To those who still believe in an unbiased media that only reports the facts: I’m sorry Mr. Cronkite, you passed away eleven years ago, so get out of my kitchen.
All blaspheming aside, media bias is something we have all had to grapple with as we try our best to gather information and make the best decisions in life.
But, surely public media outlets like NPR stay above all of this, right?
After all, the public is more than just Democrats and Republicans. It would be dangerous to have public information curated and slanted to meet political ends.
And it is.
Maybe we’re being too hyperbolic, but NPR is by no means the absolute middle of the road when it comes to politicized news. Even by the most conservative estimates, NPR falls center-left amongst the spectrum of media outlets.
NPR has tried over the years to eschew claims of being “liberal media,” but when push comes to shove all they can says is:
“In this fractious environment, any news organization that claims to be apolitical is assumed to be liberal by default.
If that is today’s idea of liberalism, then perhaps NPR fits it. But such a practice also results in the best of American journalism.”
That’s it? You’re being accused of biased reporting and the best you can muster is the equivalent of a shrug?
Philosopher Noam Chomsky put it very matter-of-factly in his 2003 documentary that public television–NPR specifically–was strictly ideological and they simply had no reason to change.
As the name suggests, NPR is in part publicly funded by our taxes. That portion of their funding may not totally keep the lights on (NPR claims that it is less than a percent), but it is enough to create stagnation in its message.
Let’s not mince words here: media that is funded by the government will always be biased. Sure, they can be critical of the government, but it would never be in their best interest to risk their own funding to call out corruption or maleficence.
It is frustrating enough to wade through the partisan mess that is mainstream media, NPR included. And, unfortunately, it is about to get much worse.
We The People has already warned about the dangers lurking in President Biden’s infrastructure bill. Among other bafflingly shortsighted measures, media outlets will receive a huge payout in the form of supplementing subscriptions and reporter salaries.
All things considered, this is only going to create a media that is more partisan, biased, and in bed with the government. The vast majority of Americans already distrust the media and feel that it is directly causing political division in our country. And without the voices of strong Americans, we may lose our free press altogether.
But that doesn’t need to be the end of the story. We The People is standing up against the government takeover of our press. Please consider donating to our cause so we can keep the fight alive.