At a time when its parent company is battling financial hardship, WBEZ is among more than a dozen public media stations being investigated by the Federal Communications Commission for its underwriting practices, an inquiry which may put federal money the station relies on into jeopardy.
On Jan. 29, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr sent letters to National Public Radio president and CEO Katherine Maher and PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger advising them that 13 of its member stations, including WBEZ, were under investigation over on-air sponsorships, commonly referred to as “underwriting” by public media stations.
WBEZ received a letter on Feb. 28 from the FCC’s enforcement bureau requesting detailed information about underwriting announcements that air on the station, giving them 30 days to respond. The station has until the end of March to provide the appropriate details to the FCC, according to a WBEZ spokesperson.
“We can confirm that we received the letter from the FCC’s enforcement bureau requesting detailed information about underwriting announcements that air on WBEZ. We adhere to FCC underwriting guidelines and are confident that any review will demonstrate compliance with these guidelines,” the spokesman said.
The station received an estimated $1.47 million, or about 1.8% of its total operating revenue, from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, according to its financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023. The CPB is a private nonprofit that was created by Congress to help support public broadcasting.
Public broadcasting stations are prohibited from running commercials. However, they are permitted to air corporate underwriting spots, which are supposed to be non-promotional announcements that acknowledge their financial support. The FCC doesn’t have direct oversight of NPR and PBS, but it’s responsible for evaluating 1,500 public stations that hold FCC licenses that allow them to broadcast on public airwaves.
“I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials. It is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements,” Carr wrote in the January letter.
Carr said, “For my own part, I do not see a reason why Congress should continue sending taxpayer dollars to NPR and PBS given the changes in the media marketplace.”
The FCC investigation and threat to pull, or limit, funds comes at a turbulent time for Chicago Public Media, owner of WBEZ and the Sun-Times. On Tuesday, the nonprofit said 35 Chicago Public Media employees, most from the Sun-Times, agreed to resign under buyout terms introduced in January.
Carr was first appointed to the FCC in 2017 by President Donald Trump and was then in the Republican minority on the independent five-member commission. He was reappointed by President Joe Biden in 2023, and in 2025, he was elevated to chairman.
Carr — who has criticized diversity efforts and wrote a chapter in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 blueprint for conservative policy — has clashed with other FCC members, including Democrat Geoffrey Starks.
On Tuesday, Starks announced in a statement that he’s stepping down from the agency in the spring, even though his term ends in 2027. Early this year, Starks criticized Carr over his decision to investigate public broadcaster funding sources, saying the inquiries overstep the FCC’s authority and seek to intimidate media companies.
Starks is not the only commissioner to take issue with Carr or to believe he’s acting on behalf of the Trump administration. On Jan. 30, a day after Carr initiated the investigation into NPR and PBS, FCC commissioner Anna Gomez issued a statement characterizing the investigation as “yet another administration effort to weaponize the power of the FCC. The FCC has no business intimidating and silencing broadcast media.”