The Washington Post attempted to defend National Public Radio, ie, government funded radio Thursday. After a bit of a buildup, here’s their rationale
But equally important to us is local news coverage, which has been even more severely weakened by shrunken reporting staffs and ambitions at newspapers and commercial stations in too many cities and towns. We have long believed that Americans benefit when powerful institutions and important issues in their lives are scrutinized by good reporters on their behalf. Yet this kind of ambitious local news coverage by commercial media has diminished in community after community in recent years.
Recognizing that, NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — the government-created nonprofit institution that distributes federal dollars to public television and radio stations — have begun helping public radio stations do a better job of news reporting in their communities. CPB is funding Local Journalism Centers that will enable dozens of public radio and television stations to work together in seven regions of the country to produce in-depth coverage of such subjects as education and the impact of the Gulf oil spill in southern states and coastal cities, economic change in the upper Midwest and Upstate New York, health care in central Florida, the environment in the Pacific Northwest, immigration and cultural change in southwestern cities, and evolving agribusiness in Great Plains communities.
NPR is working with local member stations on similar initiatives, including investigative reporting, as well as digital content sharing and Web site development that help stations stretch their limited resources. NPR also intends to begin a multiyear experimental partnership with selected member stations to cover the impact of state government actions in each of the 50 states, after many newspapers cut or closed their state capital news bureaus. Some individual stations are collaborating with nearby stations and new nonprofit news organizations to provide more local news to listeners.
The WP says 30 million people tune in each week to NPR. If so, then why can’t they donate their money? Why can’t NPR run commercials to fund themselves? The government has no business being in the business of spreading propaganda, of being in the news business, spinning it their way. If NPR is so awesomely wonderful, they can certainly run the network without government funding, right?
The 1st Amendment specifically names the press in giving them freedom to report, the point of that being so that they can tell the people what the government is doing without fear of reprisal. How does that work when the press is the government?
“But equally important to us is local news coverage, which has been even more severely weakened by shrunken reporting staffs and ambitions at newspapers and commercial stations in too many cities and towns.”
Severely weakened because journalism was taken over by the Left and the integrity was flushed right down the drain. Do these people need to have it explained to them again where the term JournOList came from?
Apparently the gap that needs to be filled is between the ears of some people.
We have long believed that Americans benefit when powerful institutions and important issues in their lives are scrutinized by good reporters on their behalf.
I agree with this sentiment. Unfortunately, those “good reporters” do not work at NPR or the Washington Post.
Oh yes, where are you going to get reports on cowboy poetry and dog racing?!!?
Only federal money can get you that.
And, I can’t believe that the Repubs still allowed FED money to pay for operating expenses.
THEY DON”T DESERVE ANY MONEY!!
If the NPR is allowed to get Fed money, then so is a single religion.