House Committee Requests Testimony from PBS and NPR Leaders on Claims of ‘Biased Content’

February 4, 2025 TruthUSA

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is requesting clarification from taxpayer-funded news organizations regarding their reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop and other related issues.

The leaders of the taxpayer-funded Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR) have been invited to testify at a congressional hearing addressing claims of “obviously ideological and partisan” journalism.

In a February 3 letter to PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), chair of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s (HOAC) Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE), cited a specific instance of such biased coverage: PBS’s portrayal of a recent gesture by Elon Musk as a “Nazi salute.”

Musk firmly denied this characterization, and Greene highlighted the Anti-Defamation League’s statement clarifying that Musk “made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute.”

Greene expressed to Kerger that “this kind of bias undermines the principles of unbiased journalism and erodes public trust. As an organization funded by federal dollars through its member stations, PBS owes it to the public to deliver reporting that serves the entire populace, not just a select few aligned ideologically.”

In response, a PBS spokesperson shared a statement with The Epoch Times, expressing gratitude for the “bipartisan support in Congress and across our country. We’ve secured this backing through decades of noncommercial, nonpartisan work in local communities, providing trustworthy content for all Americans.”

National Public Radio headquarters in Washington on Sept. 17, 2013. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) — National Public Radio headquarters in Washington on Sept. 17, 2013. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

The statement further asserted that PBS is dedicated to providing “a wide array of stories and programs that assist citizens in understanding our past and shape our future; and enabling children and families to explore a world of opportunities through educational content.”

In a related February 3 letter to NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher, Greene highlighted NPR’s declared intent to skip coverage of the Hunter Biden laptop saga because “we don’t want to waste listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are mere distractions,” using it as a demonstration of unacceptable bias in government-funded media reporting.

An NPR representative provided the following comment to The Epoch Times regarding the hearing:

“Since our founding, NPR has worked alongside local nonprofit public media entities to meet critical news and information needs in American communities. We are constantly striving to uphold the highest journalistic standards. … We look forward to discussing the essential role of public media in delivering unbiased, fact-oriented news to the American people.”

A representative for Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the leading Democratic member of the HOAC, did not provide comment by the time of publication.

Greene offered both media executives alternative dates in March for the hearing; however, a subcommittee spokesperson informed The Epoch Times that the date has yet to be determined.

Alongside the incidents involving Musk and the Hunter Biden laptop, Greene indicated that the upcoming hearing is also largely motivated by the release of a 2024 exposé by former NPR senior editor Uri Berliner.

Berliner critiqued the organization for “exclusively serving a liberal audience and for inadequately reporting on significant stories—including Hunter Biden’s laptop, the origins of COVID-19, and the Russian collusion narrative,” Greene stated in a separate statement regarding the hearing.

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