Tudor Dixon to Newsmax: NPR Should Practice Capitalism

Tudor Dixon, host of "The Tudor Dixon Podcast," suggested on Newsmax on Tuesday that NPR sustain itself by generating its own revenue rather than relying on taxes.

Speaking to "Rob Schmitt Tonight" regarding NPR's lawsuit with the Trump administration, which sought to cut public funding of the radio network, Dixon said, "I don't think they have a lot of ground here."

"I think somebody needs to explain to NPR they're not being shut down. There's this thing called capitalism, and they are welcome to fund their own programming just like everybody else does. If they are so popular, put some ads on there, build some revenue, pay your people that way, the way everyone else in the United States does," she added.

As for NPR's receiving taxpayer dollars, the funding structure for the radio station is complex. According to Howard Husock, a senior fellow in domestic policy at the American Enterprise Institute, NPR maintains its nearly $500 million budget in part through payments from local public radio stations, which receive federal grant money from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. These stations pay NPR programming and membership fees, indirectly funneling taxpayer funds to the network.

To Husock, NPR's assertion that it receives only 1% of its budget from the government is misleading.

"NPR may receive little direct federal funding, but a good deal of its budget comprises federal funds that flow to it indirectly by federal law," Husock wrote in 2023. "Here's how it works: Under the terms of the 1967 Public Broadcasting Act, funds are allocated annually to a non-governmental agency, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, overseen by a board of presidential appointees.

"That corporation, in turn, can choose to support original programming produced by public television or public radio — but, by law, must direct much of its $445 million funding (scheduled to top $500 million next fiscal year) to local public television and public radio stations across the country, via so-called 'community service grants.'"

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• NPR Sues Trump Administration Over Funding Cut
• Trump Signs Order Aiming to Cut Funding to NPR, PBS