WASHINGTON—As the U.S. Senate prepares to vote on the Rescissions Act of 2025 that would cancel $1.1 billion in already approved funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the CPB has released a new national survey finds that U.S. voters place more trust in public media than media overall and hold a more favorable opinion of public media than for-profit media.
The survey also finds that 53% of U.S. voters oppose eliminating all federal funding for public media, compared with 44% in support.
The CPB poll of 1,000 likely voters conducted online by Peak Insights from June 29 to July 1 found that respondents place a high value on public media’s core services and programming such as emergency alerts (82%), children’s educational programming (66%), local programming (66%) and national news reporting (60%).
The Senate is expected to vote on the cuts, which have already been approved by the House on a narrow party-line vote sometime this week. Several Republican senators have expressed doubts about the bill.
The survey reveals voters trust public media more widely than media in general to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly.” Only 35% of voters trust media in general, but 53% of voters trust public media networks and local stations, the survey found.
“Public media is a trusted, vital part of American life, available free of charge and commercial-free,” Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, said. “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.”
In addition, a majority of voters hold a favorable opinion of local public television and radio stations (65% favorable), PBS (61% favorable) and NPR (54% favorable)—while for-profit media is widely unpopular (61% unfavorable).
The CPB also noted that the survey showed strong support for public media benefits, including:
- 68% of respondents said public media serves as a lifeline for rural and underserved communities.
- 66% said public media provides quality educational programming for children.
- 62% said public media should remain available free of charge.
