National Public Radio Is the Term Paper

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While the umbrella organization provides good press coverage, it does not provide financial security. Because it has no commercial base, it is easy to maintain its journalistic integrity in reporting, never avoiding certain topics out of respect or necessity; to the contrary, it is forced to rely on the generosity and the government for its funding. Listener support is valued at 34% of its total operating budget, but 6% of its funding comes from local and state funding, as well as 13% from Corporation for Public Broadcasting allocations.

Never has this organizational pique been more at risk than it was this summer, when at the President's urging, a House subcommittee voted to sharply reduce the government's support for CPB and NPR, reducing the organization's operating budget from $400 million to $300 million. Such drastic measures put the whole NPR scheme at risk; should the Congress not have rallied last minute at the fervent cries of its constituents, many public radio supporters would have lost their home stations to the rising prices in operating budgets. Such support from the government is put further more at risk in changing political times, when the noteworthy competition might be more sympathetic to the government like Fox News. "Expressing alarm, public broadcasters and their supports in Congress interpreted the move as an escalation of a Republican-led campaign against the perceived liberal bias in their programming," wrote one Washington Post reporter.


The director of CPB was forced to immediately react, as did the political leaders in his camp. "Americans overwhelmingly see public broadcasting as an unbiased information source," reported Re. David Obey (Wis.). Nevertheless, sometimes the lack of a bias results in a perceived bias from those being criticized by the media. The funding scheme of the organization that forces reliance upon the very sources they report, causes necessary friction for National Public Radio. Despite that difficulty, the system should not be altered; looking at the BBC, for example, it is clear other countries provide far more funding for public media than the United States. Because the nature of a strong democracy is provided by an informed citizenry, the unbiased public media could not be more important organization to maintain.

National Public Radio, "How NPR Works: NPR's Mission Statement." National Public Radio. Available Online:

http://www.npr.org/about/nprworks.html

National Public Radio. "How is NPR Supported?" National Public Radio. Available Online: http://www.npr.org/about/privatesupport.html

Fatri, Paul. "Public Broadcasting Targeted by House. Panel Seeks to End CPB's Funding Within 2 Years." Washington Post. Friday, June 10, 2005; Page A01......

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