It's improper behavior for someone on the floor of the capitol that is paid for by all taxpayers. It was called out when McCarthy did it in the 50s, and it should be called out now. It's why the public broadcasting act was written in a way that put the CPB between the politicians and the broadcasters.
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FCC Opens Investigation into NPR and PBS
- Thread starter xmtrland
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It's improper behavior for someone on the floor of the capitol that is paid for by all taxpayers. It was called out when McCarthy did it in the 50s, and it should be called out now. It's why the public broadcasting act was written in a way that put the CPB between the politicians and the broadcasters.
To be fair, how many stations are currently running either Russian or Chinese government sponsored programming.... compared to the number of public radio stations taking NPR programs?
Totally agree. And even more so today: McCarthy was somewhat based in the reality of a socialist movement in the United States, while the current folks who call people "commies" have no factual basis for doing so.
I have occasionally listened to some of the "conservative" radio talk shows, and everyone more liberal than Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan is a communist or communist sympathizer. I ran into some old Klansmen in Alabama in the early 70's and they sounded just like some of these talk show hosts. Different subject, same mentality.
Especially in this case. I can't imagine an actual communist putting up with all of the levels of editorial process that takes place at NPR. It's much easier to just start a blog or substack.
Cold Coffee
Banned
There were real communists 100 years ago. My grandfather's cousin was one of them. The government charged him with sedition for passing out pamphlets.
Richard Nixon was our cousin too. Nixon actually did a lot for minority civil rights. There are worse guys than Nixon out there today.
Richard Nixon was our cousin too. Nixon actually did a lot for minority civil rights. There are worse guys than Nixon out there today.
It's not the number of stations. It's the fact that she's calling American citizens communists, while completely ignoring Russian and Chinese propaganda. If we really want to limit anti-American airwaves, shouldn't we focus on the countries who are our enemies instead of attacking ourselves?
It's a little more complicated than that. The Pacifica stations are in major markets, and I have little doubt that major market NPR stations could survive without the money from the federal government. I don't see KUOW in Seattle, KERA in Dallas, KUSC in LA, and the many other large market NPR stations going off the air, although they might have to make some significant budget cuts. On the other, without that federal money I suspect that a lot of NPR stations in smaller markets would go dark. So the bottom line is that cutting the funding isn't going to hurt those "big city liberals", but it will hurt the people in smaller cities that would like something to listen to other than right-wing talk.
As for the people on the right who are screaming that NPR is biased liberal news, I think that someone who gets their news from sources like Newsmax, OAN, and Fox News is going to complain that any news coverage that is close to accurate it biased. Conversely, there are definitely people on the left who complain that NPR is biased in a conservative direction. My suspicion is that if you're getting accused of bias from both ends of the political spectrum, you're probably somewhere roughly in the center.
The group I keep thinking about are the red state public broadcasting authorities in Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, West Virginia, and Alabama. We've already seen South Carolina announce they're splitting from NPR. That may also happen in those other states. But if those states also lose CPB money, they will be hard pressed to find programming to replace the NPR talk. They may end up going back to classical music. That music doesn't attract as much membership money as news.
Here we are dealing with a politician who is neither educated nor qualified in the subject matter.
She is likely one of those who can't tell you the difference between socialism and communism, yet uses both terms wildly and widely.
Yet she is qualified enough to chair congressional hearings on the matter, and subpoena the CEOs of broadcasting companies.
Her hearings became the subject of media coverage in the conservative world and enjoyed by the 24% who agree with her.
I tweeted to my Congressman (Rep. Tim Burchett-R TN) after his most recent comment about how he wants to defund NPR (one of the reasons being "they hate Our Lord") the question of why he hasn't demanded the University of Tennessee turn off WUOT, WUTK, WUTC, etc. I don't expect an answer. He HAS to know people who work there and likely appeared there as County Mayor.
Cold Coffee
Banned
WUOT is very popular in Knoxville. It's in the top 5 in the latest ratings. Shutting them down would be a very bad move even in Tennessee.
Wrong! They are not splitting from NPR. Somebody posted a link to an article by a hack reporter clearly not familiar with the subject matter who only apparently only rewrote a press release and decided making it about NPR would be good click bait. The station has decided to replace syndicated shows (not produced by NPR) with local shows. Many NPR member stations produce local shows during the day between Morning Edition and All Things Considered, including WHYY and WNYC. Many others produce a local show and carry a syndicated show (generally from WBUR or WAMU).
Also for the record, many public radio stations carry "foreign" radio shows from: the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the British Broadcasting Corporation, Deutsche Welle and others. Given current relations between Trump and Putin, I doubt there would be much objection from the right to shows from Radio Sputnik. Some even take "Democracy Now" from Pacifica.
Can you post a link to the correct information? I saw two articles: One from Current.org and the other from the local Columbia newspaper each saying SCPR is cutting back on NPR. I didn't see anything at the station site with what you're saying.
