Republicans Set Their Sights on NPR and PBS
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The audience for National Public Radio has been growing fast, but Republicans want to defund it, along with Public TV. We hear about ideological issues and about different consequences for urban centers and rural areas that don’t have alternatives. Also, President Obama holds forth on Egypt and budget cuts, and the New York and Frankfort stock exchanges are merging. Who are the likely winners and losers?
Making News
President Obama Holds Forth on Egypt, Budget Cuts ()
President Obama has promised to reduce America's massive deficit. Today, at his first full-fledged news conference of this year, he was asked why he hasn't addressed the most important causes -- Medicare, Social Security and the tax code — as Republicans have demanded. Jonathan Weisman is White House reporter for the Wall Street Journal.
Guests:
- Jonathan Weisman: Reporter, Wall Street Journal, @jonathanweisman
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Main Topic
Public Broadcasting on the Firing Line Once Again ()
In the 1990's, Big Bird, Kermit and all their friends saved Bill Moyers, Frontline and the rest of public broadcasting from Republican budget cuts. But charges of liberal bias never went away. Last year, NPR's news analyst Juan Williams told Fox News he was "nervous" flying with passengers wearing "Muslim garb." When NPR fired him, Speaker John Boehner and other Republicans saw evidence of "a left-wing network." Since January, six bills have been introduced to defund public broadcasting once and for all. This week, Congress will vote on a measure that would withhold the remaining amount of the budget for this year. We hear from their critics and their supporters.
Guests:
- Paul Farhi: National Political Reporter, Washington Post
- Laura Walker: President, New York Public Radio
- Laurence Jarvik: author, 'PBS behind the Screen'
- James Rainey: Media Columnist, Los Angeles Times, @LATimesrainey
- Adam Thierer: Senior Research Fellow, George Mason University's Mercatus Center
Links:
- HR 1 (eliminates funding for public broadcasting)
- PBS on elimination of federal funding
- NPR on proposed elimination of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
- CPB on proposal to cut public media funding
- Glenn Garvin on NPR (Miami Herald)
- Pew Project for Excellence on Journalism on the state of the media
- Rainey on need to broaden the mix at NPR
- Los Angeles Times on the value of public broadcasting
Reporter's Notebook
NYSE Merges with the Bourse ()
Last week, the London and Toronto stock exchanges announced a merger. Today, the New York and Frankfort Stock Exchanges have agreed to merge in a deal worth some $10 billion. What will that mean for the financial world and American shareholders? Felix Salmon is a finance blogger for Reuters who says, despite some big numbers, the deal itself isn't all that important.
Guests:
- Felix Salmon: Finance blogger, Reuters, @felixsalmon
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