If their funding was 100% paid for by taxes, sure. But only a small fraction is actually paid for with public funds. They have to earn the rest to stay afloat.
There’s that, and also part that’s donations by viewers and sponsors. While they need funding to maintain operational costs I don’t think they have the typical pressure of expecting a return on investment to deal with, so volunteer supported archiving, hosting via things like peertube or youtube without needing to show ads, there’s room for some novel operations that other content producers don’t have.
If their funding was 100% paid for by taxes, sure. But only a small fraction is actually paid for with public funds. They have to earn the rest to stay afloat.
There’s that, and also part that’s donations by viewers and sponsors. While they need funding to maintain operational costs I don’t think they have the typical pressure of expecting a return on investment to deal with, so volunteer supported archiving, hosting via things like peertube or youtube without needing to show ads, there’s room for some novel operations that other content producers don’t have.