NPR is shutting down after one Republican leveled a devastating threat
NPR is funded by the government, and it should be unbiased. But it’s become just another mouthpiece for the Left’s agenda.
And NPR is shutting down after one Republican leveled a devastating threat.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, intends to present new legislation that, if passed, would threaten to cancel National Public Radio’s (NPR) government funding, following the news that the institution suspended an editor who went viral for exposing the agency’s partisan consistency in its workplace.
The Tennessee Republican is considering a number of legislative measures to cut federal funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which supplies NPR with grants.
She is explicitly seeking to block NPR from receiving public monies owing to what her office describes as Left-wing bias.
“The mainstream media has become obsessed with doing the Left’s bidding and taking down strong conservatives — and NPR has led the pack,” Blackburn said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“It makes no sense that the American people are forced to fund a propagandist left-wing outlet that refuses to represent the voices of half the country. “NPR should not receive our tax dollars.”
When Blackburn was a member of the House of Representatives in 2011, she attempted to cut off government funding for NPR. At the time, the Republican-controlled House passed legislation aiming to remove $50 million from the CPB.
“The time has come for us to claw back this money,” Blackburn allegedly stated at the time.
The CPB is “fully funded by the federal government,” according to the nonprofit’s website. The corporation offers grants to both NPR and the Public Broadcasting Service.
The subsidies are used to support NPR’s worldwide bureaus and distribution infrastructure, which supplies content to all public radio stations.
Uri Berliner, a veteran NPR editor, was recently suspended without pay after publicly criticizing his employer. The suspension was announced on Tuesday, although it began last Friday, according to NPR media reporter David Folkenflik.
On Thursday, the organization reportedly informed Berliner that his punishment was a final warning, and that if he violated NPR’s policy on staff asking permission to work for another news outlet, he would be dismissed.
“I love NPR and feel it’s a national trust,” Berliner remarked in an interview with Folkenflik.
“We have great journalists here. If they shed their opinions and did the great journalism they’re capable of, this would be a much more interesting and fulfilling organization for our listeners.”
The senior NPR business editor stated that he made repeated attempts to express his concerns before publishing an editorial in the Free Press, but they were not heard by the organization’s leadership.
In Berliner’s scathing review of his employer’s ideological homogeneity, he revealed that there were “87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions” at the Washington, D.C., headquarters “and zero Republicans. None.”
He claimed that such a lack of viewpoint diversity permeated the outlet’s coverage, criticizing NPR’s approach to a number of high-profile stories over the years, including allegations that former President Trump colluded with Russia in the 2016 election, the laptop belonging to President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and the theory that COVID-19 was caused by a lab leak in China.
A representative for Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, stated that he is also attempting to move legislation in the House to defund NPR, which he has introduced on several occasions, including during the current Congress.
Jackson is actively recruiting additional co-sponsors for his bill and urging House leadership to adopt it in light of recent developments.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
