Posted on 03/12/2011 1:14:08 PM PST by STARWISE
After the public shaming of NPR this week, Nina Totenberg was given the option of taking a day off from PBS's "Inside Washington" so that she wouldn't have to face the music concerning the so-called "news organization" she works for.
Demonstrating admirable spunk, Totenberg showed up to "defend the product" her radio station produces only to have Charles Krauthammer say in the midst of a lengthy discussion about the issue, "If the product is so superior, why does it have to live on the tit of the state?" (video of entire segment follows with transcript and commentary):
Transcript Excerpt:
GORDON PETERSON, HOST: Nina, fasten your seat belt. NPR's bumpy ride just ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON SCHILLER, NPR: It is very clear that we would be better off in the long run without federal funding. NPR would definitely survive and most of the stations would survive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PETERSON: That is Ron Schiller, formerly NPRs head of fundraising, caught in a sting at a Washington restaurant by people posing as members of a fake Muslim group. They said they were potential NPR donors which is why it was there. Some members of Congress are ready to take Schiller up on the offer, by the way, and cut off funding. Schiller also had some very unpleasant things to say about the Republican Party, the Tea Party, said they were racist, some are Jews. After the story broke, NPRs President and CEO Vivian Schiller, no relation, resigned . Now I offered Nina the chance to take the week off. She declined. She wants to defend her company. So, youre on.
NINA TOTENBERG, NPR: I cant defend the executives, the top executives, and I cant necessarily even defend the board, but I can defend the product. There is a reason that we are the only news organization, other than Fox, with a growing audience. It is because of our product which is straight-shooting, factual, and spends an enormous amount of money gathering news from all over the country and the world. Judge us by our product. The people in the newsroom were probably more mortified than Charles or anybody in the Tea Party, or any, any anybody else. I mean, we were just horrified, and not by the political incorrectness of what he said, but by the fact that he even thought this way.
PETERSON: Well, this plays right into the belief that youre a bunch of lefties.
TOTENBERG: I know it does, but its not true. [Laughter]
Was that nervous laughter by Totenberg or a subconscious admission of guilt? Regardless, Krauthammer wasn't buying any of it:
PETERSON: Charles?
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: Well, all I would say, I mean I dont want to rehash all the grounds, it obviously is a liberal organization. Obviously what you're getting is a taste of what people say to each other internally. Everybody knows that. But I have no objection to liberal news organizations. I read the New York Times. The difference between NPR growing, Fox growing, is that Fox is not holding out a tin cup for taxpayer money. I want NPR to thrive, but not on my dime.
PETERSON: Colby?
Prepare to be shocked, for Washington Post columnist Colby King actually agreed with Krauthammer:
COLBY KING, WASHINGTON POST: I think NPR ought to take that initiative and say we do not want the subsidy.
PETERSON: Wouldnt that kill some of the stations?
TOTENBERG: It would kill a lot of stations.
And therein lies the truth. Supporters of NPR claim on the one hand it would do fine without the public's money, but folks inside the organization know that not to be the case. King seemed to know it as well:
KING: Yeah, then this is a test of public support
KRAUTHAMMER: We got a market in the country. We have thousands of stations.
KING:
and whether the public will step forward. And let's go back to that performance we saw on TV. I mean, it was disgusting, and it was disgusting because he was pandering. He was pandering to get some bucks, and he would say anything to get five million bucks. Thats the despicable thing.
The Kraut ROCKS!
Additional lunacy
Bill Moyers Tries to Help NPR by Slashing Fox News and the 'Right-Wing Machine'
Krauthammer ‘nails’ NPR!
Lol! I suppose he meant it in a “teat” sort of way.
Well, that leaves six of George Carlins words...
I presume ... ;)
Krauthammer just playing the game waiting to go after Palin in his next breath.
Sorry folks but tough talk on NPR will not save this nation just a diversion I would have thought people would have figured that out by now.
I could care less about the “state”, why do they freeload on taxpayers?
Prepare to be shocked, for Washington Post columnist Colby King actually agreed with Krauthammer:
COLBY KING, WASHINGTON POST: I think NPR ought to take that initiative and say we do not want the subsidy.
Ping
Cool Earthquake links:
http://www.wolton.net/quake.html
http://mapserver.gis.ttu.edu/japanquake/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG87v9-ROfw
They tell us cigarettes cause cancer, hamburgers cause heart attcks, SUVs cause global warming - but they are unbiased and nonpartisan.
They need to constantly brag about how smart they are orr they would all forget.......
"teat tit...serves same purpose...????..unless you live in Vegas"
The host of WWDTM, Peter Segal, is fairly even-handed in his ridicule of politicians. He started off the show today by saying how much he loved the Tea Party...how smart and attractive they were...it was very funny.
Guess libs like Nina will decide what is good news vs bad. Pull the plug.
Pray for America
My memory may be rusty on this, but I recall nina reporting from the floor of the ‘96 democrat convention. When clintoon finished his acceptance speech, the balloons came down, and nina was howling an orgasmic “woo woo woo!”.
I was so embarrassed for her and npr/pbs.
Uhh? I thought it lived on the a** of the state, like a wart?
Why does NPR have to live? Let it die.
—Rural NPR stations might go under without fed subsidies? There are other ways to get NPR programming—off the comp. Via satellite radio, etc. And if people really want it, PAY for it...VOLUNTARILY. But not through a mandatory tax.
—I saw allow the FCC to let them go commercial. What’s wrong with Car Talk, brought to you by Sears Auto Centers? Some of their donorships sound like ads as it is.
—Air America flopped because libs who wanted to hear it could get their views via NPR...on 50,000 watt FM blowtorches (or
more: Boston’s WGBH is 100,000 watts!) without commercial interruption. Why would people want to hear the same views on a scratchy AM station? And they could laugh at the fact that conservatives through tax money were subsidizing lib leaning shows. Stale Air With Terri Gross Me Out (credit:
Laura Ingraham)
No reason to be embarrassed for someone who was not embarrassed for herself.
npr is propaganda machine for obama and dem party
On XM (via XM site)
133 XM Public Radio News/Talk Public Radio XM Public Radio
134 NPR Now News/Talk Public Radio NPR News & Conversation
135 World Radio Network News/Talk International News News Around the World
136 PRX Public Radio News/Talk Public Radio Public Interest Programming
131 BBC World Service News/Talk International News The World’s Reference Point
Immediately defund it, revoke the use of the name “National Public Radio,” and cut it loose, and then let’s get back to the real issues - the massive federal debt caused by entitlements and the usurpation of our liberties.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.