Outing the ³Liberal Democrats² at NPR
By Nathan Tabor
Recently I had the idea of researching what the other side is doing, so I
decided to search Google.com for the words ³Liberal Democrat.² I found some
very interesting things.
The first page of results contained mostly links for the Liberal Party in
the UK and Europe nothing at all to do with either Liberals or Democrats
in America. The paid ads dealt with topics like ³Dating for Democrats² and
³Anti-Bush Gear,² and of course the Leftist propaganda website MoveOn.org
was prominently featured.
However, the most interesting aspect of this Google search was the paid ad
for National Public Radio at the top of the page. The ad declared:
³Liberal Democrat. www.NPR.org <http://www.NPR.org> . Objective, in-depth &
informed political coverage & analysis.²
If you search Google for ³Conservative Republican,² however, you will not
find any ads for NPR. It is obvious what type of listener NPR really wants
to reach. Their political content is clearly biased and leans strongly to
the Left.
What is NPR? One online encyclopedia calls National Public Radio a ³loosely
organized public radio network² that was founded in 1970 (after passage of
the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967) and created to broadcast news and
cultural programming. Here¹s how the encyclopedia glowingly describes that
network:
³NPR is an internationally acclaimed producer and distributor of
noncommercial news, talk, and entertainment programming. A privately
supported, not-for-profit membership organization, NPR serves a growing
audience of 26 million Americans each week in partnership with more than 780
independently operated, noncommercial public radio stations.² (See
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/National-Public-Radio
<http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/National-Public-Radio> .)
I personally suspect that ³growing audience of 26 million² consists mostly
of the hardcore Left-wingers left over from the student radical movements of
the 1960s and 70s.
So, exactly who funds NPR?
Well, first of all, NPR charges hefty fees to the member stations who
receive its programming, and that accounts for about half of its current
$100 MILLION annual budget. The rest comes from private donations, corporate
contributions, and grants from charitable foundations, often to underwrite
specific projects.
Back in the 1970s and early 1980s, the lion¹s share of NPR¹s support came
from the U.S. taxpayers via the Federal government. But during the Reagan
years, Conservative critics wanted to de-fund NPR completely, and that led
to both a major funding crisis in 1983 and to massive changes in NPR¹s
support structure. Today only about 2 percent of NPR¹s total funding comes
from government grants and programs.
NPR network member stations also benefit from both private donations and
government funding, but they are notorious for raising money through
periodic on-the-air pledge drives which appeal to their well-heeled Lefty
listeners to donate money to ³Save Public Radio,² or to keep so-called
³quality programming² on the air. Unfortunately, there is really no danger
of NPR¹s Liberal agenda fading into the sunset anytime soon.
Urban myths abound. In 1995, for example, two Left-leaning college students
started an e-mail petition in which they falsely claimed that Nina Totenberg
had warned her ³Morning Edition² listeners that ³if the Supreme Court
supports Congress [in efforts to de-fund NPR], it will, in effect, be the
end of National Public Radio.² Although the nonexistent funding crisis has
long passed, that bogus chain letter refuses to die and continues to
circulate on the Internet much like the equally bogus ³FCC Petition² that
has Dr. Dobson allegedly warning Christians that the Gospel is about to be
banned from the airwaves.
NPR carries no traditional advertising but does broadcast brief PR
statements from its major donors. These lofty statements of humanitarian
good will are called ³underwriting spots,² not commercials, and are bound by
certain FCC restrictions. For example, these spots cannot promote any
product nor advocate any ³call to action.² This ban on commercial
advertisements is supposed to keep NPR¹s pristine ³public² programming
unsullied by the corrupting influences of capitalism.
The net effect, however, has been to reinforce its promotion of All Things
Liberal. Since NPR is not dependent on traditional advertising revenue, its
producers are largely free of the economic decision-making process that is
driven by ratings and thus NPR is also less accountable to the general
market. The result is programming that some may consider to be ³less
sensationalistic,² but which is more blatantly biased than what most
mainstream listeners would normally accept.
In 2003, the estate of McDonald¹s Corporation heiress Joan B. Kroc (the
widow of Golden Arches founder Ray Kroc) gave a super-sized $200 MILLION
bequest to NPR a huge windfall equal to twice NPR¹s annual operating
budget. Clearly NPR¹s tragic funding crisis is now but a vestige of the dim
and distant past.
Liberals love to complain about Rush Limbaugh, Bill O¹Reilly, Sean Hannity
and other Conservative media personalities whose common sense messages
resonate with millions of grassroots Americans many of whom also happen to
be Republicans.
But those same Liberals are loath to admit that in NPR, they have their own
government-protected, lavishly supported, politically correct propaganda
network created especially for Liberal Democrats. Let¹s just let the truth
be known.
Since NPR clearly has a liberal and biased agenda I believe it only fair
they give back the millions the government gave them to start their
business. You think that will happen?
Copyright © 2005 by Nathan Tabor
Nathan Tabor is a conservative political activist based in Kernersville,
North Carolina. He has his BA in Psychology and his Master¹s Degree in
Public Policy. He is a contributing editor at www.theconservativevoice.com.
Contact him at Nathan@nathantabor.com.