FCC Chair Opens Investigation into NPR and PBS

The chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has launched an investigation into the sponsorship practices of NPR (Lean Left bias) and PBS (Lean Left). 

The Details: Brendan Carr, the new FCC chairman, wrote a letter first obtained by the New York Times (Lean Left) in which he claimed it’s possible NPR and PBS “are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements.” Both organizations have pushed back on the investigation, claiming they follow the FCC’s underwriting rules.

For Context: NPR whistleblower Uri Berliner accused the news organization of bias in 2024. Since then, NPR and PBS have been increasingly criticized by Trump and other conservatives for bias. The organizations air programming on roughly 1,500 member stations requiring licenses approved by the FCC. The licenses prohibit programming from airing advertisements. 

How The Media Covered It: The Hill (Center Bias) mentioned that most of NPR’s funding comes from private sponsorships and personal contributions rather than tax dollars. CNN (Lean Left) delved deeper into Trump’s relationship with the media and his criticisms of purported bias. Fox News (Right) quoted Trump and added that the point of the investigation is to limit federal funding into the organizations.