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** OPINION
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** Trump targeted public media. Now NPR is taking him to court
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(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

NPR is fighting back.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at cutting funds for NPR and PBS, but NPR punched back Tuesday by filing a suit in federal court in Washington, claiming Trump’s order violates the Constitution and the First Amendment’s protections for freedom of speech.

The lawsuit — filed by NPR and other public radio organizations, including Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio, and KSUT in Ignacio, Colorado — says, “The president has no authority under the Constitution to take such actions. On the contrary, the power of the purse is reserved to Congress.”

Trump signed his executive order saying NPR and PBS were “biased.” He said taxpayer money should go to “fair, accurate, unbiased and nonpartisan news coverage.”

The lawsuit said, “It is not always obvious when the government has acted with a retaliatory purpose in violation of the First Amendment. ‘But this wolf comes as a wolf.’ The Order targets NPR and PBS expressly because, in the President's view, their news and other content is not ‘fair, accurate, or unbiased.’”

In a statement, NPR president and CEO Katherine Maher said, “The Executive Order is a clear violation of the Constitution and the First Amendment's protections for freedom of speech and association, and freedom of the press.”

In a joint statement, member stations wrote, “This is not about politics — it is about principle. When the government tries to limit press freedom or control the flow of information, we have not only the right, but the obligation, to speak out and defend our rights that make independent journalism possible.”

The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin notes ([link removed]) , “Only a fraction of NPR’s budget — about 2 percent — comes directly from federal grants. Most of the funding goes to local public radio and TV stations across the U.S., helping fund their operations and create programming. About 15 percent of PBS’s budget comes from federal grants.

It should be noted that PBS is not involved in the suit, although it could ultimately sue. A PBS spokesperson told Axios’ Kerry Flynn and Sara Fischer ([link removed]) , “PBS is considering every option, including taking legal action, to allow our organization to continue to provide essential programming and services to member stations and all Americans."

A MESSAGE FROM POYNTER
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** As the Post turns
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More upheaval at The Washington Post. The outlet is offering buyouts.

They are voluntary. Nevertheless, it shows that the Post continues to navigate a shifting media landscape and an uncertain economic media climate. It also appears to be a challenge to staffers, as if to say, if you’re not happy with the direction we are going, you don’t have to stay.

The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin was the first on the story ([link removed]) , reporting on the memo sent by Post executive editor Matt Murray to staff. The “voluntary separation packages (VSP)” are being offered to staffers who have been at the paper 10 years or more, as well as to all members of the video department, the copy desk and the sports copy desk.

Murray wrote in his memo, “The program is part of our ongoing newsroom transformation aimed at reshaping and modernizing the newsroom for the current environment. Like the rest of the industry, we are adapting to changing habits and news technologies that are transforming new experiences.”

Later in the memo, Murray wrote, “I also recognize, as I said at the all-staff meeting in March, that reimagining the newsroom, rethinking all we do and how we do it, is disruptive and even uncomfortable. The VPS presents an opportunity to colleagues who may want to pursue alternatives.”

Wait, there’s more. The opinion section is also being offered the buyouts. This comes just a couple of months after the Post owner Jeff Bezos sent a memo to staff that said, “We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others. There was a time when a newspaper, especially one that was a local monopoly, might have seen it as a service to bring to the reader’s doorstep every morning a broad-based opinion section that sought to cover all views. Today, the internet does that job.”

According to Mullin, Tuesday’s memo to the opinion staff said, “We’re closer to the time when the section will begin to carry out in earnest the plan laid out in February to devote attention to personal liberties and free markets. So it’s important to begin to transition to this time of reimagining Post Opinion.”

The memo said opinion staffers have until the end of July to decide, and that the Post hopes to have a new opinion editor in place before then.

The memo said, “This voluntary offer is meant to give people security to make a clear-eyed decision on whether they want to be a part of the new direction of Post Opinion.”

The reason the Post is still on the lookout for a new opinion editor is that the last one, David Shipley, quit because he clearly did not want to be a part of the new direction of Post opinion. Shipley quit when Bezos sent out his memo in February.


** Speaking of the Post
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(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Two months ago, Kathy Baird stepped down as communications chief at the Post. And two months later, Baird still hasn’t been replaced. And apparently, she won’t be.

Axios’ Sara Fischer reports the Post will not replace Baird, adding, “Under the Post's new management team, which has been in place for over a year, the company has pushed to overhaul its communications strategy by focusing more on organic media coverage around its talent and products instead of mostly public relations. While the outlet's two remaining communications officials still do proactive story pitching in addition to communications strategy work, the idea is to shift its communications strategy to focus more on highlighting new talent, product and partnership deals that underscore the Post's transformation.”

Fischer adds, “That shift has left the paper with fewer resources to handle critical stories as it manages massive changes, including layoffs and buyouts.”

Such as what happened on Tuesday.


** Good stuff
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In Tuesday’s newsletter ([link removed]) , I wrote about the good work done by the Tampa Bay Times’ Teghan Simonton and her story, “Here’s how Florida is already feeling the effect of Trump’s tariffs.” ([link removed])

It was an excellent example of showing how a big national story (Trump’s tariffs) affects news consumers on a local level.

