In the wake of an eye-opening essay reiterating National Public Radio's dearth of intellectual diversity, U.S. Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) introduced a bill to prohibit taxpayer funding from benefiting the Democrat- and woke-dominated broadcast and online news outlet.
The "Defund NPR Act" is exactly what it sounds like. The two-page bill states:
After the date of the enactment of this Act, no Federal funds may, directly or indirectly, be made available to or used to support an organization described in subsection (b) [National Public Radio and any successor], including through the payment of dues to or the purchase of programming from such organization by a public broadcast station using Federal funds received by such station.
"NPR’s new CEO is a radical, left-wing activist who doesn’t believe in free speech or objective journalism," Banks emphasized in a statement provided to Townhall. "Hoosiers shouldn’t be writing her paychecks."
What's more, Banks continued, new NPR chief Katherine Maher "isn’t qualified to teach an introductory journalism class, much less capable of responsibly spending millions of American tax dollars. NPR was a liberal looney bin under the last CEO John Lansing, and it’s about to get even nuttier," he warned. "It’s time to pull the plug on this national embarrassment. Congress must stop spending other people’s hard-earned money on low-grade propaganda," said Banks.
Earlier in April, 25-year veteran of NPR Uri Berliner wrote in The Free Press that "[a]n open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don’t have an audience that reflects America. That wouldn’t be a problem for an openly polemical news outlet serving a niche audience," he noted. "But for NPR, which purports to consider all things, it’s devastating both for its journalism and its business model." This "absence of viewpoint diversity," Berliner explained, has been "the most damaging development" in NPR's slide into inanity.
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Despite Elon Musk's support for Banks' legislation stripping NPR of taxpayer funding, it's difficult to imagine the Democrat-controlled Senate or President Joe Biden agreeing that NPR should no longer receive funding from American taxpayers. After all, Democrats wouldn't want to offend the "folx" at NPR whose biased framing and story selection favor their policies.
Great
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 18, 2024
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