The shows you mention from WAMU (1A) and WBUR (Here & Now) are distributed by NPR, not the two local stations. So they count as NPR shows.
I am talking about the article in "local Columbia newspaper," which is the basis of the discussion over on the South Carolina section of this board. One would think more local shows would be a good thing, to deal with local issues (yes, there are still local issues in the world) and to deal with national issues including local perspective. It is a longtime hallmark of journalism to include the local angle.
NPR is, was and will be the morning and afternoon drive news magazine shows and those are not being cut. When the right criticizes NPR, those shows are what they are talking about.
No, they are not NPR shows. NPR does not own the shows. NPR is not responsible for the content. Shows have often changed distributors (APM, PRX or self-distribution). And renting time on NPR's satellite does not make a show an NPR show either.
You are both right and wrong here. First, ThebigA is correct: both of the primary midday shows carried by SCPR (as well as many other public radio shows) are distributed by NPR though they are produced by local affiliates. Another show in that same vein is Terry Gross' "Fresh Air," which is produced by WHYY but distributed byNPR.
But you are also correct. "The World,", though produced by WBUR in Boston, is distributed by PRI (Public Radio International). "Marketplace," is produced (if memory serves) by KUSC in Los Angeles (which actually doesn't air the show--it's an all classical outlet) and distributed by APM (American Public Media). And, of course, "Democracy Now," is produced by Pacifica and carried on some public radio outlets. Again, as has been pointed out, the stations choose which of the programs they want (and can afford), not the networks.
Finally, with regard to the articles on SCPR, if I remember correctly, both "All Things Considered," and "Morning Edition,", NPR's two most popular news programs, were not likely going to be touched. And, as I noted in an earlier comment, I don't really see the state legislature of South Carolina allocating more money to SCPR to produce local shows to replace the national ones.
Here's the original article:
South Carolina's NPR affiliate is going independent. Sort of.
Leadership for South Carolina's public media channels are planning to sever the organization's relationship with National Public Radio as part of an effort to focus on more local content.
When Current covered the story, they got this response from the station:
South Carolina public broadcaster to reduce NPR programming
South Carolina Public Radio aims to air more local programming.
current.org
So the station apparently accepts what was reported in the Post & Courier article.
They are listed at the NPR website. The station buys them from NPR, not the local station. But yes the content is produced by the local stations.
Once again, here's a quote from the Current article:
As far as the broader discussion about NPR stations airing more local programming, that is exactly what the CPB funding hopes to create. However, a lot of state-owned stations simply take the CPB money and give it to NPR, APM, and PRX, rather than create more local content. The hearing last week was about cutting federal funding, and that money goes to the stations. If they are successful, SCPR will have less money to invest in local programming.
Current is a house organ of, by and for public radio. They can hardly be considered objective and don't claim to be. Further, their article was based (by their own admission) completely on the aforementioned newspaper article.Here's the original article:
South Carolina's NPR affiliate is going independent. Sort of.
Leadership for South Carolina's public media channels are planning to sever the organization's relationship with National Public Radio as part of an effort to focus on more local content.www.postandcourier.com
When Current covered the story, they got this response from the station:
South Carolina public broadcaster to reduce NPR programming
South Carolina Public Radio aims to air more local programming.
So the station apparently accepts what was reported in the Post & Courier article.
They are listed at the NPR website. The station buys them from NPR, not the local station. But yes the content is produced by the local stations.
Once again, here's a quote from the Current article:
As far as the broader discussion about NPR stations airing more local programming, that is exactly what the CPB funding hopes to create. However, a lot of state-owned stations simply take the CPB money and give it to NPR, APM, and PRX, rather than create more local content. The hearing last week was about cutting federal funding, and that money goes to the stations. If they are successful, SCPR will have less money to invest in local programming.
"It also airs programs that are produced, co-produced or distributed" The programs listed in the same sentence are distributed, not produced or co-produced by NPR. Of the programs mentioned in the following sentence, only the weekend versions of the newsmagazines are produced by NPR. The only things NPR produces are the newsmagazines and TOH news. And that's what the right complains about. I don't hear complaints "Wait, wait, Don't Tell Me." NPR has become like "Kleenex," no what the brand of tissue is, people still call it "Kleenex."
Correct, and they asked the station about that article, and they didn't dispute anything in it. So to me, that's an endorsement of it.
Unless you have another source with facts from the station itself, I go by what the station is accepting.
I understand all of that. The point is the station BUYS them from NPR, not WBUR or WAMU. So they are covered by the membership in NPR. That's what this is about. I'm not disputing who owns or produces the shows.
Cold Coffee
Banned
The closest NPR full power station to me is now a Christian radio station. There are way over a dozen Christian stations here and in the area. All are NCE. Cut this funding and that may be all the noncommercial educational radio for you.
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