Will County Gazette

Yvonne Bolton, the former Illinois chair of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly and a former candidate for the 98th District of the Illinois House of Representatives, says public media outlets like NPR and PBS are promoting biased agendas that do not represent all Americans.

The executive order, titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media,” seeks to ensure public funds support “only fair, accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news coverage.” 

Bolton, who was a long-time Plainfield resident before relocating to Indiana, firmly expressed her opposition to public media subsidies.

“I absolutely believe that media bias should disqualify ANY organization receiving taxpayer funds,” Bolton told the Will County Gazette. 

For Will County residents, the defunding will affect over-the-air content from WBEZ Chicago (95.1 FM), part of the Chicago Public Media network and owner of the Chicago Sun-Times, as well as WILL-FM 90.9 in Urbana-Champaign as well as local PBS stations, including WTTW (Channel 11), Chicago’s primary PBS station, and WILL-TV (Channel 12) from Champaign-Urbana.

“It is widely known that organizations like the Sun-Times, NPR and PBS push forward an agenda that does NOT represent ALL of the American people so why do we ALL have to pay for it?” she said. 

The Sun-Times recently defended its parent organization, WBEZ, and its $2 million annual taxpayer subsidy, arguing that the loss of funding would place the free press "under threat."

“De-funding of them would not be considered De-funding of ‘Press Freedom’ because they don't fit the criteria of a legitimate news source rather than an agenda driven vehicle to propagandize the consumer,” Bolton said.  

The move to defund public media came nearly a year after former NPR editor Uri Berliner, who spent 25 years with the organization, published an op-ed in The Free Press titled "How NPR Lost America’s Trust," in which he argued that NPR had alienated large segments of the American public by promoting a narrow ideological worldview.

Berliner cited NPR’s refusal to report on the Hunter Biden laptop story, which revealed financial ties between the Biden family and international influence operations and was incorrectly labeled as a “Russian disinformation” campaign— a narrative supported by NPR’s coverage. 

Berliner also noted NPR’s persistent focus on racially charged narratives as a major failure of editorial balance.

The Media Research Center praised the defunding measure, calling NPR and PBS the “TV and radio equivalent to MSNBC” out of step with the values of many taxpayers. 

Rapid Response 47, a grassroots conservative network, went further, accusing the organizations of spreading “radical, woke propaganda.”

Bolton pointed to NPR's leadership as a key factor in the network’s declining credibility, particularly criticizing the influence of CEO Katherine Maher.

“NPR definitely ‘lost America's Trust’ as a news source. All you need to do is look for past comments from CEO Katherine Maher and you will see that she is driven by an idealogy and belief system that should remain hers – not one that is funded by the taxpayers.” 

Trump’s directive followed a congressional hearing in which Maher admitted the network had avoided covering stories that could politically damage Democrats. It was also revealed that NPR’s D.C. newsroom includes 87 Democrats and no Republicans.

Maher, a former head of Wikipedia and current board member of Signal, has also drawn criticism for past statements questioning the value of the First Amendment and Western norms of free expression.

In a recent congressional hearing, Maher admitted the network had avoided stories that could be politically damaging to Democrats while emphasizing others critical of Republicans, regardless of their accuracy.

Maher was also confronted about past social media posts reflecting controversial left-wing views including her 2020 assertion that “America is addicted to white supremacy,” that the concept of a “free and open” Internet was a “white male Westernized construct” and Trump is a “deranged racist sociopath.” 

Reflecting on the broader implications of defunding public media, Bolton expressed hope for a return to impartial journalism.

“I for one applaud this measure and can only hope that one day we can get back to the glory days of actual NEWS reporting, with NO BIAS!!!” Bolton said.