Will the GOP defund NPR?

[Matt Collins]

The answer may surprise you, or it may not...
http://reason.com/archives/2011/01/14/radio-theater

[fisharmor]

Article makes the exact same point I was thinking before I read it.
Why defund public broadcasting when you've just gained control of it?
And given their coverage of Egypt, it seems to be paying off for the neocons.

It's here to stay, and the only way we'll get rid of it is if we can find a midget named Frodo to take it over.

[Elwar]

I listen to NPR sometimes, only because I can't get any AM stations during the last 10 minutes of my commute.

I like to hear what they're saying so that I know what the government's take is on things and what propaganda they're trying to push.

But mostly it's boring stories about people's feelings.

I'd be fine with listening to music the last 10 minutes of my commute in exchange for no more NPR.

[Elwar]

The reason why NPR and PBS leans so far left is not so much that it's government run, but by how their programming is chosen.

They have a selection of programming that they want to fund, each station decides how much money they want to spend on each program. The programs that get the most money are chosen and diseminated to all of the affiliates.

The key is that the larger cities usually have more money for their stations so they can put more money toward programming. Some station in Fargo might really like a gun and ammo program but if they only bid $10,000 toward it and a New York station likes a modern museum show and bids $100,000 toward it, the museum show gets picked and all stations are stuck with it.

And since the bigger cities tend to be more liberal, we get liberal programming on NPR and PBS.

[fisharmor]

But mostly it's boring stories about people's feelings.

Right, but that's the horrible and insidious thing about NPR.
They put in just enough fact to make you think you're engaging your mind, but the reality is it's a steady stream of "this is the correct way to think about this, and if you don't think this way, you're evil: a heartless, uncaring robot."

I can't tell you how many "in-depth news stories" I've listened to that follow the same formula:
1) Person with leftist position is heartbroken that things are the way they are.
2) Person with centrist or center-right position presents a high-level overview of the state-approved opposing position.
3) Segment shifts to another person with credentials from the education guild, supporting leftist position. State-approved opposition position is not fleshed out or otherwise mentioned again.
4) Segment ends: obvious conclusion is that the heartbroken person was right to begin with. Boobus is left wondering why we are even bothering to have a conversation about it.

[Elwar]

Right, but that's the horrible and insidious thing about NPR.
They put in just enough fact to make you think you're engaging your mind, but the reality is it's a steady stream of "this is the correct way to think about this, and if you don't think this way, you're evil: a heartless, uncaring robot."

I can't tell you how many "in-depth news stories" I've listened to that follow the same formula:
1) Person with leftist position is heartbroken that things are the way they are.
2) Person with centrist or center-right position presents a high-level overview of the state-approved opposing position.
3) Segment shifts to another person with credentials from the education guild, supporting leftist position. State-approved opposition position is not fleshed out or otherwise mentioned again.
4) Segment ends: obvious conclusion is that the heartbroken person was right to begin with. Boobus is left wondering why we are even bothering to have a conversation about it.

To be fair, this is how Stossel does his shows. He just has the libertarian have the last word instead of the liberal.

[dean.engelhardt]

I like some programs on NPR. Car Talk is awesome. If the business model can't survive without government money they need to change their business model. If they can't compete in the market, then they should go away.

[reillym]

NPR is one of the last news organizations that does ACTUAL NEW. By news, I mean real reporting, with facts. Not the regurgitated crap we get from CNN/MSNBC/FOX.

Public broadcasting works. I've never heard anything close to the bias I see on FOX/MSNBC.

[fisharmor]

To be fair, this is how Stossel does his shows. He just has the libertarian have the last word instead of the liberal.
To some extent.
What I see on Stossel is:

1) Stossel: "Everybody assumes this statist (institution/idea) is necessary. But is it?"
2) Statist muppet is statist.
3) Libertarian guest presents opposing viewpoint.
4) Stossel asks statist muppet pertinent question that statist muppet can't answer except by repeating high-level statist propaganda for the third time this segment.
5) Stossel repeats libertarian viewpoint, leaving Boobus to wonder whether statist muppet really understood the material.

Formula is similar. It helps to remember Stossel used to be a libtard. And at least he's mostly appealing to the intellect, not the gut.