Why public media giants NPR and CPB are fighting in court this week

Why public media giants NPR and CPB are fighting in court this week

David Folkenflik

October 27, 2025 / 3:26 am

The chasm is widening between NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the nonprofit that funneled federal dollars to public media until Congress killed that funding earlier this year.

NPR's legal team privately questioned the CPB's longtime chief executive, Patricia Harrison, under oath earlier this month, according to the radio network's legal filings, and is scheduled to do so publicly at a court hearing Tuesday morning.

In court documents, NPR has presented evidence to bolster its case that the board of the nonprofit corporation first approved a multiyear, multimillion-dollar contract for NPR to operate a satellite distribution system for public radio stati