Only about 15% of PBS and 1% of NPR come from federal funding. The vast majority of both come directly from community, non-profit, and corporate support. The Voice of America is the only state funded media.
There is a separate discussion about whether or not that is actually good for a society, or just adds a path for state-influenced propaganda.
I think in a perfect world you'd have access to both and both public and private funded news would be around the same in popularity.
I think the issue in the US right now is that it's pretty much only private and no public funded news.
Only about 15% of PBS and 1% of NPR come from federal funding. The vast majority of both come directly from community, non-profit, and corporate support. The Voice of America is the only state funded media.
There is a separate discussion about whether or not that is actually good for a society, or just adds a path for state-influenced propaganda.
I think in a perfect world you'd have access to both and both public and private funded news would be around the same in popularity.
I think the issue in the US right now is that it's pretty much only private and no public funded news.