Here’s a specific example that I can’t exactly link:
Shortly after Trump won the election they had a round table of journalists (including some of their own) on and they basically said “we need to fight him.” So, during Trump’s presidency I specifically listened for any positive coverage of literally anything he did.
None. Zip. Nada. I probably heard hundreds of negative stories.
Guess what? About a month or so after Trump lost his re-election bid I finally heard a tempered positive sentence on All Things Considered.
I consider that propaganda. I also remember a specific moment on All Things Considered back in the earlier days of COVID where they stated the lab leak theory was debunked because - get this - China said it didn’t happen.
NPR was clearly executing the same crisis management PR strategy, as instructed to all the politically aligned media outlets.
Unfortunate; I recall many driveway moments some 10-15 years ago, where the topic discussed was so compelling (this american life in particular) that I just had to stay in the car and keep listening.
