David Folkenflik
@davidfolkenflik
NPR media correspondent || Author, Murdoch's World || "Relentlessly sensible" Signal @davidfolkenflik.01
Ok folks! I’m now also over on the place where the skies are blue Same handle as ever Still here and on 🧵 s Come say hi 👋🏼
I spoke to Allison Silverman, Stephen Colbert's former head writer for "The Colbert Report." She told me how Colbert was dedicated to "service," and speaking out about the Paramount settlement reflected his care for CBS News. Hours after we spoke, his show was canceled.…
When the history of this era is written, closing off the shared-information stream contained in local NPR/PBS will be essential to capture -- but, of course, there will be fewer and fewer sources that document it.
"We have a newspaper that's printed once a week, so without the radio station, we're kind of in the blind here, locally." NPR's Frank Langfitt's richly observed story on Allegheny Mountain Radio - which relies heavily on federal $. (Not an NPR station) npr.org/2025/07/20/nx-…
"We have a newspaper that's printed once a week, so without the radio station, we're kind of in the blind here, locally." NPR's Frank Langfitt's richly observed story on Allegheny Mountain Radio - which relies heavily on federal $. (Not an NPR station) npr.org/2025/07/20/nx-…
Not clear the president has fully accomplished his aim of getting people to stop talking about his relationship to Jeffrey Epstein
WOJB, a public radio station on the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation near Hayward, WI, gets nearly half of its funding from CPB grants. Many of its listeners have no internet access and rely on it for news. Many rural stations are in similar situations. wpr.org/news/wisconsin…
Under a potential deal, Bari Weiss would serve as an "ideological guide of sorts" at CBS News, according to Puck. (paywall) puck.news/was-colberts-c…
President Trump's lawsuit against journalist Bob Woodward and his publishing house Simon & Schuster was dismissed by a federal judge today. "We're very pleased the Court agreed with us and dismissed the case," S&S said in a statement.
Breaking News: The EPA said it would eliminate its scientific research arm and begin firing hundreds of scientists, after denying that it intended to do so. nyti.ms/4500xIU
Breaking: U.S. Attorney Alina Habba told her staff that she will depart the office next week after failing to secure enough votes for the state's seventeen U.S. District Court Judges to remain beyond her initial 120-day term. newjerseyglobe.com/national/habba…
Keep two things in mind folks: Rupert and Trump are allies, but also frenemies and Rupert likes a good story
About to join MSNBC's @NicolleDWallace to talk about the severing of public media funds from the federal government - what's happening at CBS - and what it means
I just spoke with Gov. Mike DeWine - he says his team is getting involved after KY police arrested Cincinnati journalists for covering an ICE protest. He is concerned & says he never wants to see press arrested. Video only on @WCPO @WEWS @OhioCapJournal wcpo.com/news/local-new…
Conversely, NPR doesn't operate in splendid isolation. It owns no stations. It is instead part of a larger system. Whatever people think, many stations will be badly hit. Some are likely to close. That will affect their shared ability to cover the country and offer programming.
Remember how Folkenflik repeatedly told everyone that NPR only gets one percent of its money directly from the feds? Now it's "turning upside down." Something doesn't compute.
People in Bay Area and Beyond! Joining KQED's Alexis Madrigal to talk about the world of public media turning upside down. Tune in. Kqed.org
Folks! I'll join MSNBC's @anacabrera at approx 10.40a ET to talk about the decision by the Trump administration and the Congress to wipe out full federal funding for public broadcasting Tune in!
New: I teamed up with @elenalingshao and @nytgraphics to map more than 100 public TV and radio stations that are at risk of closing as a result of tonight's vote: nytimes.com/interactive/20… This is a time bomb that will go off in the fall, when the last federal grants run out.
Thank you for the good thoughts for PBS and esp. @NewsHour. It means the world. We're as determined to ever. Ways to support: 1. EASY one - let's build. Folo me - @LisaDNews. Folo @NewsHour RT this.
A Voice of America Employee has been Indicted for Threatening Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene using phones at the VOA studios to threaten Greene and her staff. The phone calls came from inside the VOA studios and control room where threats were made to the district offices of…
How bipartisan support for public media unraveled in the Trump era My analysis - for NPR. npr.org/2025/07/18/nx-…
By a partisan 216-213 vote, the House approved President Trump's request to pull back $8B in foreign aid and all $1.1B set aside for NPR, PBS and their stations for the next 2 yrs. Congress has now unraveled its role in public media stretching back more than a half-century.