The House Oversight Subcommittee on Delivering Government Efficiency held a hearing on Wednesday that attacked two major public news services under the disguise of holding them accountable. The hearing, “Anti-American Airwaves: Holding the heads of NPR and PBS Accountable,” accused both of holding a left-leaning bias and threatened their federal funding. Although accusations and threats were pre-existing, the hearing combined with President Donald Trump’s negative media relations highlights a concerning trend for public journalism.
NPR and PBS have survived as newscasts due to their wide-ranging trust and support. However, reporting the truth, which sometimes involves objective wrongdoings by Republican leaders, has become a point of contempt. According to CNN, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said, “NPR and PBS have increasingly become radical left-wing echo chambers for a narrow audience of mostly wealthy, white urban liberals and progressives who generally look down on and judge rural America.”
If that statement were true, Greene should also be focused on Fox News and other objectively right-winged media outlets, proving this hearing is about something other than accountability. It’s about using power to punish those reporting the truth and exercising their right to educate the public, even when it's not in favor of the majority party.
Because of this so-called bias, both stations’ public funding has come under attack. According to a Politico report following the hearing, “Trump said in a wide-ranging press conference in the Cabinet room at the White House on Tuesday that he would ‘love to’ defund both NPR and PBS.” Beyond other implications, this statement shows his administration’s overall disrespect and lack of care for public journalism – which is not a new sentiment from his politics.
Defunding NPR and PBS would severely impact communities across the United States. Nationally, NPR only gets around one percent of its funding from the government. Their member stations, however, still only sit at about 10%. PBS ranks slightly higher at 16%.
According to ABC, PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger and NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher advocated for their respective federal funding as it serves communities, including rural, small towns. Local branches of PBS and NPR report stories that would otherwise go untold, and they are certainly important to the viewers. As trust in national news dwindles, local news is favorable for many – implying that tax dollars aren’t the head of the issue.
The hearing was aggressive and accusatory. It did not feel like an issue was trying to be resolved. Republicans have an unnecessary negative view of the current state of journalism, so they are using power to work to defund long-time trusted and supported public mediums of information.
PBS and NPR are working for the communities they serve and the U.S. as a whole. Journalism is not the enemy, and removing funding from public broadcasting is only going to create a less informed and educated society.
Layne Rey is a senior studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnist do not reflect those of The Post. What are your thoughts? Let Layne know by tweeting her @laynerey12.
