Musk Calls for NPR and PBS Defunding

[sdwulfdawg]

Not much of a surprise that Musk is calling for NPR and PBS to be defunded.

Musk Calls To Defund NPR; DOGE To Investigate Bias Claims - Radio Ink

Elon Musk says to defund NPR as the House Subcommittee on Government Efficiency prepares a hearing on alleged political bias at NPR.

radioink.com

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Funding to CPB and therefore NPR being eliminated would force my station to go off air completely. Not just cut staff of which Im the only full timer, but turn off our transmitters forever.

As funding for CPB/NPR is under threat, our local advocacy/station services provider organization, Coast Alaska is preparing examples of how public stations in the 49th state have served our communities with specific examples so executive director Mollie Kabler can share these with our leaders in DC, this is what I wrote up for her

"KSKO learned early Friday Feb 7th that a former long time McGrath resident was one of the passengers on a plane that had gone missing over the vast, unforgiving expanse of Norton Sound near the Bering Sea. Almost immediately upon learning this and getting permission from the family, we shared it on social media and on the air. We provided updates through out the day on air and on Facebook thanks to the Nome Volunteer Fire Department and the US Coast Guard Alaska. As things began to progress and discoveries were made, we reported on only VERIFIED information from VERIFIED sources, not falling victim to unofficial sources on Facebook. When bodies began to be recovered, we waited for official word and encouraged privacy for the families along with discouraging assumptions or discussions of the cause.

Over the weekend of February 8th and 9th, we learned a 6 year old boy was found dead, and the mother admitted to causing the injuries that led to his death. This occured in Fairbanks 250 miles away but the boy, his Mom and his dad lived in McGrath. The dead still does. This young boy had attended pre school out here and school staff who taught him along with medical staff who took care of the family for regular check ups are shaken by this

KSKO's sole full time staff and only management employee Paul walker reached out to our local non profit health service provider, South Central Foundation on Sunday afternoon to get in touch with the rural behaviroal health department to get permission to interview one of their clinicians. And within 2 hours of that email, Dani Gapisnki was approved to speak with Paul live on air which will happen Monday the 10th at 1245pm.

KSKO can react like this because part of our ability/success/continued operation is built on understanding the community, reacting to immediate short time critical incidents, long term needs and adjusting our approach and bringing in resources on the radio and social media to meet those needs

Alaska is the biggest little state and people outside of our home community of McGrath will be affected by this. Even though the people involved were mostly McGrath residents, they had ties to other villages for various reasons. There is no other source of fact based, trustworthy, consistent information that can unique, connect and comfort our communities like KSKO Radio can.

The internet is full of rumors, unverified information and random people who may not understand the community or have their best interests at heart. Anchorage media wouldnt have the time, ability or resources to cover these events at great length or react on the personal level KSKO can. If KSKO were just a pass through for national or statewide programming, these two situations would likely get ignored, to the great detriment of our communities.

 

[TheBigA]

Once again, congress doesn't fund NPR. There is no line item in the budget for NPR. Congress funds CPB. They fund local stations. Local stations buy programming from suppliers, one of which is NPR. It's amazing after all these years that these folks don't understand.

The federal government doesn’t provide any funding to NPR directly. Instead, it provides about $535 million per year to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which in turn distributes it to local public radio and TV stations. They then use some of that money to access the public media networks’ programming.

 

[TheBigA]

If they really want to defund public broadcasting, they can repeal or amend the Public Broadcasting Act. Here are specifics about what the Act says about funding and CPB:

Public Broadcasting Act of 1967

Download the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, as amended, in PDF format.Subpart D — Corporation for Public BroadcastingSec. 396. [47 U.S.C. 396] Corporation for Public Broadcasting (a) Congressional declaration of policy—The Congress hereby finds and declares that—

cpb.org

 

[secondchoice]

The voters are getting what they voted for. The US Government is not a for profit institution. It never was intended to be "efficient". Mussolini had an efficient government and made the "trains run on time". The heck of this is now which ever party controls the government we will only get the extreme policies because for the most part only the extreme Democrats and extreme Republicans vote in the primaries.

I just hope the Judicial Branch has some backbone. The average professional GOP legislature member is terrified that Musk will "primary" them. No different point of view allowed.

 

[JJSPC]

There's a big difference between not being "efficient" and "for profit" and a $36 trillion dollar deficit. You do realize if the deficit continues to rise the whole system is going to be completely unsustainable at some point and crash right? What's wrong with cutting spending?

 

[davideduardo]

The voters are getting what they voted for. The US Government is not a for profit institution. It never was intended to be "efficient".

It was intended to be both efficient and effective. Overspending or lack of oversight are not guaranteed anywhere.

Mussolini had an efficient government and made the "trains run on time".

And that aspect of his government actually worked. The problem is that he was a pseudo-facist and allied himself with a truly evil man in an effort to sustain his power.

Facism: "Many experts agree that fascism is a mass political movement that emphasizes extreme nationalism, militarism, and the supremacy of the nation over the individual. This model of government stands in contrast to liberal democracies that support individual rights, competitive elections, and political dissent."

What Is Fascism?

In this free resource, learn how Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler rose to power and the lessons their political journeys hold for today.

education.cfr.org

The heck of this is now which ever party controls the government we will only get the extreme policies because for the most part only the extreme Democrats and extreme Republicans vote in the primaries.

That would be a good point if there were statistical proof. I can not find any, but if you have references I'd like to see the facts.

 

[TheBigA]

There's a big difference between not being "efficient" and "for profit" and a $36 trillion dollar deficit. You do realize if the deficit continues to rise the whole system is going to be completely unsustainable and crash right? What's wrong with cutting spending?

