I listen to NPR every morning, while I am multi-tasking of course, and occasionally also during the day. I used to listen much more, but now not as much. Today, a long segment was devoted to the federal government's recision of funding for public media - specifically, NPR and PBS. While I disagree with the decision and the stated reasons, I was reminded of my own experience which I previously described elsewhere (see below).
In years past, I taught high school journalism and was advisor to two student publications, one of which was very successful with 32 - 48 page issues every four weeks, entirely written and produced by students, and a fully advertiser-funded budget of $10,000 (30 years ago!). I am well aware of the editorial decisions which occur at every step of the process from what to cover, who to interview, how to arrange information, what to include and what to omit. on what page and in what position to place a piece. For anyone to claim that they are objective, neutral, disinterested is absurd.
But some hands on the tiller are lighter than others, and some perspectives are less involved in a story than others. I do not like "public media's" stance on many educational matters, particularly related to independent education, and while I would like to see more stories on x and fewer on y, I do think that having "public media" is very much a net positive and hope that it does not disappear from our menu of media choices.
*Please leave comments and queries below*
Further Reading
NPR is not as objective as they claim
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