A liberal newspaper openly admits what has been obvious for decades. Taxpayer funded radio is radically left.
I was stationed at Ft Carson CO (Colorado Springs) from 1989 to 1992, and if you have never been there, go. The state is gorgeous, waking up daily to see Pike’s Peak is, I mean this sincerely, inspiring. Add to that when I was there it was a solidly Republican state, with liberals mostly confined to Boulder or Denver. Alas, with the invasion of west coast immigrants, the state has turned much more purple in the decades, especially in the cities.
I was reading the Washington Post this morning and a headline caught my eye. A writer in the nation’s vast left-wing media is admitting something about NPR we’ve known since its beginning. It’s a leftist propaganda site. And they are surprised they need to actually not insult their listeners. What a concept!
A reality check for NPR stations in Trump country
Will rural affiliates see through the politicization and adopt a more all-embracing approach?
Radio station KSJD sits in the old Montezuma Valley National Bank building on East Main Street in Cortez, Colorado…
…People in Montezuma County voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024. And yet KSJD — an affiliate of NPR, that longtime target of Republican ire — has grown from an entirely volunteer operation running out of a trailer a few decades ago to a staff with four full-timers, an adjunct performing arts venue and a $580,000 budget. It is the only independently operated radio station or media outlet in the county, and it is one of hundreds of rural radio stations whose budgets will be slashed by the recent White House-requested congressional rescission of $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The CPB is the conduit of federal dollars to NPR and PBS. As a result, 30 percent of KSJD’s funding will go away.
Correction, it’s not an independently operated radio station. If it gets funding from someone, it follows the direction of the check writer. In this case, the liberal Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Not to mention the corporate sponsors or “nonprofits” who write big checks to local “public” media, such as the Ford and MacArthur foundations.
Like a lot of rural stations, KSJD serves as a left-leaning beacon in a conservative community. I sit on its board of directors. A few years ago, we brought up what some board members felt was an anti-Trump bias on “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered,” two NPR shows the station airs…
…I was bothered. If our mission is to serve the local community, can we do a better job of reaching its more conservative residents? Can we cover the Southwestern Colorado Livestock Association’s annual gathering, a local event since 1949? Why don’t we have any hardware or feed stores as sponsors?
The simple answer is “because they think we’re the devil,” Executive Director Tom Yoder said, with a sad laugh, when I put the question to him recently. In the current political climate, he said, the station’s affiliation with NPR has made soliciting more conservative-leaning members of the community — as listeners or sponsors — untenable. At the same time, we can’t afford to alienate NPR listeners. The congressional cuts, Yoder warned, will force the station to please and make pleas to its NPR-loving listeners, rather than reach beyond its circle of comfort. Work smarter for the money, not harder.
Instead of toppling our radio towers, the funding cut is just likely to make them lean further left. Was that the White House’s and Congress’s intention?
… Too often, public radio stations gravitate to the more progressive developments in their communities. With the funding rescission, I hope rural NPR affiliates will take a second look at their communities, see through the politicization and try to take a more all-embracing approach to covering their big, beautifully dirty country.
Not at all. No one is banning leftwing radio. What millions of people object to is being forced, at gunpoint (i.e., taxes) to fund this leftist propaganda. I used to listen to NPR often back in the 90s. While its leftist bias was apparent, it wasn’t that blatant. But as the years have passed, especially after the Clinton presidency, the programs have become more openly hostile of non-radicalized people in the country.
Often it’s patently insulting to our intelligence. NPR said the millions of invaders over the southern border are “undocumented immigrants,” or “immigrants without legal status.” No, they are illegal aliens. They also reported immigration reform was not amnesty for millions of illegal aliens. Or mutilation of children is actually “gender affirming healthcare.” NPR is openly contemptuous of anyone who questions “climate change,” calling it “settled science.” Last time I checked, there are few Laws of Science (e.g., Gravity), or Theories (Relativity), while “climate change” is at best a scientific hypothesis.
Has NPR apologized for misleading its listeners on the Russian collusion hoax or the Hunter Biden laptop? Did it ever have people on to challenge the mental competency of Joe Biden, who was clearly in cognitive decline. Not that I can find on its website, although they are hawking recent books on the issue.
It comes to a simple point. If you are ABC, NBC, the NY Times or the Post and you want to shade your coverage of issues in a liberal bent, fine. They’re under no obligation to do otherwise (and they use that prerogative expansively). However, I don’t have to pay for a paper or watch the “news” they put out. I make a willing choice if I want to support these corporations. Americans didn’t, until recently, have a choice in supporting the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. And we should not be forced to support leftist propaganda as a cost of citizenship.
A few years back I was at meeting of a non-profit group (been a member for over 10 years, keeping their name out). Another member moved that we make a club donation to a political campaign. I quickly objected. While I supported and voted for the candidate, our club is a 501(c)(3), i.e., a registered charity. Being non-profit and tax exempt, we cannot directly support a political candidate or party. NPR affiliates are also registered non-profits. Is that too much to ask for public radio to follow the same rules?
Michael A. Thiac is a retired Army intelligence officer, with over 23 years experience, including serving in the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the Middle East. He is also a retired police patrol sergeant, with over 22 years’ service, and over ten year’s experience in field training of newly assigned officers. He has been published at The American Thinker, PoliceOne.com, and on his personal blog, A Cop’s Watch.
Opinions expressed are his alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of current or former employers.
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