State sponsored media is so last year. And the news that NPR CEO Vivian Schiller has been forced out of her job is a good first step in stopping federal funds from going to support a news organization.
In the U.S., there is no need for government sponsored media -- there are plenty of independent and private news outlets to choose from. Having multiple news sources is the only way to get the real story anyway. Anyone listening to or reading one news source is being spun. Every news organization, albeit every reporter, carries bias into news reporting. Left leaning news organizations, as well as right leaning ones, can give a great perspective if multiple news outlets are used to fully inform. It's scary when an American believes their preferred news source is the only unbiased coverage.
Schiller and the other left leaning reporters and producers at NPR and its affiliate stations around the country should be allowed to spin the news to the left -- but the rest of us shouldn't have to pay for it with our tax dollars.
Federal sponsorship of NPR to the tune of tens of millions of dollars doesn't make sense. The Democrats, of course, have been happy to keep the tax dollars flowing to NPR because of the support they receive from its news coverage. Imagine the outrage if Fox News received federal funds.
The new Republican Congress is right to cut the state sponsorship for NPR. If listeners want the news it produces then they will need to pay for it. It's a basic principle of supply and demand. If NPR is as crucial to understanding the news as the liberals say then it will be supported by those who need it.
Make no mistake about it: Schiller created this blow-back by accepting tax dollars and making the editorial choices she did. It was only a matter of time before someone said, "Why am I paying for this ideological coverage?" NPR's editorial decisions over the years to support left leaning politicians, ideas and an expansion of government programs are certainly supported by some Americans -- but this partisan coverage should not receive tax dollars to do it.
NPR will survive. Its' federal funding won't. It may not look like its current propped-up form this time next year, but NPR will continue to advocate for liberal policies and report the news as it sees it. And I bet we see Schiller working for another liberal organization soon enough; she has demonstrated that she is an advocate for the left.