00:00Now, moving on, just over 100 days of his second term, President Donald Trump has now signed a new executive order that aims to cut funding to news outlets Public Broadcasting Service, or PBS, and National Public Radio, NPR, accusing them of being biased.
00:18The order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, or CPB, which distributes funding to the stations to seize direct funding to the maximum extent allowed by law.
00:32Trump's May 1st order also seeks to cut off indirect funding, ensuring federal funds aren't used by any of CPB's recipients to support them.
00:41While Congress has already approved CPB's budget through 2027, the White House reportedly plans to ask Congress to rescind US$1.1 billion, equivalent to two years of funding for the CPB.
00:56NPR and PBS have warned that such cuts would severely impact their ability to deliver trusted news, especially to millions of Americans that rely on public media.
01:07Trump has often clashed with media institutions, recently ordering the shutdown of state-funded outlets like Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, accusing them of being left-leaning or biased against him.
01:23This has prompted human rights advocates to raise concerns over free speech and economic freedom.
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