NPR in particular, and PBS to a lesser extent have earned their positions on the congressional budget chopping block. The majority of the “news” and related content both organizations choose to cover is skewed to the far-left progressive agenda. Since half (or more) of the country is not of this progressive ideology, using any taxpayer money to provide funding is absurd. As poorly managed and nationally divisive as these two entities have been, it is hard to imagine they were ever needed, even within LBJ’s Great Society.
—Daniel Ryan, Pasadena
First, I must say that I enjoy some of the content provided by PBS. I would also note that PBS enjoys 58 million viewers across all of its platforms. NPR enjoys a lower, yet still significant, 46 million viewers. The real issue is a pervasive liberal bias, particularly at NPR, coupled with a bloated federal budget. As far as left leaning bias, why should this be tolerated and what happened to the concept of equal time? On the budget, belt tightening is required and the voters have said so. I believe both PBS and NPR can and should close the gap left by the loss of federal subsidy.
—Brian Parker, Laguna Niguel
Not just the essay from former NPR editor Uri Berliner stating the existence of a progressive bias, but also every poll indicates a political bias is prevalent at both NPR and PBS.Taxpayer funding of any particular religious institution would be met with widespread public outrage. Such funding is prohibited by the Bill of Rights. It does not require much imagination to believe had the nation’s founders envisioned public funding of political publications or advocacy organizations, they too would have been prohibited by the US Constitution. There is no shortage of political viewports in the public arena. Make sure they all are solely funded by their advocates, not the taxpayers.
— Russell Patterson, Anaheim
Due to the liberal bias on the part of almost all publicly funded media, many of us believe that NPR and PBS is another arm of the Democrat propaganda machine. Taxpayer dollars should not be funding the “progressive worldview ” unless there is equal funding for the sensible right-wing views. Either fund both sides or scrap the funding.
— Amy Harman, Fountain Valley