This isn't about solving the debt. The president says he wants to raise the debt ceiling indefinitely.

https://thehill.com/homenews/5081710-trump-house-republicans-debt-limit/

Trump later told NBC News of the debt limit: “The Democrats have said they want to get rid of it. If they want to get rid of it, I would lead the charge.” He said getting rid of the debt ceiling entirely would be “the smartest thing” Congress could do.

He wants to keep spending without any limits, but at the same time, cut the programs he doesn't like.

 

[davideduardo]

There's a big difference between not being "efficient" and "for profit" and a $36 trillion dollar deficit. You do realize if the deficit continues to rise the whole system is going to be completely unsustainable at some point and crash right? What's wrong with cutting spending?

This is a key issue, as our educational system, whatever the color of the state, is not turning out people who can even balance a checkbook, let alone understand the national economy.

The "Credit Card Mentality" of the most recent three generations seems to accept buying things today and paying for them tomorrow. So when there are huge bond issues on the ballot, they almost always pass.

 

[JJSPC]

I may have missed it in the multiple threads and posts on Public Radio and Television, but Musk, Trump, current government rules with CPB and whoever else aside...what EXACTLY is the reason the majority of left leaning/liberal folks on this board think that we should be spending government money that we don't have to prop up CPB, NPR and the like when commercial broadcasting has to stand on it's own?

 

[TheBigA]

what EXACTLY is the reason the majority of left leaning/liberal folks on this board think that we should be spending government money that we don't have to prop up CPB, NPR and the like when commercial broadcasting has to stand on it's own?

Because of a law the congress passed called the Public Broadcasting Act.

Public Broadcasting Act of 1967

Download the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, as amended, in PDF format.Subpart D — Corporation for Public BroadcastingSec. 396. [47 U.S.C. 396] Corporation for Public Broadcasting (a) Congressional declaration of policy—The Congress hereby finds and declares that—

cpb.org

Follow the law. Overspending is no excuse to break the law. If it was, I'd never pay any bills.

They could repeal or amend the law, but it would take 60 votes in the senate, which they don't have.

Once again, this money DOESN'T go to NPR. It goes to local stations in the states who then buy the programming from NPR.

 

[JJSPC]

I said aside from the current government rules with CPB. I understand about 1967 and the law would need to change. Other than yourself Mr Big A, who points this out though, most all other comments are just knee jerk reactions about the current administration, or that the world will somehow end if we couldn't use tax money to fund public broadcasting. Again, aside from the current rules...my question is exactly why do folks think we need to fund it. We've never done it for commercial radio or TV. In the case of non-coms let's let the market decide what they choose to support, just like in the case of the Christian broadcasters.

 

[TheBigA]

Again, aside from the current rules...my question is exactly why do folks think we need to fund it. We've never done it for commercial radio or TV.

Because we passed a law. We never passed a law to fund commercial radio or TV. What more do you need?

The law explains why. Read the law. Public broadcasting isn't religious. It's not commercial. That's why it gets federal funding.

Once again: All they have to do is repeal or amend the law. What's so hard about that?

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

The first time Elon Musk mentioned about "Defunding NPR" It sounded like a "false flag" to get his fans distracted away from the Reuters story on him and how toxic he was at all of his companies. If any NPR and PBS affiliates were investigating him then they were citing AP and Reuters as the framework to go after him with those allegations.

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/section/musk-inc/

 

[radiofan2023]

I said aside from the current government rules with CPB. I understand about 1967 and the law would need to change.

You obviously don’t understand the differences between commercial broadcasting and noncommercial. Read this article by Robert McChesney:

The Mythology of Commercial Broadcasting and the Contemporary Crisis of Public Broadcasting

 

[gr8oldies]

Because of a law the congress passed called the Public Broadcasting Act.

Public Broadcasting Act of 1967

Download the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, as amended, in PDF format.Subpart D — Corporation for Public BroadcastingSec. 396. [47 U.S.C. 396] Corporation for Public Broadcasting (a) Congressional declaration of policy—The Congress hereby finds and declares that—

cpb.org

Follow the law. Overspending is no excuse to break the law. If it was, I'd never pay any bills.

They could repeal or amend the law, but it would take 60 votes in the senate, which they don't have.

Once again, this money DOESN'T go to NPR. It goes to local stations in the states who then buy the programming from NPR.

Is it a public good for public radio and TV to reach the hinterlands of Kentucky and Tennessee? Or scrap the whole thing.

 

[gr8oldies]

I may have missed it in the multiple threads and posts on Public Radio and Television, but Musk, Trump, current government rules with CPB and whoever else aside...what EXACTLY is the reason the majority of left leaning/liberal folks on this board think that we should be spending government money that we don't have to prop up CPB, NPR and the like when commercial broadcasting has to stand on it's own?

I don't know, I suppose we can close all the libraries because there's a Barnes and Noble.

 

[Larry]

I wonder if this country has ever considered putting a tax on televisions (either a sales tax or an annual license fee, similar to how BBC is funded) to fund CPB?

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

They could repeal or amend the law, but it would take 60 votes in the senate, which they don't have.

they don’t have the votes to do nearly anything president muskrat is doing, so why would it be any different when it comes to broadcasting? They’re ignoring the laws. Ignoring essentially anything they dislike, including the muppets on television that teach abhorrent things like diversity, kindness and decency. Not to mention unbiased news on radio and television. And science shows. Well, science anything.

 

[TheBigA]

These people like Musk think they can just walk in and blow stuff up, and don't understand there's a reason why these things get funded year after year. They don't know because they never worked in government before. They're not the first to try defunding CPB. If it was so easy, this all would have happened years ago. It's not so easy. Lots of people have vested interests. The states haven't weighed in yet. They all depend on government funding. They own a lot of these public radio stations. If the funding doesn't show up, they'll sue the government for not delivering on what they promised.