CHARLESTON, W.Va. \u2014 After Hurricane Helene devastated Asheville, North Carolina, the sound coming from open car windows as residents gathered on a street at the top of a ridge trying to get cell service last fall was Blue Ridge Public Radio. And as they stood in line for water or food, the latest news they had heard on the station was a frequent topic of conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe public radio station was alerting people what was going on,\u201d said Lisa Savage, who volunteered at an area church after the hurricane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, public radio stations are being targeted for cuts by President Donald Trump. This week, he signed an executive order<\/a> aimed at slashing public subsidies to NPR and PBS, alleging \u201cbias\u201d in the broadcasters\u2019 reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Public radio stations have been a lifeline for residents during natural disasters that take out power, the internet and cell towers. And in many remote and rural areas across the U.S., they can be a lone source of local news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n About a week after she had volunteered in the Asheville area, Savage recalled driving through another hard-hit community and hearing updates on Blue Ridge Public Radio on where residents could pick up water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo that was crucial,\u201d Savage said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the West Texas desert, Marfa Public Radio provides listeners with a mix of local and national news and music. It is based in Marfa, a city of about 2,000 that draws tourists to its art scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMarfa Public Radio is the only radio service in a lot of the geographic area that we cover,\u201d said Tom Livingston, the station\u2019s interim executive director. \u201cSo it\u2019s really essential in terms of if there\u2019s news events, if there\u2019s safety things that happen in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump\u2019s order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies \u201cto cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS\u201d and further requires that they work to root out indirect sources of public financing for the news organizations. The broadcasters get roughly half a billion dollars<\/a> in public money through the private CPB, which has said that it is not a federal executive agency subject to Trump\u2019s orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The heads of PBS, NPR and CPB<\/a> all suggested Friday that the order was illegal, and a court fight seems inevitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n