With so much of the national political media being manufactured through narratives and public relations campaigns, it wasn’t a shock that PBS CEO Paula Kerger surfaced on CNN Wednesday afternoon for an interview soaked in elitist condescension and lies, just hours after Katherine Maher of NPR did the same. Both appeared as $1 billion in government funding is on the chopping block ahead of a possible Senate vote.
The worst part was at the end with Kerger claiming she doesn’t see any basis in “an argument that we are somehow biased” and the despicable lie that critics “often struggle to come up with examples of what they’re talking about” when all she sees is the “excellence of journalism” on display.
This was triggered by CNN News Central co-host Boris Sanchez’s final question that disingenuously framed concerns (read: facts) about PBS’s bias as surrounding their children’s shows...even though we’ve pointed out that is horrifically biased as well. Unfortunately for PBS, it’s entire system root and branch:
I do want to zero in on something that you mentioned specifically about curriculum that’s geared to children, because part of the argument from the administration is that public broadcasting has become politically biased. They describe it as radical woke propaganda disguised as news. How do you respond to that? And that being part of the reasoning for PBS and other public media no longer deserving taxpayer support?
Kerger first addressed the children’s shows, scoffing: “I don’t think that Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood is a — is a biased program. It teaches children basic skills around letters and numbers and when you look at the — the breadth of programing that we produce, we are very much committed to serving all of America.”
Kerger then broadened out and dropped the certifiable lies about critics. She even had the gall to claim PBS “serv[es] a multiplicity of viewpoints”:
To make things simple for Kerger, let’s list the date of the five most recent studies by our PBS beat writer, Clay Waters, and see if these facts are just empty gestures:
- July 8, 2025: PBS’s Washington Week hits Republicans with 92 percent negative coverage from April 4 to June 27, 2025
- May 27, 2025: PBS NewsHour featured 173 liberal-leaning guests vs. only 41 conservative-leaning guests from January 20 to May 19, 2025
- December 4, 2024: PBS News Hour used the phrase “far right” or a variation 162 times between June 1, 2023 and November 30, 2024, but only six times did they apply a “far left” label or a variatio
- September 24, 2024: PBS offered 72 percent negative coverage of the Republican National Convention, but 88 percent positive coverage of the Democratic National Conventio
- June 18, 2024: PBS News Hour never once used the phrase “pro-Hamas” from April 8 through May 23, 2024 to describe anti-Jewish, pro-Hamas protests around college campuses
Rewinding to the beginning, Sanchez fretted the defunding effort would be a loss of “federal funding that have kept them on the air for decades” and touted Democrat worries “that zeroing out federal support could turn many communities into news deserts.”
Sanchez’s first question was an open invitation to throw out the worst-case scenarios:
Our Tim Graham — who’s been covering PBS and NPR for over 35 years — wrote about the funding funny business in February, particularly this game about how much of the taxpayer dollars supposedly go out to local stations when, in reality, they’re routed back to the mothership. Earlier this month, our Dan Schneider also took NPR and PBS to task, eviscerating ten of the biggest lies they have offered as reasons to continue funding them.
Sanchez offered a very weak summation for one of the arguments to defund them: “I do wonder what you would say to lawmakers who make the argument that, in the information age, with all sorts of social media platforms and streaming and any kind of information at the tip of your fingers, that PBS is expendable. What is your counter argument?”
Kerger’s answer was stunning in its scope, starting with the claim that PBS — and only PBS — are the lynchpin for child development in this country, ranging from shows to “a lot of summer camps” they sponsored.
Ahead of the final exchange, the second part emulated Maher’s now-viral comments about rural Americans being so isolated and backwards they lack internet or any other source for the outside world but PBS (and NPR). The third piece suggested the two are the ones who keep Americans safe when bad weather strikes:
On that last part, it’s a lie. Fact: the rescission package before the Senate doesn’t affect the emergency alert system, known as the Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS). In some media markets like the Washington D.C. area, NPR and PBS are not granted IPAWS access by Homeland Security. Rather, it’s WTOP-FM, a private radio station.
To see the relevant CNN transcript from July 16, click here.
