The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) recently allocated nearly $600,000 in 2023 to the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. This organization is known for its role in content moderation and fact-checking collaborations with major tech companies. The funding is raising eyebrows due to concerns about First Amendment issues, given Poynter’s links with partisan funders and its track record of labeling conservative perspectives as misinformation.
The CPB, established by Congress in 1967, operates as a nonprofit that channels federal funds to public broadcasting outlets like NPR and PBS. Despite being dubbed a private nonprofit, the CPB is fully taxpayer-funded, relying on congressional appropriations for its budget. According to Joe Vazquez’s investigation for NewsBusters, MRC Business found that the CPB allocated $599,330 to Poynter in 2023.
Poynter oversees the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), which collaborates with platforms like Facebook to monitor and flag content considered misinformation. The topics frequently targeted include COVID-19 policies, election procedures, and abortion legislation. The IFCN receives financial support from numerous liberal donors, such as George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar, the Tides Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Knight Foundation.
These associations have sparked ongoing concerns that publicly funded entities might be engaging in political censorship, particularly targeting conservative viewpoints. Poynter also runs PolitiFact, a fact-checking service that partners with PBS NewsHour. Vazquez points out that PolitiFact has never conducted a fact-check on any claims from PBS or NPR personnel, fueling further allegations of bias.
In his book “Fact-Checking the Fact-Checkers,” Vazquez highlights how major contributions to Poynter come from left-leaning philanthropic sources, including those linked to Soros. He argues these financial ties influence PolitiFact’s editorial choices, especially in its coverage of Soros. One example cited is a PolitiFact article addressing a claim by commentator Candace Owens during the 2020 Minneapolis unrest.
Owens claimed Soros was “funding the chaos” in the city through his Open Society Foundations. PolitiFact’s Emily Venezky rated the claim “False,” acknowledging that Soros donated $33 million to organizations involved in Ferguson-related activism, which aligned with Black Lives Matter messaging. Venezky’s article emphasized that the funds were not expressly designated for protest organization, a point critics argue is misleading given how grant recipients operate.
In another case, PolitiFact’s Yacob Reyes also labeled a similar claim from Owens as “False,” stating that the $33 million did not go to groups officially branded as Black Lives Matter, despite many organizations sharing similar goals and rhetoric. These editorial choices have led to calls for more transparency and scrutiny of fact-checkers with public or politically connected funding.
The influence of the International Fact-Checking Network on content moderation has waned in recent years. With Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, now X, the company ended its reliance on these external fact-checkers. Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram have also reduced their partnerships with third-party fact-checking groups amid increasing public criticism of ideological bias.
While the CPB has not issued a public statement on its funding of the Poynter Institute, demands for accountability are likely to increase. Lawmakers and watchdog groups are expected to continue investigating the extent of taxpayer dollars supporting media entities tied to partisan networks and political influence campaigns. The opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of RVM News.
