Don’t get me wrong. I’m all in favor of NPR. I’m a listener, albiet not a frequent one. On the other hand, using taxpayer money for purposes that are political in nature, content, or value judgements which other taxpayers find patently offensive is simply intolerable.
We will not have a government that we can all support unless it does very little, and what little it does, is acceptable to everyone.
NPR appeals to people who are educated but who largely do not participate in the market, or are wealthy enough not to need to participate in the market. It is an 11% demographic, and that 11% is decidedly left of center, because our universities are decidedly left of center. And for that reason, the use of public funds to promote the religion of secular humanism is simply offensive to other people.
NPR is The 700 Club for Democratic Secular Humanism.
It belongs in the private sector.
NPR Board Member Admits It Serves ‘Liberal, Highly Educated Elite,’ Wonders How to Justify Public Funding
At least one National Public Radio board member has a firm grasp on arguments against the organization receiving federal funding. Criticisms of NPR “do have some legitimacy,” she noted, and “we must, as a starting point, take on board some of this criticism.” Sue Schardt, director of the Association of Independents in Radio and a member of NPR’s board, noted during the board’s Feburary 25 “public comment” period that “we unwittingly cultivated a core audience that is predominately white, liberal, highly educated, elite.”
As a consequence, Schardt added, while the journalism NPR produces may be of high quality, the organization really only serves, by her telling, 11 percent of the United States. In light of that fact, she added, “we need to carefully consider whether we warrant public funding and, if so, what the rationale would be.”