National Public Radio

It's just me this posting!  So, please consider making your contribution (not money ... just words) to this blog.  Let's start with my thoughts on National Public Radio and finish with a poem I wrote. (Sid Bolotin isn't the only poet around here.)

Comments on National Public Radio

Right now, because Congress is considering cutting the government’s contribution to National Public Radio, I think it is appropriate to make a few comments about NPR.  I am a member of NPR via their local outlet, WXEL - 90.7 FM, and I occasionally listen to the Miami station, WLRN – 91.3 FM, which while not playing any classical music, does have some interesting daytime talk shows not carried by WXEL.  I have buttons for both stations on my car radio, and the only other button I ever press is for baseball games.  In the house, I listen to WXEL in the kitchen and in the den as well.

Some ot the criticism of NPR is that when it’s not playing music, it leans to the left politically.  If I had more conservative views than I do, I probably would object to this and write to my Congressman asking him to end funding for NPR and CPB (the Corporation for Public Broadcasting) as well.  NPR certainly tries to be non-partisan, occasionally having conservative voices heard, but in the final analysis, the tone of the station is definitely to the left politically. Why is this, you may ask?

Well, the job NPR does is carried out primarily in the public sector, although some of its programs are "underwritten" by firms in the private sector.  People on the right don’t like things done with government money when there is a private sector alternative, and the many stations on the radio dial certainly provide that.  So those on the right don’t like NRP. Hence, the people at NPR find themselves placed in opposition to stations in the private sector which do not need government support because of the heavy load of advertising  they carry.  So, whether they like it or not, public radio finds itself positioned to the left of private radio, and expanding on that a bit, to the left of the private sector.  In addition, many NPR stations are affiliated with colleges and universities which historically are populated by academic folks who lean toward the liberal side.  WFSU in Tallahassee, affiliated with Florida State University, is an example of this.

But what it comes down to is that when you listen to NPR, and try to be as objective as possible, you end up coming down in favor of the liberal side of an issue.  Diane Rehm, who has a daily national talk show out of Washington DC heard weekday mornings at 10 a.m. on WRLN usually has guests representing all sides of an issue.  Because of her pragmatic and objective approach, the liberal side usually comes out looking best.  Is it because of Ms. Rehm’s views, or is it because the liberal side is actually the correct side to be on in most issues?  Could it be that if you listen to NPR long enough, you will be swung to that viewpoint, and start to consider the arguments coming from the right to be fallacious and not for the good of most of the people in the country?  Unless, of course, you feel that deregulation of business and financial institutions as well as tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy will result in an economic bonanza which will ultimately “trickle down” for everyone’s benefit.  This is the old conflict between Keynesian economics and that of Frederich Hayek (check out an earlier blog posting on his book, The Road to Serfdom) rearing its head again.  This is really why conservatives want to cut funding for NPR.  (Only 2% of NPR’s money comes from the Federal Government via the CPB but that Corporation for Public Broadcasting also passes on Federal funds to NPR’s independent stations which use it to purchase programming from NPR.)

My view is that NPR should walk away from the Federal government and seek funding from private sources and its listeners, and be able to say whatever it wants.  And now I will take a sip of coffee from my WXEL mug which they sent me when I made my last donation to them.  

JL

*****     *****     *****     *****     *****

The Tree Lover

It is enough to walk through a forest

And to see the trees, some ancient, some young,

Some just shoots emerging forth from between

Moist leaves on the forest floor and some dead,

Crashed to the ground and now nourishing bugs,

And this all has a smell, virile and sweet,

Sometimes sinister, more so at night when

Naught can be seen and the only sounds are

Made by those who call the forest their home.

But most times the forest is joyful as

It regenerates and grows and proves that

There is a Creator, indeed there is.

One need not go to a house of worship

One or more days a week to praise the Lord,

Once, twice, three times a day or even five,

Following whatever protocol is

Prescribed for offering praise to the Lord:

Shema Yisroel, Adonoy Elohanu,  

Hail Mary, Full of Grace and Jesus, Fruit of Thy Womb,

Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar.

For some it is enough to see the trees

And to walk among them in the forest.

Others who take comfort in belonging

Will choose a faith to profess and follow

And be more than just a lover of trees.

JL