United States of America (USA)

The United States combines a large commercial media sector with a decentralised public-broadcasting system and federally financed international broadcasters.

Political trends

Donald Trump began his second term as president on 20 January 2025. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats against 45 for Democrats and two for independents, and 218 House seats against 214 for Democrats, with one independent and two vacancies. All 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats are contested in the midterm elections on 3 November 2026.

Executive Order 14238 of 14 March 2025 directed USAGM to reduce its operations to the minimum required by law. Executive Order 14290 of 1 May 2025 directed the CPB board and federal agencies to end funding for NPR and PBS. The Rescissions Act of 2025 (P.L. 119-28), signed on 24 July 2025, withdrew US$1.1 billion already committed to public media for FY2026 and FY2027. CPB announced on 5 January 2026 that its board had voted to dissolve the organisation.

Media freedom trends

The United States ranked 64th of 180 countries in RSF’s 2026 World Press Freedom Index, with a score of 62.61, down from 57th and 65.49 in 2025. RSF says the president has censored government data, attempted to dismantle US public broadcasters, used independent government agencies to punish critical media and halted aid for media freedom abroad. It cites the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s count of more than 170 attacks on journalists in 2025, nearly double the previous year.

The Federal Communications Commission voted on 6 August 2026 to repeal the national ownership cap, which limited a single broadcaster’s reach to 39% of US households, and on 9 October RSF joined a coalition seeking a stay of the repeal. On 19 October RSF and Democracy Defenders Fund asked the Office of Special Counsel to investigate whether FCC Chairman Brendan Carr had violated the Hatch Act.

State media

SMM’s 2026 assessment covers three organisations. USAGM is State-Controlled (SC), reflecting government-appointed management and reported intervention in VOA’s editorial decisions. The classification covers the agency’s federal broadcasting operations; its grantee corporations require individual assessments. Congress provided USAGM with US$652.7 million for FY2026, against US$866.9 million for FY2025.

NPR is Independent Public (IP), as in every cycle since 2022. PBS, which left the dataset in 2025, returns as IP after a reassessment of that exclusion. Both keep member-led governance and editorial safeguards despite the loss of regular CPB support.

On 31 March 2026 a federal court permanently barred enforcement of the executive order’s instruction to stop funding NPR and PBS, and the government did not appeal. The ruling did not reverse Congress’s rescission of CPB appropriations.

October 2026

Media profiles