[cubefox]

> The BBC is not state funded, it's a public broadcaster primarily funded by the general public, via the (admittedly outdated) TV licence fee system.

If the fee is mandatory, it works similar to a tax, in which case it would be more correct than incorrect to say the BBC is state funded.

[layer8]

Public broadcasting is usually only partially publicly funded, and also funds itself with ads and content licensing. And one normally speaks of public funding in that context, not of state funding. There is furthermore an important difference between public broadcasting and state media, where for the latter it may be more common to use the term state-funded.

[tacet]

To add, public broadcaster often is collective (state) funded, but it is supposed to be independed from state.

How much media can or rather may diverge from state opinion depends country to country.

[cubefox]

Public funding means essentially the same as state funding, just the connotation is more positive.

[leni536]

It is not mandatory.