PBS and NPR Tied to Soros-Backed Fact-Checkers Through Taxpayer CPB Funding

An investigation by NewsBusters’ Joe Vazquez has revealed that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a federally funded entity, awarded nearly $600,000 in 2023 to the Poynter Institute for Media Studies — an organization known for its involvement in content moderation efforts and fact-checking partnerships with Big Tech platforms.

The funding is drawing scrutiny over potential First Amendment implications, given the Poynter Institute’s affiliations with partisan funders and its history of labeling conservative viewpoints as misinformation.

The CPB, created by Congress in 1967, functions as a nonprofit entity that distributes federal funds to public broadcasting outlets across the country, including NPR and PBS. Although technically designated as a private nonprofit, the CPB is entirely taxpayer-funded, receiving its budget through congressional appropriations.

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According to Vazquez’s report, MRC Business discovered that the CPB disbursed $599,330 to the Poynter Institute in 2023.

Poynter oversees the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), which has worked closely with platforms like Facebook to monitor and restrict content deemed to be misinformation.

Topics often targeted include COVID-19 policies, election procedures, and abortion legislation.

The IFCN receives funding from several liberal donors, including George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar, the Tides Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Knight Foundation, among others.

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These affiliations have raised ongoing concerns among critics that publicly funded institutions are indirectly participating in political censorship campaigns targeting conservative viewpoints.

Poynter also operates PolitiFact, a fact-checking outlet that maintains a partnership with PBS NewsHour.

According to Vazquez, PolitiFact has never published a fact-check on any claims made by PBS or NPR personnel — a detail that has led to further allegations of bias.

In his book Fact-Checking the Fact-Checkers, Vazquez documents how major contributions to Poynter have come from left-leaning philanthropic sources, including Soros-linked organizations.

He cites these financial relationships as a factor in PolitiFact’s editorial decisions, particularly in coverage relating to Soros himself.

One such example highlighted in the report is a PolitiFact article responding to a claim made by commentator Candace Owens during the 2020 unrest in Minneapolis.

Owens stated that Soros was “funding the chaos” in the city via his Open Society Foundations. In response, PolitiFact’s Emily Venezky rated the claim “False,” while acknowledging that Soros donated $33 million to organizations involved in Ferguson-related activism and that aligned with Black Lives Matter messaging.

Venezky’s article emphasized that the funding was not explicitly designated for protest organization, a distinction critics argue is misleading given how grant recipients operate on the ground.

In another instance, PolitiFact’s Yacob Reyes also rated a similar claim from Owens as “False,” citing that the $33 million did not go to groups officially branded as Black Lives Matter, even though many of the organizations shared identical goals and rhetoric.

These editorial decisions have added to calls for greater transparency and scrutiny of fact-checkers that receive public or politically connected funding.

The International Fact-Checking Network’s influence over content moderation has diminished in recent years.

Twitter, now X, discontinued its reliance on these external fact-checkers following Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company.

Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram have also scaled back their partnerships with third-party fact-checking organizations amid growing public criticism of ideological bias.

While the CPB has not publicly commented on its funding of the Poynter Institute, calls for accountability are expected to grow as lawmakers and watchdog groups continue to examine the extent of taxpayer dollars being used to support media entities tied to partisan networks and political influence campaigns.