Today on The Metro, we continue our coverage on the fight over public media funding and what’s at stake for local news and music stations across the country.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order to eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) due to alleged bias. Now, in the House Rescissions Act of 2025 — which narrowly passed the House last month — he’s asking Congress to claw back CPB funding that has already been approved.

The Senate Appropriations committee held a hearing on the bill last month, and the Senate will need to vote on the package by July 18.

If passed, local stations — including WDET and the programs you love — would face profound impacts. At WDET, about 6% of our annual budget comes from CPB.

Kelly McBride, senior vice president at the Poynter Institute, serves as NPR’s public editor. She says in her role with NPR, she serves as an independent critic of NPR reporting, engaging with listeners and critiquing public media stations when appropriate.

McBride spoke with Metro co-host Robyn Vincent about how public editors at major media outlets help hold journalists accountable, and how NPR could improve its coverage of federal funding cuts to public media and allegations of bias.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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News media has changed a lot. In just the last decade, people have more access to information than they have in human history. 

That’s changed the state of journalism. And in the last eight years, some journalists and scholars say news outlets — like CNN, the New York Times and NPR member stations like WDET — are under attack. President Donald Trump has labeled the press the enemy of the people and has been attempting to discredit the things we say — making it harder to tell truths that are inconvenient to those in power. 

Devin Scillian shares these concerns. He’s best known for being an anchor at WDIV-TV. He held that position for nearly three decades, retiring last December. Before that time, he won multiple Edward R. Murrow Awards. And this month, he received a “lifetime achievement award” from the Society of Professional Journalists. 

He joined The Metro live from the Mackinac Policy Conference to discuss where the media is at now, the ways it’s been under attack, and what journalists need to do to meet viewers where they’re at.

“In the same way that voting is a responsibility for being an American, I happen to believe that being informed is a responsibility of living in a Democratic society,” Scillian said. “Information is the most precious resource in the world. You can have all the petroleum, diamonds, gold, silver, copper…if I can have information. I just think it’s the most vital resource that courses through the veins of the world.”

Scillian also touched on the importance of consuming news responsibly by maintaining a well-balanced media diet and avoiding echo chambers.

“We can live in a silo if we want to, but it’s the equivalent of sitting down and just eating caramel corn for every meal — I’m not sure it’s a great idea,” he said. “Everybody should be availing themselves of a lot of different news sources every day.”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

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