The House panel going after government waste is demanding the National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service to defend why they should continue to receive taxpayer money after accusing the outlets of producing “systematically biased content.”
The Delivering on Government Efficiency panel, an offshoot of President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, sent letters to NPR CEO Katherine Maher and PBS Paula A. Kerger on Monday calling on them to testify before the subcommittee in March.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican leading the subcommittee, accused both organizations of producing “blatantly ideological and partisan coverage.”
She provided examples of biased or partisan coverage that included NPR’s refusal to report on the Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 presidential election.
Federal funding does not compromise the entirety of the outlets’ revenue streams, but as NPR noted on its website, less federal dollars could mean less journalism from the organization.
Their funding comes in part from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which Congress allotted $535 million in the current budget. Money from the CPB makes up roughly 15% of public television and 10% of radio broadcasting funding.
NPR and PBS were asked to appear before the panel on March 3 or March 24.
In the letter to NPR, Ms. Greene cited comments made by Ms. Maher dismissing calls for the organization to produce “fairer and more balanced.” Ms. Greene also cited accusations of biased NPR reporting levied by former NPR senior business editor Uri Berliner.
Mr. Berliner, in a scathing essay in April, likened NPR to an assembly line to produce stories about “instances of supposed racism, transphobia, signs of the climate apocalypse, Israel doing something bad, and the dire threat of Republican policies.”
NPR said in a statement that it “constantly strive[s] to hold ourselves to the highest standards of journalism.”
“Today our President and CEO Katherine Maher received a request to testify before the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency in March,” NPR said. “We welcome the opportunity to discuss the critical role of public media in delivering impartial, fact-based news and reporting to the American public.”
Ms. Greene’s letter to Ms. Kerger similarly highlighted an instance of biased news coverage, including a PBS report that implied that Mr. Elon Musk made a “fascist salute” at an inaugural event.
Ms. Greene noted that the Anti-Defamation League described Mr. Musk as making an “awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute.”
“This sort of bias betrays the principles of objective reporting and undermines public trust,” she wrote. “As an organization that receives federal funds through its member stations,3 PBS should provide reporting that serves the entire public, not just a narrow slice of like-minded individuals and ideological interest groups.”
The Washington Times reached out to PBS for comment.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.