New Hampshire Public Radio is continuing to speak up for press freedom and public radio journalism.
On Friday, NHPR joined a friend of the court brief filed in Washington, D.C., making the case for blocking President Trump’s executive order that would defund public media. The legal declaration supports NPR and three Colorado stations that have sued Trump over his efforts to claw back federal funding for public radio and television.
The brief extensively cites NHPR’s The 13th Step podcast and NHPR’s reporting on local addiction recovery entrepreneur Eric Spofford as examples of the power of public radio journalism to benefit local communities. This reporting, led by Lauren Chooljian and the Document team at NHPR, is referred to as “ground-breaking” and “laudable.”
Along with 28 other public radio organizations, we contend in the brief that Trump’s executive order is an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment, that it would upend a system Congress devised to maintain the editorial independence of public media, that it would strip stations of the right to make their own programming choices, and that it violates the Constitutional separation of powers. Though NHPR is not a party to the case, we have a strong interest in the outcome as New Hampshire’s foremost source of independent, nonpartisan reporting in the public interest.
Our Board of Trustees voted unanimously to support NHPR joining this brief, which was organized by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a nonprofit organization that provides free legal resources to protect First Amendment freedoms and the news gathering rights of journalists. Others filing briefs to defend public media include the attorneys general of 23 states, a group of nonprofit news organizations including ProPublica, and the ACLU. You can read the brief in full here.
This fight for press freedom continues on many fronts, with the Senate Appropriations Committee scheduled to take up another plan to defund public media - the President’s proposal to claw back $1.1 billion in already approved funding - this Wednesday. This is a battle we must join. And win.
If you can, consider making a gift or increasing your sustaining gift today to help us continue producing the trustworthy journalism that you rely on.
Sincerely,
Jim Schachter
President and CEO
NHPR
