{"id":743,"date":"2025-08-04T18:17:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T18:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/?p=743"},"modified":"2025-08-04T18:17:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T18:17:12","slug":"public-broadcasting-exorbitant-salaries-exposed-and-now-shutting-down-finally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/public-broadcasting-exorbitant-salaries-exposed-and-now-shutting-down-finally\/","title":{"rendered":"PUBLIC BROADCASTING EXORBITANT SALARIES, EXPOSED AND NOW SHUTTING DOWN, FINALLY!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-11 col-lg-10 col-xl-8\">\n<header class=\"article-header mb-30 mb-sm-60 text-center\">\n<h1 class=\"title-lg\">CEO\u2019s Salary At Defunded Corporation For Public Broadcasting Could Fund A Radio Station For Years<\/h1>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-11 col-md-10\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-fluid w-100 wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Pat-Harrison--1200x675.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/video\/patricia-de-stacy-harrison-wpq24k\/\">Patrica Harrison\/PBS<\/a><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div id=\"stickypbModal2418\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1639588969819-0\"><iframe id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/1011927,45516661\/TFC_BTFLeaderboard_1\" width=\"0\" height=\"0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-11 col-lg-10 col-xl-8 col-xxl-7\">\n<div class=\"article-excerpt body-lg bdr-btm-black pb-30 pb-md-45 mb-30 mb-sm-45\">\n<p>If the CPB board cared about keeping rural broadcasting viable, it would not have spent $19.3 million on CPB salaries and benefits in 2022.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-offset\">\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/08\/04\/ceos-salary-at-defunded-corporation-for-public-broadcasting-could-fund-a-radio-station-for-years\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00a0<\/a>On August 1, the board <a href=\"https:\/\/cpb.org\/pressroom\/Corporation-Public-Broadcasting-Addresses-Operations-Following-Loss-Federal-Funding\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced<\/a> it is starting an \u201corderly wind-down of its operations,\u201d and most of the CPB staff positions \u201cwill conclude with the close of the fiscal year on September 30, 2025.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>You would cry too, if you were losing a compensation package bigger than the salary of the president of the United States. In 2022, CPB CEO Patricia Harrison\u2019s compensation was $524,000, according to the CPB\u2019 most recently available 990 tax exempt form.<\/p>\n<div id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1589909178\" class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><iframe id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/1011927,45516661\/TFC_300_by_250_top_1\" width=\"0\" height=\"0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>CPB is a nonprofit created by Congress in <a href=\"https:\/\/cpb.org\/pressroom\/Corporation-Public-Broadcasting-Addresses-Operations-Following-Loss-Federal-Funding\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1967<\/a> to administer funding for Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR).<\/p>\n<p>Each year, Congress gives CPB loads of federal taxpayer money, and CPB decides <a href=\"https:\/\/cpb.org\/aboutcpb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the amount<\/a> to give to 1,581 public radio and television stations. But the Big Beautiful Bill trimmed CPB out of appropriations, meaning it gets zero money instead of the $1.07 billion it expected for 2026 and 2027.<\/p>\n<p>During its meeting, the board spent 30 self-indulgent minutes extolling the importance of public broadcasting and warning that life without it could harm rural communities. Diane Kaplin used Radio Station KSDP in Sand Point, Alaska as an example, saying without it, \u201cThere would be no information\u201d about the recent earthquake and tsunami warning.<\/p>\n<p>But that is a lie. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktoo.org\/2023\/07\/18\/alaska-emergency-officials-investigate-why-saturdays-tsunami-phone-alerts-went-beyond-targeted-areas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sand Point<\/a> and everywhere else in the United States gets <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fcc.gov\/consumers\/guides\/wireless-emergency-alerts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wireless Emergency Alerts<\/a> \u2014 instant emergency information delivered to cell phones to keep the public informed, not just the ones who think to turn on the radio.<\/p>\n<p>In 2022, CPB gave KSDP $211,000. The radio station\u2019s total revenue was $265,000. The CPB portion could have been paid by Harrison\u2019s salary alone for two years. The folks at KSDP might be angry to learn that their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.apradio.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/KSDP-Operating-Capital-5-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">annual budget<\/a> for the compensation packages for all employees combined that year, ($141,067), was slightly less than Harrison\u2019s 2022 bonus ($144,645). At least one person on the KSDP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.apradio.org\/news\/c\/about-us\/staff\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">staff<\/a> has a second job.<\/p>\n<p>If the CPB board really cared about keeping broadcasting viable in small towns like Sand Point, it would not have a huge, overpaid staff in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p>In 2022, CPB spent $19.3 million on salaries and benefits. At least 14 CPB employees that year had compensation packages worth more than $260,000. Of those, five employees were paid over $470,000. Not bad for government work. It is obscene to the point of corruption.<\/p>\n<p>The Aleutian Islands are not a typical U.S. community and there KSDP radio may actually be a treasure to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.apradio.org\/news\/support-us\/become-an-underwriter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">6,000 residents<\/a> in its listening area, but in 2022 it only took in $1,650 in contributions; zero in membership drives; and just over $18,000 in \u201cunderwriting,\u201d which is tax-free advertising. The station is almost fully subsidized by U.S. taxpayers. That is how it works at most public broadcast outlets.