CPB Survey: Most Voters Trust Public Media, Oppose Funding Cuts.

As the fate of public media funding hangs in the balance this week, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has released the results of a new survey that shows public radio and television has higher favorability scores than for-profit media.

The survey reveals voters more widely trust public media compared with media in general when it comes to reporting the news “fully, accurately and fairly.” The survey finds 53% of voters trust public media networks and local stations. That compares to 35% that trust media in general.

Support for maintaining public media funding may be in part because of the programming stations offer. The survey finds 82% of people surveyed said they value public media’s core services and programming such as emergency alerts. And two-thirds say they high value the local programming stations provide. Six in ten also give the outlets’ national news reporting high marks. The data comes from an online poll by Peak Insights from June 29 to July 1 among 1,000 likely voters. It has a +/-3% margin of error.

“Public media is a trusted, vital part of American life, available free of charge and commercial-free,” says Patricia Harrison, President and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. “It delivers early learning resources to families, life-saving emergency alerts to communities, and trusted local and national programming to keep citizens connected and informed,” she says in a statement.

Peak Insights also asked survey-takers about their attitudes of each of the networks. It finds a majority 54% have a favorable view of NPR, while 61% have a favorable opinion about PBS. But they like their local stations even more. It says nearly two-thirds (65%) hold a favorable opinion of local public radio and television stations.

Supporters of public funding have said that the stations are needed to ensure that emergency alerts reach everyone. It is a view held by many Americans. The survey finds 68% believe public media serves as a lifeline for rural and underserved communities. And 62% believe public media should remain available free of charge.

The results of the survey seem to undercut an argument made by some critics of public media funding, including FCC Chair Brendan Carr. “I would encourage PBS and NPR to focus more on how they managed to lose America’s trust. That is their problem, not Congress’s work to ensure good stewardship of taxpayer dollars,” he wrote in a social media post last week.

Many Republican lawmakers have suggested that funding for public media should be come to an end, complaining the outlets have a left-leaning bias in their programming. That is a message that has may have cut through to voters surveyed, but they take a more pragmatic approach to the solution. The survey also found 64% of survey-takers support appointing an independent ombudsman to ensure news and informational programming is fair, balanced, and free from political bias.

The survey comes against a Washington backdrop where this week the Senate expected to vote on a package of $9.4 billion in funding already appropriated by Congress that President Trump wants to rescind. It includes a rollback of nearly $1.1 billion in previously allocated funds to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the nonprofit organization that distributes federal funding to PBS, NPR and local public media stations.

The newly-released survey finds that 53% of U.S. voters oppose eliminating all federal funding for public media. Yet a still-sizable 44% agree that taxpayer dollars should no longer go to funding the media outlets.

“The path to a better, more trusted public media is only possible with continued federal support, which drives our commitment to serving the American public,” said Harrison. “Federal funding compels CPB to continually strengthen efforts to deepen trust and fulfill the mission envisioned by Congress through the content and services provided by local stations.”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is among those who sees public media funding as an expense America can no longer afford. But he concedes the vote could go either way.

“I suspect it’s going to be very close,” Paul said during an interview on “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “We’re going to be presented with a $9 billion cut and a $2.2 trillion deficit, so we absolutely have to cut spending,” he said.

But several Republican lawmakers who represent rural states have suggested they would vote to retain funding to ensure their residents have access to emergency alerts, news, and other programming. A report released last month by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) found that 79 public radio and 33 television stations are at imminent danger of going dark if they lose federal dollars.