Right-wingers’ vendetta against public radio and television would be laughable … if the consequences of this battle weren’t so frightening.
They want to defund National Public Radio, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Public Broadcasting Service. Why? Because they contend erroneously that it’s all “fake,” that it’s biased against conservatives and that the right-wing cabal just won’t tolerate it any longer.
Good fu**ing grief!
In in the interest of full disclosure, I will say I have some experience working for both public media. I freelanced for Panhandle PBS and for High Plains Public Radio for a time after leaving print journalism in 2012. And I worked for a time for KETR-FM public radio in Commerce, Texas, for a while after my wife and I moved to the Metroplex.
I have seen their work up close and I can attest to the absolute professionalism I witnessed while working for them.
I long have held the view that bias rests in the hearts and minds of news consumers, not necessarily in those who deliver it.
I recall a conversation I had with an NPR news director once who explained to me the rules that the broadcast network places on those who deliver the news over the air. They must avoid terms, he said, that connote a point of view. One of those words, he explained, is “reform.”
When discussing legislation aimed at changing current public policy, NPR journalists were told to use the term “overhaul” policy, not “reform” it, as reformation means it would be an improvement.
My friend was quite adamant in telling me that public radio takes its responsibility to be fair, neutral and unbiased quite seriously.
What’s more, I have to point out that the founders protected a “free press” from government interference. They set those protections for the only industry functioning then — and now — in the Constitution.
The right-wing cabal needs to get a grip and perhaps look inward to determine the source of the bias it seeks to eliminate.
During congressional hearings, both NPR and PBS had to acknowledge their staff were considerably left leaning. If they can’t be right down the middle, there should be zero tax dollars spent on them. What is so wrong with that?
Trump’s attack on NPR and PBS is right out of the Fascism 101 playbook. It is Trump’s attempt to squelch all criticism.
Another one that supports media being completely one sided. You do know these two were originally funded when there wasn’t anywhere near the options for online/streaming news. Now, there’s thousands. Are we to fund all of them with our tax dollars?
Consumers of news and information have plenty of options from which to choose. Let ’em make the choice. If they gravitate away from public radio or public TV, fine. No need to defund NPR and PBS because they don’t adhere to the bias desired by some members of the public.