There is an assault on media like ours. Public Media and how it can be dismantled was apart of Project 2025. Now we’re being sued too.

What is Project 2025?

Project 2025 is a conservative policy blueprint developed by The Heritage Foundation and allied organizations. It outlines how a future Republican administration, especially under Trump or a like-minded leader, could reshape the federal government, including:

• Defunding or dismantling public media like NPR, PBS, and other publicly funded outlets.
• Reforming federal agencies and reducing their independence.
• Installing ideologically-aligned leadership in key roles, including media oversight positions.

Public media is targeted because it’s often viewed by these groups as biased or antagonistic to conservative narratives.

There is an assault on media like ours.

Public media has always existed to serve the public—through truth, accountability, cultural depth, and access for all. But right now, we are under coordinated attack.

Project 2025, a sweeping political playbook developed by influential right-wing organizations, explicitly outlines plans to defund, dismantle, and delegitimize independent public media. The goal is clear: silence critical journalism and replace it with state-aligned messaging.

And now, we’re being sued. This legal action is not isolated—it’s part of a broader effort to drain our resources, smear our credibility, and intimidate our work.

Let’s be honest: this is not just about one lawsuit or one policy document. It’s about whether the public will continue to have access to journalism that isn’t owned by billionaires or beholden to political power.

We need your voice. We need your support. And we need to stand together—for a free press, for truth, and for the public good.

These lawsuits are often tactically aimed at small outlets, under the assumption you’ll settle rather than pay legal fees. The photographer’s legal team accusing our outlet of “routine theft” is a calculated escalation—likely to pressure, not to protect copyright. It feeds into a larger effort to delegitimize and starve alternative media, especially those uplifting marginalized voices and protest movements. We were built by activism. Authoritarian movements have historically used legal and cultural tools to silence press freedoms. First they target funding, then reputation, then they try to use the courts to bury resistance. “This isn’t just our fight” said Tahyira Arias, the owner of the outlet who is also named in the lawsuit. “It’s about defending the space for all truth-telling, especially on the stories that power doesn’t want told,” she continued.

Let’s breakdown some of the current events and policies since Mr. Trump became the facilitator of Project 2025 after winning the American Presidency.

Executive Order to Defund Public Media

On May 1, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14290, directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to end funding to NPR and PBS, citing “biased news coverage” en.wikipedia.org+15en.wikipedia.org+15nypost.com+15. Following this, both NPR and PBS filed lawsuits challenging the order as a press freedom violation.

FCC Investigations & Regulatory Pressure

Leading the charge is FCC Chair Brendan Carr, Trump’s appointee. He reopened probes into underwriting rules on PBS and NPR—concerning noncommercial spots—as well as bias complaints against major networks like CBS, ABC, and NBC en.wikipedia.org+4en.wikipedia.org+4en.wikipedia.org+4. These investigations are part of Project 2025, which explicitly recommends dismantling public media and repurposing nonprofit broadcast space wsj.com+15en.wikipedia.org+15wsj.com+15.

Trump has sued CBS and ABC, securing $16 million settlements for allegedly misleading coverage vanityfair.com+1nypost.com+1washingtonpost.com+1theguardian.com+. Major media conglomerates (Paramount, Disney, Meta) are finding themselves under legal and regulatory scrutiny tied to their reporting and merger activities theguardian.com.

This sets a precedent where legal pressure becomes a tool to influence editorial decisions.

Narrative Control & Media Realignment

Traditional newsrooms are reshaping their strategies:

Shifting toward “softer,” lifestyle content to avoid political flashpoints arxiv.org+2digiday.com+2tbsnews.net+2.

Emphasizing social media engagement, timing, and community interaction to recapture audience trust tbsnews.net+2digiday.com+2publishingstate.com+2.

Meanwhile, alternative conservative outlets—Fox News, Daily Wire, Truth Social, influential podcasts—are receiving increased attention and algorithmic amplification, drawing away viewers .

Why PBS Matters in This Battle

PBS and NPR have long served as public-interest alternatives—unbiased, local, and educational. The current move aims to strip their funding, challenge their underwriting models, and paint them as biased, undermining First Amendment principles. This isn’t just budgetary rollback—it’s a strategic assault on independent journalism, reminiscent of tactics used by authoritarian movements to neutralize dissent. PBS’s fight is emblematic of a deeper battle over who gets to tell America’s story. It all just makes us sound like a post-Nazi wannabe circus. Under a second Trump term, media change isn’t organic—it’s orchestrated. Through executive orders, FCC investigations, and lawsuits, there’s a coordinated effort to dismantle public media, reshape editorial norms, and elevate politically aligned platforms. PBS is one of the first—and most visible—fronts in this reshaping of free speech.