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is there Bias? Sure.\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>The funding cut was sparked by President Donald Trump\u2019s \u00a0May 1 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/05\/ending-taxpayer-subsidization-of-biased-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">executive order<\/a> \u201cEnding Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media.\u201d A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Proposed-Rescissions-of-Budgetary-Resources.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rescission proposal<\/a> explains why CPB was targeted for defunding, saying, \u201cThese funds would be used to subsidize a public media system that is politically biased and an unnecessary expense to the taxpayer. Enacting the rescission would eliminate Federal funding for CPB.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Public broadcasting\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/npr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">far left bias<\/a> is well known, and the Federalist <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/pbs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">has reported<\/a> on it often.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs there bias? Sure, we\u2019re not perfect, but we were working on that. It\u2019s not a legitimate reason to shut down everything,\u201d Harrison, 86 said during the board meeting. It was a flippant response to an existential threat.<\/p>\n<p>A 2023 Pew Research Center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/journalism\/fact-sheet\/public-broadcasting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report<\/a> shows public radio and television has suffered from a declining audience since 2017.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe American people, many of whom have not followed this, will wonder what happened. Somebody\u2019s going to have to tell them what happened,\u201d board Chair Ruby Calvert said during the meeting.<\/p>\n<p>Wait \u2014 with access to 1,581 radio and television stations CPB didn\u2019t tell their audience what was happening? No, they did. But CPB could not generate enough public interest. The truth is, most Americans don\u2019t care if public broadcasting continues. There are many more media options competing for the public\u2019s attention than in 1967, and when you routinely deal in bias, you lose audience. It\u2019s a reality all broadcasters must face.<\/p>\n<p>During the most pretentious part of the board meeting, Harrison compared employees at CPB to English King Henry V\u2019s \u201cragtag army\u201d that was \u201coutnumbered by the French at the Battle of Agincourt, but won despite those odds.\u201d Harrison then quoted (imprecisely) William Shakespeare\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/poetrysociety.org.uk\/poems\/the-st-crispins-day-speech-from-henry-v\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">St. Crispin\u2019s Day Speech<\/a> from <em>Henry V.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd those now against us shall think themselves accursed they were not here, and hold their honor cheap when any speaks that walk with us upon St. Crispin\u2019s Day,\u201d she said before her voice faltered, and she began to cry. But Harrison was interrupted by Tom Rothman, who added to the quote, \u201cWe few, we happy few\u2026\u201d and went on to quote a movie he produced, comparing Harrison to an inspiring moment in the film. His voice halted and cracked, nearly crying, and for 10 seconds, Rothman turned off his microphone to gain his composure.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The public should expect lots of news stories about Trump killing Sesame Street in the coming months. CPB is going to use all its political clout to fight the defunding.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re pursuing two parallel strategies as we continue to do everything possible to secure annual appropriations for [fiscal year] 26,\u201d Harrison said during the board meeting. \u201cAnd we\u2019re actively preparing for the possibility of close out, or transition funding, should Congress not reverse course. So it\u2019s very difficult. Hope on the one side and sort of acceptance on the other.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As I <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/07\/16\/leftist-bureaucrats-in-charge-of-government-run-media-refuse-peaceful-transition-of-power\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> in July, Rothman, Kaplin and Laura Ross were members of the CPB board until Trump removed them \u201ceffective immediately\u201d on April 28. The next day they went to court to prevent Trump from removing them, but they lost the case. But they continued to show up for board meetings, and the other board members allowed them to participate. They even changed the bylaws (again, after they were removed and had no authority) saying a president could not remove them. The Trump administration had to go back to court and ask it to make the board members pay back money they earned while remaining on the board and to rescind any decisions they made while acting as board members.<\/p>\n<p>The board\u2019s website still shows Kaplin as a board member and now lists Ross and Rothman as former board members. Hopefully the rest of the CPB staff will not do the same thing and refuse to leave on Sept. 30 \u2014 the date the board has <a href=\"https:\/\/cpb.org\/pressroom\/Corporation-Public-Broadcasting-Addresses-Operations-Following-Loss-Federal-Funding\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">targeted<\/a> for employees to end their time at CPB as it closes out operations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CEO\u2019s Salary At Defunded Corporation For Public Broadcasting Could Fund A Radio Station For Years Image CreditPatrica Harrison\/PBS If the CPB board cared about keeping rural broadcasting viable, it would not have spent $19.3 million on CPB salaries and benefits in 2022. \u00a0On August 1, the board announced it is starting an \u201corderly wind-down of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-frauds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=743"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":744,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743\/revisions\/744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}