Sunday, February 13, 2011

NPR: I was quiet when they came...

NPR Asks for Listener Lobbying Help
by Max Johnson

The attack on funding for NPR (formerly National Public Radio which now stands for nothing) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is heating up with the Private Enterprise Party known as the GOP zeroing out CPB funding for this budget year. They have hastily created a website to battle against these cuts. This is a little late. I never heard these guys pay feature commentators to speak out when the right wing savaged other interest groups.
  • The Republicans came for the "welfare queens" and NPR stayed quiet because they did not want to associate with the poor.
  • They came for Public Housing but again NPR stayed quiet because no one on radio lived in public housing.
  • The Republicans attacked environmentalists and those opposed to war and our reporters remained quiet because it is not our place to "take sides."
  • The Republicans with the support of centrist Democrats demonized government, and we stayed silent because we were not government and only received money from the government.
  • They attacked home owners who they blamed for getting involved with subprime lenders and bringing down our economy, and NPR was silent.
  • The Republicans came for public employees and members of unions but I did not say anything because I feared my own employees unionizing.
  • Then they came for NPR's funding and there was no one left to speak out. All of our potential allies had been devastated or were facing financial distress.
There has never been a strong voices ever on NPR speaking on behalf the 170 million listeners. They never countered the attack on government services during the Clinton administration. NPR could have employed strong commentators to correct inaccuracies regarding the federal deficit and the reckless spending of the George W Bush administration. They could have had daily commentaries about the rush to war. They could have corrected the record on a weekly basis on global warming and not allowing the fringe equal time as the mainstream scientist. They have done a poor job in calling balls and strikes in public discourse for fear of angering the extremes in our society. NPR stands in the middle of the road, and now wonder why they are getting run over by the right. Now, they are on the chopping block and they are asking for our help.

Sorry, CPB and NPR there are bigger issues to worry about including the Corporation for National Service, Public Housing, Job training programs, and access to health care. We don't have time to fight for your budget.

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