Ann Philbin was named the 2025 recipient for the covetted Getty Prize on Wednesday and shared that her $500,000 grant will be allocated to NPR and LA-based news organizations KCRW and LAist.
The former director of the Hammer Museum at UCLA told the Los Angeles Times that her decision to direct her grant money to NPR was directly linked to the Trump administration’s looming decision to remove federal funding for public broadcasting. She explained that half the grant money, which is traditionally allocated to a nonprofit of the Getty Prize winner’s choosing, would go to NPR and the other half would be split between KCRW and LAist.
“I wanted to shine a light on one of the most pressing issues of our day,” Philbin said. “And that’s freedom of speech and freedom of the press.”
She added about KCRW and LAist: “Those two radio stations for me — and I think for so many Angelenos who spend so much time in their cars — are constant companions. We listen to them all the time, and they’re precious to us. To even think about the fact that they might not exist is unbearable.”
Philbin’s choice for her grant money allocation comes just before Congress is expected to cast final votes on a $9 billion rescissions package that would rollback funding for public broadcasters NPR and PBS. The Senate voted Tuesday to advance the bill and its $1.1 billion funding rollback that had already been locked for the next two years.
In the lead-up to the vote, Trump posted on social media that any Republican who did not support his “rescissions” bill would lose his support.
“It is very important that all Republicans adhere to my Recissions Bill and, in particular, DEFUND THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING (PBS and NPR), which is worse than CNN & MSDNC put together,” the president wrote.
He continued: “Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or Endorsement. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The House of Representatives voted to cut $1.1 billion in funding that had been allocated for public broadcasters like NPR and PBS. Both nonprofits sued the Trump Administration in an attempt to thwart its plan to defund public broadcasters.
While it’s a long way from the money that was cut in Trump’s defunding effort, NPR Chief Executive Katherine Maher told the L.A. Times Philbin’s decision was “an extraordinary gift at an extraordinary time with real, material impact for the stations.”
