Budget Guts PBS, NPR, Arts Funding

President Trump released his proposed budget yesterday morning, and to say that the reaction was swift and unhappy would be an understatement, especially from fans of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowments for the Arts (NEA) and National Endowment for Humanities (NEH), which have been targeted for complete elimination — all while needlessly jacking up the defense budget. TheWrap.com reports Trump’s new budget would eliminate the $445 million earmarked for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a relatively small source of funding for programming and broadcast operations on PBS and NPR stations nationwide. To put these numbers in perspective, in 2015, funding for the NEA was almost 1/3 what the U.S. budget allocated for military bands. No, seriously.

This new budget would also eradicate funding for both national endowments, which stood at a relatively modest $148 million each in 2016, as well as $230 million for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which supports libraries and museums. Additional cuts would adversely affect the Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art. Combined, these four arts organizations account for less than 0.02 percent of the U.S. government’s $4.6 trillion budget. The NEA and the NEH — which supports museums, archives, libraries, and universities — were created in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. A statement from NEA Chairman Jane Chu is posted on arts.gov.

There is a bit of good news — defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is unlikely to cripple either PBS or NPR. NPR received less than 1 percent of its revenue from the CPB, and PBS less than 7 percent, according to data from 2014 as reported in the Washington Post. Even better — we understand NPR recently reached its highest total weekly ratings ever.

• Shortly after this shortsighted budget plan was announced, The Recording Academy released a statement in response. President/CEO Neil Portnow remarked, “Love of music and the arts brings us together, and celebrates the richness of American culture and our spirit of curiosity and creativity. Music and art serve as one of America’s greatest exports, and support jobs for creators in cities, towns and rural areas across the country. The White House proposal to eliminate funding for the National Endowment for the Arts is shortsighted and alarming. The modest support that we provide to music and the arts is returned many times over, whether measured in jobs and economic impact, or sheer cultural enrichment and introspection. The Recording Academy will ask Congress to maintain funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and renew our commitment to America’s creators.”