National Public Radio, Public Broadcasting Service, and Voice of America are facing calls for defunding or reform because of concerns about left-wing bias.

Three broadcasting services that receive public funding are being targeted to lose taxpayer money because of purportedly biased coverage.

Politicians and those who have worked in the public broadcasting industry have criticized NPR, PBS, and VOA, claiming that they promote propaganda on the taxpayers’ dime.

On Inauguration Day, PBS News posted on X a video clip of Telsa CEO Elon Musk with the caption, “Billionaire Elon Musk gave what appeared to be a fascist salute Monday while making a speech at the post-inauguration celebration for President Donald Trump at the Capital One Arena."

“‘Some elections are important, some are not. But this one, this one really mattered and I just want to say thank you for making it happen,’ Musk said before putting his hand on his chest and then raising it in the air. Liberals claimed it was a salute that appeared similar to the ‘Sieg Heil’ used by Nazis at their victory rallies.”

The Anti-Defamation League reacted to the uproar over Musk’s gesture, posting on X on Jan. 20th, “This is a delicate moment. It’s a new day and yet so many are on edge. Our politics are inflamed, and social media only adds to the anxiety."

“It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge. In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath. This is a new beginning. Let’s hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., shared the PBS News post on X the same day, responding, “As the Chairwoman of the Oversight Subcommittee on DOGE, I look forward to PBS @NewsHour coming before my committee and explaining why lying and spreading propaganda to serve the Democrat party and attack Republicans is a good use of taxpayer funds. We will be in touch soon.”

On Jan. 21st, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted on X, “Free people aren’t forced to pay for state-funded media. Stop making Americans fund leftist propaganda. Defund PBS & NPR.”

PBS has a longer history of being criticized for biased coverage.

Michael Pack, president of Manifold Productions, Inc., told Just the News on Jan. 14th that his Iraq War documentary, The Last 600 Meters, was principally funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The corporation provides funding to both PBS and NPR. However, after initially accepting the documentary for air, PBS declined to air it for being “too pro-military,” Pack said.

The documentary just shows the Najaf and Fallujah “battles from the soldiers’ point of view,” he explained. “I was really shocked.”

Pack, who was CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media during Trump’s first term, asked again last fall if PBS would air the documentary for the 20th anniversary of the battles, but they “still didn’t want to.”

PBS didn’t respond to a request for comment by publishing time.

Amid the calls for defunding PBS and NPR, an important issue is that broadcast stations buy programming from PBS and NPR with federal government money. Thus, not all public broadcasting receives full, direct funding from the government.

NPR has also received backlash regarding its coverage.

"NPR turned a blind eye"

Last April, Uri Berliner, an NPR senior editor, resigned following a five-day suspension from the outlet he had worked at for 25 years. The suspension came after Berliner authored an essay that was critical of the news outlet's liberal bias. He blasted NPR’s coverage of the Russia collusion hoax and ignoring the Hunter Biden laptop.

“In October 2020, the New York Post published the explosive report about the laptop Hunter Biden abandoned at a Delaware computer shop containing emails about his sordid business dealings. With the election only weeks away, NPR turned a blind eye,” Berliner wrote.

“The laptop was newsworthy. But the timeless journalistic instinct of following a hot story lead was being squelched. During a meeting with colleagues, I listened as one of NPR’s best and most fair-minded journalists said it was good we weren’t following the laptop story because it could help Trump,” he added.

“When the essential facts of the Post’s reporting were confirmed and the emails verified independently about a year and a half later, we could have fessed up to our misjudgment. But, like Russia collusion, we didn’t make the hard choice of transparency.”

The essay also reopened broader criticism of the organization, including criticism against the network’s CEO Katherine Maher, who has made controversial posts on social media. She has described Trump as “racist,” and appeared to downplay protests after the death of George Floyd in 2020.

Trump also called for defunding NPR last April.

"NO MORE FUNDING FOR NPR, A TOTAL SCAM! EDITOR SAID THEY HAVE NO REPUBLICANS, AND IS ONLY USED TO 'DAMAGE TRUMP,'" Trump posted on Truth Social. "THEY ARE A LIBERAL DISINFORMATION MACHINE. NOT ONE DOLLAR!!!"

A bill was introduced in Congress last April that would have defunded NPR. However, it did not make it out of committee.

NPR didn’t respond to a request for comment by publishing time.

Likewise, VOA has also had alleged issues of bias. Only days after Hamas’ murderous attack on Israel in October 2023, VOA issued guidance to reporters and editors that said the assault could be referred to as a terrorist attack, but to “avoid calling Hamas and its members terrorists, except in quotes,” according to internal emails.

“This practice conforms with the VOA News Standards and Best Practices guide and current usage by the wires and major U.S. news organizations, bearing in mind that the language including terrorism is often used to demonize individuals and groups with whom the speaker disagrees,” the guidance read. “Useful alternatives are militant group or militants or fighters. In this case, it would be the Hamas militant group or Hamas militants.”

A VOA spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation at the time, “In adherence with our Charter, Voice of America must remain ‘accurate, objective and comprehensive’ in its reporting. In communications with its staff since October 7, VOA journalists were reminded of VOA’s commitment to fairness, neutrality and balance. They were told not to favor one side over another or do anything that feeds even the perception of bias.”

“Its journalists have been advised that reports should note that the U.S. government labels Hamas a terrorist organization,” the spokesperson added.

Years earlier, as Trump began his first term in the White House, VOA reporters and employees shared social media posts that were politically biased against him and obscene.

Additionally, former VOA Director Robert Reilly wrote an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal in February 2017, criticizing how VOA’s Ukrainian service had posted a video online a few months earlier of Robert De Niro ranting about Trump.

Kari Lake: "Incredible journalists"

“No context was provided for this rant, and the Ukrainian service took it down after being criticized,” Reilly wrote. “One doesn’t have to be a Trump supporter to ask why a taxpayer-funded news service, whose job is to tell America’s story to the world, would do this.”

Kari Lake, who has been picked by Trump to lead VOA, told CBS News last December that she would like to provide VOA employees with the resources to "be the incredible journalists that they're meant to be."

"We're talking to the world through Voice of America," Lake added. "And I want to actually put more coverage out there, more product out there, if you will, more broadcasting, and make sure that they're doing really quality, top-notch broadcasting and focus on great journalism, asking questions, and making sure that the journalists know that they're independent journalists." 

VOA didn’t respond to a request for comment by publishing time.