Overview

• The March 26 hearing, titled 'Anti-American Airwaves,' featured heated exchanges as GOP lawmakers accused NPR and PBS of partisan reporting and misuse of taxpayer funds.
• NPR CEO Katherine Maher acknowledged past editorial missteps, including insufficient coverage of the Hunter Biden laptop story, and emphasized efforts to improve editorial standards.
• PBS CEO Paula Kerger defended federal funding as essential for rural stations, warning that many small and medium-sized stations might not survive without it.
• Democrats dismissed the hearing as partisan theater, mocking GOP attacks on PBS programming and emphasizing the public value of local and educational content.
• Republicans, led by Greene, concluded the hearing by calling for the complete defunding and dismantling of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.