President Donald Trump’s proposed budget would eliminate all federal funding for public broadcasting in America by the end of next year. That wouldn’t be catastrophic for NPR or PBS, which receive just a fraction of their funds from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. But as The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, Trump’s plan would decimate local radio and television stations across America, which rely on the corporation’s grants to survive and serve their vital civic purpose. (The Post notes that “stations in the states that voted for Trump received $186.1 million in 2014,” out of a budget of $445 million.)

“The elimination of federal funding to CPB,” Patricia Harrison, the corporation’s president and CEO, warned in a statement on Thursday, “would initially devastate and ultimately destroy public media’s role in early childhood education, public safety, connecting citizens to our history, and promoting civil discussions–all for Americans in both rural and urban communities.”

Many conservatives in Congress surely will welcome Trump’s proposal, but the true tragedy is that Trump’s vice president knows precisely the value of public broadcasting in the United States. Mike Pence funded public broadcasting for eight years as governor of Indiana, and even won a Champion of Public Broadcasting Award from America’s Public Television Stations (then called the Association of Public Television Stations). Here’s a photo of a very happy Pence receiving the award from APTS president Pat Butler in 2014:

APTS

After a decade in Congress, during which he criticized public broadcasting funding, Pence won the Indiana governorship in 2012. A former radio talk show host, he came to appreciate public media’s important role in early childhood education in Indiana.



“Erstwhile conservative critics,” Butler noted for the trade publication Current last year, “have been especially impressed with our emphasis on public safety, including our commitment to support the FirstNet national emergency communications system and our strategic partnership for public safety datacasting with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In addition, a growing number of successful local pilots are demonstrating the abilities of public television stations to significantly enhance emergency communications in rural, suburban and urban America.”