By Committee To Protect Journalists
Photos: YouTube Screenshots
Washington, D.C., March 26, 2025 —The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the willful mischaracterization of the vital work and role of public broadcasters NPR and PBS during today’s Congressional hearing, titled “Anti-American Airwaves: Holding the Heads of NPR and PBS accountable.”
“Millions of Americans from major cities to rural areas rely on NPR and PBS for news and information on natural disasters, political developments, and so much more,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg in New York. “NPR and PBS provide an essential public service. Casting them as propaganda machines undeserving of taxpayer support is a dangerous mischaracterization that threatens to rob Americans of the vital reporting they need to make decisions about their lives.”
The hearing was chaired by Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who has accused the two networks of liberal bias, and throughout the hearing referred to NPR and PBS as “radical left-wing echo chambers” with “communist” programming. Taylor Greene called for the “complete and total” defunding and dismantling of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps to fund NPR and PBS.
The Federal Communications Commission ordered an investigation into the two broadcasters’ airing of commercials in January.
Ahead of the hearing, CPJ and several other press freedom organizations sent a letter to the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, urging the committee to recognize the critical role of a free and pluralistic press and cautioning against rhetoric that undermines journalism.
