PBS and NPR are generally unbiased, independent of government propaganda and provide key benefits to US democracy

  Champions of the almost entirely party-line vote in the U.S. Senate to erase US$1.1 billion in already approved funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting called their action a refusal to subsidize liberal media.

  “Public broadcasting has long been overtaken by partisan activists,” said U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, insisting there is no need for government to fund what he regards as biased media. “If you want to watch the left-wing propaganda, turn on MSNBC,” Cruz said.

  Accusing the media of liberal bias has been a consistent conservative complaint since the civil rights era, when white Southerners insisted news outlets were slanting their stories against segregation. During his presidential campaign in 1964, U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater of Arizona complained that the media was against him, an accusation that has been repeated by every Republican presidential candidate since.

Trump targets NPR and PBS as public and nonprofit media account for a growing share of local news coverage

  Republicans in Washington have their sights – once again – on defunding public media.

  On May 1, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the nonprofit that helps fund American public media stations of all sizes, to terminate support for NPR and PBS. His administration is also proposing to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting entirely, threatening the funding of smaller outlets like WBHM in Birmingham, Alabama, and KGOU in Norman, Oklahoma.

  Many Republicans have denounced public media programming as biased, outdated, or simply unnecessary.

Larry M. Elkin: The hazards of secondhand news

  Let's talk about a product found in virtually every American household that sometimes causes serious side effects, including anxiety, depression, delusions, and even fits of anger. You might think this product should come labeled with advice to keep it out of the reach of children.

  It does not. I am talking about the news.