Funded by the state is correct. Being a mouthpiece is an opinion.

I find most of their reports to be pretty balanced and factual, even if they have an obviously mainland Chinese perspective.

Before concluding that their content is propaganda that should be dismissed out of hand, why not verify for yourself whether it's that bad? Their video content speak for themselves. You don't even have to agree with them.

The content produced by Liu Xin in particular are pretty high quality. She regularly invites guests -- even western ones -- on her show, who provide non-Chinese perspectives. Sometimes their guests even disagree with her.

If you disagree, I would love to hear why.