I asked newsletter readers to point out other examples of this kind of work, and here are a few stories passed along to me:
* In The Palm Beach Post, from the USA Today Network, it’s Kinsey Crowley, Samantha Neely and Reia Li with “Were Trump tariffs lifted on China? How tariffs affect Florida depending on the country.” ([link removed])
* The Dallas Morning News’ Imelda García and Sarah Blaskovich with “Price hikes have hit Dallas-Fort Worth food industry as tariff volatility persists.” ([link removed])
* Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Kyra Buckley with “Wheat, coffee, computer chips: How Trump’s tariffs could affect Oregon’s key exports and imports.” ([link removed])
* The Buffalo News’ Jerry Zremski with “What Trump's 'One Big, Beautiful Bill' means for Buffalo.” ([link removed])

This is how it’s done. Good work, and perfect examples for other news organizations throughout the country.


** Remembering a journalism legend
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Ronnie Dugger — the founding editor and longtime publisher of the Texas Observer — has died. He was 95. According to his daughter, Celia Dugger, the health and science editor of The New York Times, Dugger died from complications of Alzheimer's disease.

The Texas Observer’s Joe Holley has an extensive remembrance ([link removed]) of Dugger. Holley called Dugger “the crusading conscience of the progressive movement in Texas and beyond.”

Holley added, “Dugger was the author of biographies of Lyndon B. Johnson and Ronald Reagan and other significant books, as well as countless articles and essays about Texas politics, civil rights, higher education, capital punishment, nuclear proliferation, and computerized voting, among many issues that attracted his earnest attention over the years. He also wrote poetry. His wide range of interests notwithstanding, he will always be associated with the scrappy little Austin-based political journal created in his image.”

The New York Times’ Robert D. McFadden called ([link removed]) the Texas Observer a “widely respected publication, based in Austin, that with few resources and a tiny staff took on powerful interests, exposed injustices with investigative reports and offered an urbane mix of political dissent, narrative storytelling and cultural criticism.”

McFadden added, “In Mr. Dugger’s 40-year tenure, The Observer set its sights not on objectivity but on accuracy, ‘fairness’ and ‘moral seriousness.’ It laced commentary into its reportage and addressed issues ignored by state newspapers, like the lynching and shooting of Black people in East Texas. It denounced anti-Communist witch hunts, opposed the Vietnam War and championed labor, civil rights and the environment. Investigative articles exposed corporate greed, political chicanery and government corruption. Many were picked up and expanded upon by The New York Times, The Washington Post and other mainstream publications. Some Observer disclosures led to government hearings, judicial reviews and legislative reforms, and won awards from press and legal groups.”

Do yourself a favor and check out Holley’s piece in the Observer and McFadden’s piece in the Times.


** Media news, tidbits and interesting links for your review
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* Poynter’s Angela Fu with “Trump’s ban on Harvard’s ability to enroll international students may affect the Nieman Fellowship.” ([link removed])
* The Los Angeles Times’ Meg James with “Trump, ‘60 Minutes’ and corruption allegations put Paramount on edge with sale less certain.” ([link removed])
* The Atlantic’s Charlie Warzel with “What Are People Still Doing on X?” ([link removed])
* My Poynter colleague Amaris Castillo reports: Los Angeles Public Press recently announced Michelle Zenarosa as their new editor-in-chief. Zenarosa, most recently deputy editor at Reckon, said in a written statement that she grew up in LA “with parents who, together with their collective 15 siblings, are scattered across every corner of LA County. This means I know the city not just as a journalist, but as someone whose family is woven into its fabric.” LA Public Press is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that aims to publish news in support of a healthier Los Angeles. You can read more in the nonprofit newsroom’s announcement here ([link removed]) .
* This is Lester Holt’s final week as anchor of the “NBC Nightly News.” His final day is Friday. Holt will continue on at NBC News and will still be seen on “Dateline.”
* Variety’s Brian Steinberg with “Jon Rosen Helped Stephen A. Smith Nail a Complex Deal With ESPN. Can He Aid Others?” ([link removed])
* Another from Variety’s Brian Steinberg: “CNN Bets More of Kaitlan Collins’ White House News Hustle Can Power ‘The Source.’” ([link removed])
* One way to get a pardon from President Trump? Maybe have your mother attend a $1-million-per-person fund-raising dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. The New York Times’ Kenneth P. Vogel with a head-shaking story: “Trump Pardoned Tax Cheat After Mother Attended $1 Million Dinner.” ([link removed]) Vogel wrote, “It came just in the nick of time for Mr. Walczak, sparing him from having to pay nearly $4.4 million in restitution and from reporting to prison for an 18-month sentence that had been handed down just 12 days earlier. A judge had justified the incarceration by declaring that there ‘is not a get-out-of-jail-free card’ for the rich. The pardon, however, indicated otherwise. The case of Ms. Fago and Mr. Walczak is the latest example of the president’s willingness to use his clemency powers to reward allies who advance his political causes, and to punish his enemies.”
* The New York Times’ Maya Salam with “What We Know About ‘The Paper,’ the Upcoming ‘Office’ Spinoff.” ([link removed])


** More resources for journalists
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Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

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