The Senate just voted to strip $1.1 billion from NPR, PBS, and their local stations around the country. Local station directors say these cuts are a “death sentence” and a “punch to the gut,” while a 2011 internal NPR study projected that 18 percent of local stations would shut down if they lost federal support. These cuts are the latest major blow to journalism in a year that has already seen major layoffs at news outlets including HuffPost, ABC News, NBC News, the Washington Post, MSNBC, and CNN. Here at The Intercept, the only way we can survive is through the generous donations of readers like you. But we must reiterate: If people won’t pay for journalism, it will die. If you’ve saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: The economic headwinds faced by the journalism industry are not new. From 2008 to 2021, the number of people employed as journalists declined by 26 percent. For local journalism, it’s even worse: a 75 percent drop since 2002. Last year alone, 4,902 news industry jobs were eliminated nationwide, a 59 percent jump from the previous year. Today, we’re also facing an all-out assault on the free press from the Trump administration. The Justice Department, Federal Communications Commission, and Department of Homeland Security have all threatened news outlets over coverage that the administration finds objectionable, while corporate media giants like Disney and Paramount have agreed to multimillion-dollar settlements with Trump in an effort to avoid retribution. The Intercept will never bend the knee to Trump or anyone else. We’re fiercely, proudly independent, and our dogged investigative journalists continue to follow the facts wherever they lead, without fear or favor. But to survive in this era of government intimidation, news industry layoffs, and Big Tech oligarchy, we’re counting on reader support. 
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