Is it better then nothing? Yes. Is it free, fair and unbiased? Hahaha fuck no.
As someone from a country that has this (Germany): It's not unbiased, because it's financed by the state and dependent upon the parties in power for it's continued existence. In Germany that means being beholden to a bunch of neolib and conservative parties. And obviously these libs and conservatives only know how eat hot chip, lie and privatize everything, meaning state media receives a pittance of money and politicians still complain about that being too much.
It is not financed by the state but directly through the citizens (although it is mandatory). Its' job is literally to be unbiased https://www.bpb.de/kurz-knapp/hintergrund-aktuell/311191/oeffentlich-rechtlicher-rundfunk-von-der-gruendung-der-ard-bis-heute/
Is it better then nothing? Yes. Is it free, fair and unbiased? Hahaha fuck no.
As someone from a country that has this (Germany): It's not unbiased, because it's financed by the state and dependent upon the parties in power for it's continued existence. In Germany that means being beholden to a bunch of neolib and conservative parties. And obviously these libs and conservatives only know how eat hot chip, lie and privatize everything, meaning state media receives a pittance of money and politicians still complain about that being too much.
It is not financed by the state but directly through the citizens (although it is mandatory). Its' job is literally to be unbiased https://www.bpb.de/kurz-knapp/hintergrund-aktuell/311191/oeffentlich-rechtlicher-rundfunk-von-der-gruendung-der-ard-bis-heute/