I want to be clear: These tactics—defunding, censorship, co-option—are a familiar playbook among leaders who fear accountability. And the move to defund public media in the U.S. is part of that playbook. We cannot let this country go down the same path — a nation that has enshrined the free press in its Constitution.

Support public media

Public media’s history is rooted in education, service, and community connection. From classroom broadcasts in the early days of radio to today’s hard-hitting reporting that holds powerful people accountable, public media like WDET is an institution, both a Detroit one and one that prioritizes your access to information.

Today, your support means we can continue challenging the powerful and protecting your right, and your community’s right, to know. Please consider donating now at wdet.org/give because democracy depends on all of us.

An abbreviated version of this op-ed appeared in the Detroit Free Press.

Public media began as classroom radio in the 1920s. It was dry, instructional, and pretty boring. Most only thought of news as newspapers or the anchors you see on your parents’ favorite channel every morning.

But it evolved to combine entertainment, education, and lessons in democracy. That evolution helped shape National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service into platforms that elevate untold community stories and give us and our kids the tools to live better lives. NPR and PBS not only tells us the news happening locally and nationally, they give children a safe avenue for early learning.

Josh Shepperd is a historian and author specializing in public media at the University of Colorado Boulder.

He joined The Metro to talk about the history of public media in the United States, and the Trump administration’s current attacks on public broadcasting.

President Donald Trump has asked Congress to pass a rescission package that would claw back funding for foreign aid programs and for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The package has already passed the House and now the Senate has until July 18 to approve it.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans on Tuesday advanced President Donald Trump’s request to cancel some $9 billion in previously approved spending, overcoming concerns from some lawmakers about what the rescissions could mean for impoverished people around the globe and for public radio and television stations in their home states.

The Senate vote was 50-50, with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie.

A final vote in the Senate could occur as early as Wednesday. The bill would then return to the House for another vote before it would go to Trump’s desk for his signature before a Friday deadline.

Republicans winnowed down the president’s request by taking out his proposed $400 million cut to a program known as PEPFAR. That change increased the prospects for the bill’s passage. The politically popular program is credited with saving millions of lives since its creation under then-President George W. Bush to combat HIV/AIDS.

The president is also looking to claw back money for foreign aid programs targeted by his Department of Government Efficiency and for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

“When you’ve got a $36 trillion debt, we have to do something to get spending under control,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

The White House tries to win over skeptics

Republicans met with Russ Vought, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, during their weekly conference luncheon as the White House worked to address their concerns. He fielded about 20 questions from senators.

The White House campaign to win over potential holdouts had some success. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., tweeted that he would vote to support the measure after working with the administration to “find Green New Deal money that could be reallocated to continue grants to tribal radio stations without interruption.”

Some senators worried that the cuts to public media could decimate many of the 1,500 local radio and television stations around the country that rely on some federal funding to operate. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting distributes more than 70% of its funding to those stations.

Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she was particularly concerned about a lack of specifics from the White House.

“The rescissions package has a big problem — nobody really knows what program reductions are in it,” Collins said. “That isn’t because we haven’t had time to review the bill. Instead, the problem is that OMB has never provided the details that would normally be part of this process.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she didn’t want the Senate to be going through numerous rounds of rescissions.

“We are lawmakers. We should be legislating,” Murkowski said. “What we’re getting now is a direction from the White House and being told: ‘This is the priority and we want you to execute on it. We’ll be back with you with another round.’ I don’t accept that.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Collins and Murkowski joined with Democrats in voting against the Senate taking up the measure.

McConnell said he wanted to make clear he didn’t have any problem with reducing spending, but agreed with Collins that lawmakers didn’t have enough details from the White House.

“They would like a blank check is what they would like. And I don’t think that’s appropriate,” McConnell said.

But the large majority of Republicans were supportive of Trump’s request.

“This bill is a first step in a long but necessary fight to put our nation’s fiscal house in order,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.

Democrats warn of the consequences

Democrats warned that it’s absurd to expect them to work with Republicans on bipartisan spending measures if Republicans turn around a few months later and use their majority to cut the parts they don’t like.

“It shreds the appropriations process,” said Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine who caucuses with Democrats. “The Appropriations Committee, and indeed this body, becomes a rubber stamp for whatever the administration wants.”

Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that tens of millions of Americans rely on local public radio and television stations for local news, weather alerts and educational programs. He warned that many could lose access to that information because of the rescissions.

“And these cuts couldn’t come at a worse time,” Schumer said. “The floods in Texas remind us that speedy alerts and up-to-the-minute forecasts can mean the difference between life and death.”

Democrats also scoffed at the GOP’s stated motivation for taking up the bill. The amount of savings pales compared to the $3.4 trillion in projected deficits over the next decade that Republicans put in motion in passing Trump’s big tax and spending cut bill two weeks ago.

“Now, Republicans are pretending they are concerned about the debt,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. “So concerned that they need to shut down local radio stations, so concerned they are going to cut off ‘Sesame Street.’ … The idea that that is about balancing the debt is laughable.”

What’s ahead in the Senate

With Republicans providing enough votes to take up the bill, it sets up the potential for 10 hours of debate plus votes on scores of potentially thorny amendments in what is known as a vote-a-rama. The House has already shown its support for the president’s request with a mostly party line 214-212 vote, but since the Senate is amending the bill, it will have to go back to the House for another vote.

Republicans who vote against the measure also face the prospect of incurring Trump’s wrath. He has issued a warning on his social media site directly aimed at individual Senate Republicans who may be considering voting against the rescissions package. He said it was important that all Republicans adhere to the bill and in particular defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

“Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or Endorsement,” he said.

–Reporting by Kevin Freking, The Associated Press. Congressional correspondent Lisa Mascaro and staff writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Stephen Groves contributed.

Today on The Metro, we continue our coverage on the fight over public media funding and what’s at stake for local news and music stations across the country.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order to eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) due to alleged bias. Now, in the House Rescissions Act of 2025 — which narrowly passed the House last month — he’s asking Congress to claw back CPB funding that has already been approved.

The Senate Appropriations committee held a hearing on the bill last month, and the Senate will need to vote on the package by July 18.

If passed, local stations — including WDET and the programs you love — would face profound impacts. At WDET, about 6% of our annual budget comes from CPB.

Kelly McBride, senior vice president at the Poynter Institute, serves as NPR’s public editor. She says in her role with NPR, she serves as an independent critic of NPR reporting, engaging with listeners and critiquing public media stations when appropriate.

McBride spoke with Metro co-host Robyn Vincent about how public editors at major media outlets help hold journalists accountable, and how NPR could improve its coverage of federal funding cuts to public media and allegations of bias.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

More stories from The Metro

Federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is the focus of a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Wednesday. 

The publicly-funded nonprofit, which provides funding to PBS, NPR and its affiliates like WDET, would lose $1.1 billion — two years’ worth of funding that has already been approved by Congress — if the bill passed by the House earlier this month gets Senate approval. It would also rescind more than $8 billion in funding for foreign aid programs addressing global public health, international disaster assistance and hunger relief.

That bill passed in the House by a margin of 214 to 212, with four Republicans crossing the aisle to vote against the package. There were also four Democrats and two Republicans who did not vote on the bill at all.

President Donald Trump has already signed an executive order to eliminate CPB funding, claiming all public media is biased, but the Rescissions Act of 2025 would go beyond that, revoking funding already approved by Congress.

Today on The Metro, we break down what it would mean for public media organizations like WDET if the legislation gets Congressional approval.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

More stories from The Metro