23/07/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 23/07/2024 18:18
"NPR has strayed far from its ethos of 'independent journalism in the public interest' by allowing its liberal donors to buy desired 'news' coverage"
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is asking National Public Radio (NPR) to turn over documents and information regarding its funding sources, including millions of dollars in donations from liberal mega-donors who appear to be buying desired news coverage.
While NPR is required by law to "adhere to objectivity and balance in all programs or series of programs of a controversial nature" as a condition of receiving federal funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), recent reports have shed light on NPR's unwillingness to cover newsworthy events that fail to align with its liberal views.
In a letter to NPR President and Chief Executive Officer Katherine Mayer, Sen. Cruz raised questions about NPR's private, left-wing mega-donors and their corresponding influence on NPR's news coverage:
"As it turns out, NPR's selective reporting may be driven not only by preexisting political bias within the organization but also by its private donors. The timing and content of certain NPR articles align with earmarked, multi-million-dollar donations from left-wing nonprofits looking to advance their own narratives in the press. In other words, NPR may be engaged in a Payola scheme to leverage its dwindling credibility as a nonpartisan news organization to 'help' partisan, left-wing mega-donors."
As Sen. Cruz points out in the letter, U.S. taxpayers provide millions of dollars in both direct and indirect funding to NPR. While NPR conceals the total amount it receives through taxpayer funds to local stations, it has acknowledged that such funding "comprise[s] a significant portion of NPR's largest source of revenue" and that "[t]he loss of federal funding [from CPB] would undermine the stations' ability to pay NPR for programming."
In addition to the millions it collects each year from taxpayers, NPR receives substantial support from left-wing mega-donors like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. As Sen. Cruz lays out in his letter and a corresponding memo, after pocketing these hefty sums, NPR churned out content mirroring its donors' agendas.
The memo details the following donations from left-wing organizations and related NPR news coverage:
"These and other examples show that NPR has strayed far from its ethos of 'independent journalism in the public interest' by allowing its liberal donors to buy desired 'news' coverage," Sen. Cruz wrote to Ms. Maher. "If the American taxpayer is going to finance a public broadcaster, then they deserve nothing less than fair and unbiased reporting."
Sen. Cruz concluded the letter by asking NPR to turn over documents and information regarding both its public and private funding sources no later than July 26, 2024.
To read the full letter to NPR, CLICK HERE.
To read Sen. Cruz's memo outlining NPR's private donations and corresponding news coverage, CLICK HERE.
Background
In December 2023, Sen. Cruz opened an investigation into the legality of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's (CPB) mandate that radio and television stations must engage in affirmative action to qualify for grant funding. The letter revealed how CPB board members recently voted to modify existing affirmative action mandates for publicly funded media outlets like NPR as a workaround to state anti-DEI legislation. Last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that affirmative action, which considers traits like race as a plus-factor in college admissions or employment, violates the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.
In April, Sen. Cruz sent a letter questioning CPB about taxpayer-funded NPR's reporting, which has become increasingly liberal and partisan in recent years. NPR receives taxpayer funding through CPB. CPB falls under the jurisdiction of the Senate Commerce Committee.
###