Why "falsely"? I've been an NPR fan my whole life, but there is no denying at all that their coverage of american politics is nowhere near impartial. So as long as current party in power is aligned with them, they are de-factor state-aligned.
I think "falsely" because they're primarily viewer supported and less than 1% of their budget comes from the government. So it's odd for them to get the label when other news outlets like BBC and Voice of America (which is literally a state owned propaganda outlet) don't
