Voters Divided on Whether Receiving Government Funds Is a Conflict of Interest for Broadcast Stations

Publication Date: 07/23/2025 7:52 PM CST

Voters Divided on Whether Receiving Government Funds Is a Conflict of Interest for Broadcast Stations

Publication: 07/23/2025 7:52 PM CST

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Voters are evenly divided between those who say that there is a conflict of interest when broadcast stations receive funding from the governments on which they report.
- Thirty-nine percent (39%) say there is a conflict, and 36% say there is not.
However, half (49%) say that a media company that receives most of its income from the government will protect the government from criticism in its political coverage.
Just 15% of voters say that NPR and PBS get 10% or less of their funding from the government. While the exact percentage varies, this is in the right ballpark.
Half (51%) of all voters have not listened to NPR news coverage at all in the last 24 hours.
- Voters in the largest cities are much more likely to listen to NPR.

The most recent data cited is from a Napolitan News Service survey of 1,000 Registered Voters conducted online by Scott Rasmussen July 21-22, 2025. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc. and has a margin of error of +/- 3.1.