Photo by David King via Flickr Government

Is it time to defund NPR? Liz Terwilliger and Stephen Wahrhaftig August 8, 2025 August 7, 2025

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The left-hand portion of the FM dial is a special oasis that grants financial advantages to a select group of broadcasters.

The section between 88.1 and 91.9 can only be occupied by Non-Commercial Educational Licensed (NCE) stations. These stations operate with several government-granted advantages — they are tax-exempt, are free to accept underwriting funds, and may be awarded financial grants based on their status.

In the Philadelphia area, we have a mix of NPR stations, and college stations that are independent, or have some NPR affiliation (like running NPR new

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