Break Trust, Break Democracy

Why gutting public media is a calculated move to dismantle our democracy

I grew up in Gulfport, Mississippi, a city that boasted a population of roughly 40,000 in the mid-1980s. Like many families, for us, cable was a luxury, so we relied on the broadcast stations. In our part of the state, that meant ABC and PBS. We were lucky. The coastal region was a veritable metropolis compared to other areas of Mississippi, where news only traveled by neighbor, newspaper or public broadcast over radio and TV. In these towns and villages, federal funding of information meant a vital connection to current events and emergency alerts. Regardless of who controlled Washington, we could count on the American people to share the bounty and the airwaves. 

Last week, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced that it would cease operations this year. While this does not mean the complete dismantling of PBS and NPR, it will bankrupt rural stations and cut off communities at a moment when knowledge is critical. I want us to take a few moments to discuss why this closure matters so deeply. But I also want us to understand how all these elements fit together in a broader, malevolent strategy to destroy America’s democracy. At times, the sheer scale of what we’re facing feels overwhelming. It feels like we can’t keep up. But that’s the point. Autocracy relies on overwhelming us. So we must take every opportunity to understand their motives and find ways to fight back.

(Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Facebook)

Congress hasn’t used the power of rescission in over 30 years. Regardless of which party held power, they respected the principle that once a budget is passed, those funds are committed. The rescission tool is supposed to be rare—because reversing funding creates instability and betrays the public trust.

Imagine running a business where every contract and obligation could be undone by the next CEO. This is no way to govern. And yet, for all their talk about running government like a business, Republicans are running the U.S. into moral bankruptcy. Step 6 on the road to authoritarianism is exactly this: eliminate trusted sources of information. 

What Republicans in Congress have shown us is that they value job security and political fealty over doing the work of the people. They’d rather block information than face the truth of their actions. And nowhere is that more evident than in Alaska.

Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski represent one of the most rural states in the country, where public broadcasting is a lifeline. Just before the Senate vote, Alaska experienced a 7.3 magnitude earthquake followed by tsunami warnings for the Aleutian Islands. Public broadcasting delivered the alerts that helped save lives.

Murkowski took to the Senate floor, and begged her colleagues not to gut this funding. Sullivan voted yes anyway, promising to fix it “later”—but you can’t fix tomorrow what you’ve already broken today. His vote didn’t just betray Alaska. It betrayed every rural community that relies on public broadcasting. Which brings us to today:

One of the fastest ways to destroy trust in government is to choke off access to reliable information and windows to possibilities. PBS gave us Sesame Street and Doctor Who, The Electric Company and ballroom dancing. It opened the world to six Black kids in ways my parents couldn’t afford to without the broader support of this magical connection. Public broadcasting was essential to my childhood and to my education.

Photo by Meg von Haartman on Unsplash

Out of fear and spite, Republicans are going to erase that vital access, simply because it doesn’t serve their narrative. They want to replace truth with propaganda. They’ve decided that if they don’t like the information, it must not be true.

This is dangerous. It undermines the very foundation of democracy, which requires an informed citizenry. Trump and his Republican allies know that if people can’t access the truth, they can’t fight back. It's hard to resist what you don’t know exists.

PBS, NPR, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting have stood in the gap for decades. Now, Republicans have gutted their funding, in order to break trust and ultimately break democracy.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting will cease to exist in the coming months, but local news still matters. NPR and PBS will continue. Our job is to step up. Support them. Donate. Demand better. Ask your school board, city council, county commissions and state legislatures to issue resolutions condemning this breach of trust. Attend town halls and ask the questions. Reject the idea that silence protects us—it doesn’t.

They break things hoping we’ll accept the brokenness. But we can’t. We must speak up, share our outrage, and tell our stories. Let them know this matters.

You’ve heard me say it before: politicians are like teenagers—they respond to money, peer pressure, and attention. Most of us don’t have money or influence in the halls of power, but we can shine a light on their decisions. We can draw attention. And we must.

Because the crises won’t stop. The need for connection won’t stop. And so we can’t stop either. This moment demands our outrage and our action.

Every day, Trump and his Republican allies are trying to gut our government and erase our belief in democracy. They are attacking education, media, and anyone who speaks the truth. Because they know information is power. That’s why they’re targeting public broadcasting. 

Their math is clear: break government + break trust = break democracy.

We must reject their calculus. I’ll keep calling on us to fight together. Because they cannot win if we fight back. They’ll try to make us believe it’s too late, but it’s not.

They need our votes. They need our silence. And we don’t have to give them either. We must hold fast to our right to the truth, our right to a real democracy. We must believe—and prove—that democracy can deliver.