PBS has closed its diversity, equity and inclusion office in order to comply with a recent executive order from President Donald Trump.
In a memo first shared publicly by New York Times media reporter Benjamin Mullin, PBS President Paula Kerger said the organization had been working with legal counsel in recent weeks to determine how Trump’s executive order could affect PBS. This led to PBS closing its DEI office and dismissing the two employees in charge of DEI work.
Cecilia Loving, SVP and head of DEI, joined PBS in the summer of 2021, less than a year after filmmakers pushed PBS to improve its DEI practices. Gina Leow, director of DEI, was hired in late 2021.
“Our mission to educate, engage and inspire the wide variety of American communities we serve will continue to be at the center of our work, and we’ll also continue to ensure that PBS remains a welcoming place for everyone,” Kerger wrote in the memo.
A statement from PBS echoed Kerger’s memo: “In order to best ensure we are in compliance with the President’s executive order around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion we have closed our DEI office. The staff members who served in that office are leaving PBS. We will continue to adhere to our mission and values. PBS will continue to reflect all of America and remain a welcoming place for everyone.”
After his inauguration, Trump signed three executive orders aimed at weakening and ending DEI programs: “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” and “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.” PBS did not specify which order prompted their decision.
The “wasteful government” order requires the Office of Management and Budget to “coordinate the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.”
Trump sought to cut public media funding in his first term as president. Brendan Carr, Trump’s appointee as FCC chair, has requested an investigation into PBS, NPR and member stations regarding underwriting. Last week, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) asked Kerger and NPR CEO Katherine Maher to testify in a March hearing that would examine public media’s journalism and federal funding.
NPR has not responded to a question from Current about whether it is considering similar changes. The network employs a chief diversity officer and a VP of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Current reporter Tyler Falk contributed to this article.