The drumbeat to cut funding for PBS and other public media and television programming has been fodder for political campaigns over the course of the past couple of years and, for whatever reason, we are not treating this with the seriousness and pushback that it deserves. It’s become a ritual of sorts: a budget proposal drops, and suddenly long-standing, bipartisan commitments to public media are framed as “excessive,” “unnecessary,” or “ideologically biased.” But these attacks rarely come from a place of fiscal responsibility. They are fueled by political agendas, cultural resentment, and a brand of fake patriotism that equates informed citizenship with disloyalty.
Public broadcasting has always been more than television. It is one of the few remaining public institutions with the ability—and the moral courage—to educate the public without being beholden to corporate interests or political manipulation. And that is precisely why it is under attack.
A Target Because It Works
Since its creation in 1967, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and the PBS network have been guided by a simple premise: a society should invest in learning, culture, and civic engagement. For decades, public media has reached millions of people—especially children and rural families—with no paywalls, no subscription fees, and no algorithms designed to inflame or divide.
PBS works.
And in today’s climate, institutions that actually work become targets.
Public broadcasting helps Americans think more deeply, understand more broadly, and question more boldly. For some political actors, that is precisely the problem. When education becomes political collateral, truth becomes negotiable—and PBS becomes inconvenient.
Fake Patriotism and the War on Public Learning
The attacks on PBS are often wrapped in patriotic language: claims that certain programs are “un-American,” that public broadcasting is “indoctrination,” or that taxpayer dollars should not support “divisive content.” But real patriotism is rooted in truth, reflection, and the courage to confront our flaws so we can grow stronger. We learn from our past, no matter how disturbing some of that history may be. True patriotism is about questioning our past and our present so that we can from a more perfect future.
Fake patriotism silences uncomfortable truths.
Fake patriotism prefers propaganda to perspective.
Fake patriotism fears an educated public.
Public television has long pushed us to examine who we are as a nation—through documentaries, children’s programming, cultural storytelling, and historical analysis. It does the work that a healthy democracy requires.
When politicians attack PBS under the guise of patriotism, it reveals something important: they don’t fear bias—they fear education.
Educational Damage: A Direct Strike at Children
PBS is one of the most effective educational forces in the United States, and cutting its funding directly harms children, particularly those in low-income and underserved communities.
1. Early Childhood Education Losses
Programs like Sesame Street, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, and PBS Kids have decades of evidence showing their impact on early literacy, emotional intelligence, numeracy, and social development.
Not every family can afford tutoring, preschool, or supplemental learning apps.
But almost every family can access a television or basic internet.
Cutting PBS would widen early learning gaps that are already growing.
2. Damage to K–12 Classrooms
Teachers rely heavily on PBS LearningMedia—millions of free, standards-aligned videos, lessons, virtual field trips, and curriculum resources. These tools support everything from science to social studies to the arts.
Defunding PBS means defunding classrooms—especially those without updated textbooks, technology, or enrichment programming. It will increase the access gaps between those who reside in communities with fewer resources and those who can access anything that they want.
3. Loss of Trusted, Unbiased Information
PBS is consistently ranked as the most trusted news source in America. Its content is research-based, journalistically vetted, and free of corporate influence. This is an essential need particularly in the world that we currently experience. In an era of misinformation, removing one of the last trustworthy sources of public knowledge is reckless and dangerous.
Who Benefits When PBS Is Weakened?
The answer is simple:
Those who thrive when the public knows less.
Cutting public media makes room for:
- Corporate-driven information
- Partisan entertainment masquerading as news
- Misinformation amplified by social media
- Politically curated “education” designed to control narratives rather than foster understanding
A less informed public is an easier public to manipulate. Attacking PBS is part of a broader strategy to weaken shared truth, undermine civic literacy, and limit people’s access to perspectives that challenge political orthodoxy.
Public Television as a Cultural and Moral Anchor
PBS doesn’t just educate—it preserves culture, history, and identity. Its documentaries, arts programming, independent films, and educational series tell stories that commercial networks would never prioritize because they aren’t always profitable.
Public television gives us:
- Independent journalism (Frontline, PBS NewsHour)
- Historical truth-telling (American Experience, Finding Your Roots)
- Cultural preservation (Great Performances, Masterpiece)
- Representation of diverse communities through stories rarely seen elsewhere
Defunding PBS is not about saving money—its entire federal budget costs each American roughly $1.40 per year. This isn’t cost-cutting. It’s message-silencing.
Cutting PBS Is Cutting the Future
When leaders target public television, they target learning itself. They target truth. They target the idea that every person—regardless of income, geography, or politics—deserves access to knowledge that strengthens democracy rather than distorts it.
PBS is one of the last remaining places where:
- Learning is free
- Information is credible
- Children are prioritized
- Culture is valued
- History is explored honestly
- Community is honored
- Democracy is strengthened
A nation that claims to value education cannot simultaneously attack one of its most powerful public learning institutions.
We Must Stand Up for Public Media
The fight for PBS is a fight for our children, our democracy, and our shared future. When we silence public television, we shrink our national imagination. We shrink our collective memory. We shrink our ability to understand one another.
And ultimately, we shrink our democracy.
The question we must ask is simple:
Do we want a nation that learns together, or a nation that is kept in the dark?
Only one of those futures leads to freedom.
