NPR, PBS CEOs to testify before congressional subcommittee March 26

NPR CEO Katherine Maher and PBS CEO Paula Kerger will testify at a congressional hearing at 10 a.m. March 26.

The Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency announced Wednesday the details of the hearing dubbed “Anti-American Airwaves: Holding the heads of NPR and PBS Accountable.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) asked the CEOs to testify before the subcommittee, which she chairs, in February letters. 

“I want to hear why NPR and PBS think they should ever again receive a single cent from the American taxpayer,” Greene said in Wednesday’s news release. “These partisan, so-called ‘media’ stations dropped the ball on Hunter Biden’s laptop, down-played COVID-19 origins, and failed to properly report the Russian collusion hoax. Now, it is time for their CEOs to publicly explain this biased coverage.”

NPR previously said in an online statement that it welcomed the opportunity to discuss the critical role of public media in providing “impartial, fact-based news and reporting to the American public.”

PBS also released a statement expressing appreciation for the opportunity to present testimony to the subcommittee. 

“PBS and our member stations are grateful to have bipartisan support in Congress, and our country,” its statement said. “We’ve earned this support from decades of noncommercial and nonpartisan work in local communities: providing all Americans with content they trust; offering a broad range of stories and programs that help citizens understand our past and shape our future; and helping children and families open up worlds of possibilities through educational programming.”