At Wednesday's House DOGE Committee hearing, Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) grilled the CEOs of NPR and PBS about their news coverage.
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NewsTranscript
00:00It's a gentleman from Texas, Mr. Fallon, for five minutes.
00:04Thank you, Madam Chair.
00:05Ms. Maher, do you believe that National Public Radio takes a balanced and fair approach to
00:12news, politics, culture, et cetera?
00:17Mr. Fallon, thank you for the question.
00:19I came into National Public Radio with a- And I apologize, it's just that we have such
00:22limited time.
00:23Of course.
00:24Do you believe that to be true?
00:25I believe that we have work to do, we always do, in order to improve and serve all Americans.
00:29More accurate than not, that you're fair or you're- You're either fair or you're unfair,
00:33so what do you think you are?
00:34I believe we wake up every day with a desire to be fair, and it is part of why-
00:37You're not claiming that you're fair, you have a desire to be fair, okay.
00:40So you would not describe NPR as objective and nonpartisan?
00:43I would.
00:44You would, okay.
00:45Ms. Karger, same question for you.
00:46Would you believe that PBS is fair and objective and nonpartisan?
00:49Yes.
00:50Okay, thank you.
00:51Thank you for the quick answer, too.
00:53So I find it interesting that the CBP's recent goal was to promote efforts that ensure fact-based
00:59journalism that promotes a symphony of ideological viewpoints.
01:04You both agree with that goal?
01:06Yes.
01:07All right, wonderful.
01:08So Ms. Karger, in 2023, when PBS had a program, Washington Week with the Atlantic, and when
01:17President Biden's mental acuity was questioned, one of the reporters claimed the GOP was lying.
01:23Another reporter, Jeffrey Goldberg, who's been in the news of late, described Biden
01:26as quote, mentally acute.
01:29Were you aware if there were any dissenting opinions on that program that day?
01:32I don't know from that day, no.
01:35There were not.
01:36But fortunately, there was a debate in, I believe, June of 2024, where the American
01:40people and the world found out just who was lying, the Democrats, Jeffrey Goldberg, and
01:45PBS.
01:46Ms. Marr, I'm sure you're aware that Hunter Biden had a laptop.
01:50I am, sir, yes.
01:52Okay.
01:53And there were many stories written about said laptop.
01:54Yes, sir.
01:55In 2020, unfortunately, NPR's managing editor for news refused to cover the story, and he
01:59branded it a quote, waste of time, not a real story, and a distraction.
02:04And instead, unfortunately, of NPR investigating, they ran a puff piece that led with experts
02:12say attack on Hunter Biden addiction deepens stigma for millions.
02:17It's unfortunate that NPR ignored the Hunter Biden laptop story, but you all did talk quite
02:23a bit about the debunked Russia collusion.
02:26Do you know how many times NPR interviewed Adam Schiff about-
02:28Congressman, I would love to say that we actually believe we made a mistake on the Hunter Biden
02:32laptop story.
02:33And I appreciate that.
02:35How many times did you all interview Adam Schiff about the Russia collusion?
02:38I'm sorry, sir.
02:39I don't have that number.
02:40It was 25 times.
02:41You know how many times NPR interviewed chairman of this committee, oversight committee, Jamie
02:45Comer, about the Biden impeachment inquiry, the Hunter Biden tax evasion and illicit business
02:50dealings with the Biden family?
02:51I'm sorry, sir.
02:52I don't know.
02:53I believe that's zero.
02:54So it's 25 to zero.
02:55Congressman Kerger, you're aware there's a political spectrum, goes all the way from
02:59the far right to the far left and everywhere in between.
03:02Would it trouble you to hear that for six months, there was an analysis done on PBS's
03:07news hour from June to November of 2023, where they found that far right was, that term was
03:13used 162 times and far left was only used six times.
03:17Do you find that troubling?
03:20I don't know the study that you're referring to, and I'd love, I'd be very interested in
03:24seeing it and understanding how they came up with those numbers.
03:27Media Research Center did a six month analysis, and it's not, how do you find it?
03:31You say far right, it's terms.
03:33They use the term far right 162 times, far left six times.
03:37That's a 96 to 4% skew.
03:40You're also aware that you covered the GOP and Democratic National Conventions in 2024?
03:44Yes, we did.
03:46Okay.
03:47Interestingly, 72% of the coverage of the GOP convention was negative, 88% of the Democratic
03:52convention was positive.
03:55Shouldn't be surprising when you have anchors like Amna Nawaz, who described the Republican
03:59rhetoric as quote, outright racism, and quote, echoing white supremacy.
04:05Ms. Mayer, NPR, you believe your reporters are fair?
04:12You said they're fair and they're working at it.
04:13I believe that they work to be every day, sir.
04:15They're non-biased.
04:17And yet, you have the voter registration issue.
04:19I mean, we're all human beings.
04:21We're all going to see the world through a certain lens.
04:24And are you aware of any registered Republicans in your newsroom?
04:29I couldn't say registered, but I know we have conservatives in our newsroom, yes.
04:33Okay.
04:34So the recent registration, when it was looked at, 87 Democrats and zero Republicans registered.
04:40I found that very concerning, sir.
04:42Yeah, I would.
04:43Not even 40 to 30 or 50 to 20, 87 to zero.
04:46But it shouldn't be surprising when their own CEO says things like, I'm so done with
04:49late states capitalism, or calls the president of the United States a deranged racist sociopath,
04:55or that America is addicted to white supremacy.
04:57So billions have gone into both of your coffers over the last several decades.
05:03And I understand why Democrats on this committee are going to viciously and vehemently defend
05:08you all because you become a propaganda wing of the Democratic Party.
05:13Sixty-seven percent of your viewers and listeners identify as Democrat with only 12% conservative,
05:20and you become a sandbox for leftist propagandists to frolic on taxpayer dime and no more.
05:25And when you said in the beginning, you're going to promote a symphony of ideological
05:29viewpoints, yeah, you do.
05:30If you're left-leaning, left-far left, or remarkably Marxist, I yield back.
05:36Thank you, Mr. Fallon.
05:37I now recognize a gentleman from Texas, Mr. Gill.