PBS practices answers with lawyers. The NPR executive is preparing to monitor the fallout. Members of the Congress promote the Star witness, the leader of two public media networks.
They are all preparing for Wednesday's hearing – the title, entitled “Anti-American Radio,” is hosted by Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Green, who leads the House Subcommittee, which has been linked to Elon Musk's efforts to cut federal spending.
In an interview, Greene said she plans to call on PBS CEO Paula Karger and NPR CEO Katherine Maher that she is planning to call two top witnesses, Paula Karger and NPR CEO, to address what is deemed liberal bias in the organization. She also reiterated her support for the PBS and NPR refunds promoted by many of President Trump's supporters.
Executives say they are ready to defend the work produced by the organization and the government funds that support it.
“Everything is at stake,” Karger said in an interview. “If this funding is not continued, the future of many stations across the country will be at risk.”
NPR and PBS employees, as well as supporters of the organization, are waiting for the hearing with concern. For more than half a century, Republicans in Congress have tried to cut PBS and NPR funds to no avail. But there is probably no threat to this day.
Congressional Republicans this year have introduced legislation to eliminate funding for public media. Musk has publicly called for something similar from the Department of Government Efficiency, a secret office aimed at federal spending.
Cuts from Congress or Musk's efforts could undermine a network of television and radio station organizations ranging from New York City to Norme, Alaska.
The release for Public Broadcasting, a government-backed organization that has supported public radio and television since its inception in 1967, received $535 million from the government this year. While the financial support provided by public broadcasters for public broadcasting to NPR and PBS is relatively small, about 1% of NPR's budget and 15% of PBS provide large amounts of funding to some of the smaller stations.
“As members of the public media system, we know that federal funding is essential to ensure that all America can hear and hear on a truly national network,” Maher said in an email.
Some are worried that Karger and Maher will be exposed to the same militant interrogation that Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania presidents faced during the 2023 campus anti-Semitism hearing.
The conservatives were particularly critical of NPR and Maher. Many seized an essay written by Uri Berliner, former senior editor of NPR, a year ago. The essay landed for the digital startup Free Press several weeks after Maher joined NPR following his stint as the top executive at Web Summit, an organization that hosts technology events around the world.
Maher, 41, said he met with members of Congress last year to hear their concerns and that the network introduced “measures designed to strengthen the commitment to journalism among all Americans.”
NPR critics also fell to zero on social media posts from Maher before joining NPR. They also had problems with the speech she gave before she joined NPR, and Maher said “respect for the truth may be a distraction.”
NPR said in April that Maher had supported the Code of Ethics since his arrival, when criticism of the social media posts sparked. Maher said the clips of her speech “misunderstand the idea,” she explored “how people use the word truth to refer to issues of belief rather than problems of fact, and how it becomes a barrier to finding a common foundation.” She said the speech also confirmed the “value of true facts.”
Kerger, 67, who joined PBS in 2006, said he was preparing for the hearing by considering testimony with his legal counsel. Maher told staff last month that he was preparing to watch a so-called murder committee, a rigorous question and answer session aimed at exposing potential weaknesses, with NPR executives planning to monitor the hearing.
“I look at you quite a bit. “But I need to make sure I'm paying attention to the details, so I'm as accurate as possible.”
Both PBS and NPR are taking steps to adhere to new rules from the Trump administration. In February, PBS closed its Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Office. Last week, NPR's labor lawyers told the employee unions that the language of diversity contracts was invalid.
The NPR reversal over this issue is noteworthy, as Dei was a linchpin of the network's strategy under Maher's predecessor.
“This was a strategy set up by my predecessor,” Maher said. “I was brought in to bring new energy, focus and ambitions to our work,” she added that NPR is “committed to supporting a diverse workforce.”
In the past, when Congress sought to fund public media, station directors have lobbyed lawmakers in states like Alaska. There, public media is one of the few options for news, entertainment and emergency warnings for remote residents. And recent efforts to undermine public media organisations across the state have been defeated, offering a faint hope for PBS and NPR. Last week, the North Dakota Senate broke a bill banning state and federal funds for public broadcasting with 41-6 votes.
However, PBS and NPR are under political pressure that has nothing to do with Congress. Brendan Kerr, the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, announced in January that his agency would investigate paid messages similar to underwriting-advertising in NPR and PBS. The investigation continues.
“We're in the process of accumulating all the material for them to review,” Karger said. “We are confident that we operate within the FCC guidelines, and we are confident that our documents will prove that.”
Green, chair of the government's efficiency subcommittee, said he hopes the hearing will deal with public media coverage of Hunter Biden's laptop, what is called Trump campaign's ties with Russia (the lies of Russian conspiracy), and other stories called “even propaganda dictated to the left.”
“The important thing that Americans ask is is this where we need our taxpayer money?” she said. “To very left-leaning broadcasting and political bias that are not representative of the whole of America?”
On recent social media, Greene shared a video recorded in sinister music, including clips from the “PBS Newshour” story about the NPR microphone slamming Trump on the chin with the Drug Queens.
The tension ahead of the hearing was encapsulated by a rally in front of NPR headquarters in Washington, featuring public media supporters who dressed up “Sesame Street” characters, Elmo, and Count's characters.
As costumed supporters marched, the puppeteers of Daily Caller, a conservative website co-founded by Tucker Carlson, began screaming for questions.
“Answer me now, Elmo!” cried the puppeteer. “Are you a globalist?”
