NPR media reporter David Folkenflik reported Thursday that the philanthropist Connie Ballmer — wife of Steve Ballmer, one of the Microsoft founders — contributed $80 million specifically to insure NPR transforms its technology to meet the needs of “public” media audiences. Their natural audience “needs” to be told the Republicans are evil people wanting to ruin freedom of speech.
“I support NPR because an informed public is the bedrock of our society, and democracy requires strong, independent journalism,” Ballmer, a former member of the NPR Foundation board, said in a statement.
They always describe non-commercial leftist propaganda as “independent.” NPR has always been dependent on taxpayers. State governments are still funding many NPR affiliates.
An anonymous donor gave the other $33 million, with the intent of helping NPR affiliates across the country analyze their audiences, market themselves, and raise money.
These are the largest donations NPR has received since Joan Kroc, the widow of McDonald’s magnate Ray Kroc, left more than $200 million to the network in 2003. In 1987, Kroc gave the Democrats $1 million, at that time the biggest single contribution in the party’s history.
Jeffrey Blehar at National Review speaks for all the involuntary conservative donors to “public” broadcasting:
[W]hat conservatives always argued would happen if you cut funding for public broadcasting has indeed happened: nothing at all. They’re doing fine! What limited audience NPR had (it no longer includes me) was always willing to subsidize it. NPR never needed our taxpayer money after all. It was all a parasitic grift, a lobbying yelp, the literal — forgive me, but I am about to cite Jim Morrison — scream of the butterflies. These people merely wanted a guaranteed pipeline to taxpayer funding and the nominal imprimatur of “national” agenda-setting and news-making authority.
—
NPR has received two of the largest gifts in their decades of existence, totaling $113 million. It’s a natural response to President Trump and Republicans ending federal dollars to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting last year.
NPR media reporter David Folkenflik reported Thursday that the philanthropist Connie Ballmer — wife of Steve Ballmer, one of the Microsoft founders — contributed $80 million specifically to insure NPR transforms its technology to meet the needs of “public” media audiences. Their natural audience “needs” to be told the Republicans are evil people wanting to ruin freedom of speech.
“I support NPR because an informed public is the bedrock of our society, and democracy requires strong, independent journalism,” Ballmer, a former member of the NPR Foundation board, said in a statement.
They always describe non-commercial leftist propaganda as “independent.” NPR has always been dependent on taxpayers. State governments are still funding many NPR affiliates.
An anonymous donor gave the other $33 million, with the intent of helping NPR affiliates across the country analyze their audiences, market themselves, and raise money.
These are the largest donations NPR has received since Joan Kroc, the widow of McDonald’s magnate Ray Kroc, left more than $200 million to the network in 2003. In 1987, Kroc gave the Democrats $1 million, at that time the biggest single contribution in the party’s history.
Jeffrey Blehar at National Review speaks for all the involuntary conservative donors to “public” broadcasting:
[W]hat conservatives always argued would happen if you cut funding for public broadcasting has indeed happened: nothing at all. They’re doing fine! What limited audience NPR had (it no longer includes me) was always willing to subsidize it. NPR never needed our taxpayer money after all. It was all a parasitic grift, a lobbying yelp, the literal — forgive me, but I am about to cite Jim Morrison — scream of the butterflies. These people merely wanted a guaranteed pipeline to taxpayer funding and the nominal imprimatur of “national” agenda-setting and news-making authority.
