Globe99 on Nostr: I'm both libertarian and a long-time NPR listener... First, on the "bias" question, I ...

I'm both libertarian and a long-time NPR listener... First, on the "bias" question, I personally don't find significant left-right bias in NPR news coverage. Sure, they're not going to be seeking out the "libertarian perspective" on the issues of the day, but I can get that from other outlets like Reason.

PBS news coverage I have found to be more left-leaning in general, thus I tend to prefer outlets like BBC for basic fact-based "world news" reporting.

On the funding question: It's important to state that actual federal funding accounts for ~1% of NPR's budget. PBS might be larger, but it's also a mix of federal and state funding. Donations "from listeners like you" make up the bulk of it in both cases.

So, while I'm not going to "go to the barricades" to protect 1% of NPR's budget, I am dismayed that the Right has consistently gone after these "soft targets" like NPR, PBS, USAID, etc... Meanwhile the real "waste fraud and abuse" is in the Pentagon, c.f. the disastrous F-35 program.