NPR makes poor budget target

By The Gazette Editorial Board

---

When House members approved a bill to defund National Public Radio last month, Iowa's Congressional delegation voted straight down party lines - with Republican congressmen voting to cut off the broadcast network and Democrats voting against the bill.

The bill seems more ideological than practical; as a cost-cutting measure, it makes little impact. And by other measures, it makes little if any more sense.

NPR is an independent media organization that also serves as a membership organization for separately licensed and operated public radio stations across the country, broadcasting national and local programming in population centers as well as remote areas that otherwise would have few if any news radio choices.

HR 1076 would ban taxpayer funding of National Public Radio and prohibit member stations from using federal funds to buy NPR programming or pay NPR dues.

Most of NPR's revenue is generated through gifts, grants, sponsorships and fees paid by member stations. In FY10, NPR revenues included $63 million in programming fees from member stations and about $5 million in federal funding, according to the Associated Press.

Under the bill, those stations still would be able to receive federal funding - money which makes up 11 percent of Iowa Public Radio's $7 million budget, but reaches 50 percent or more for stations in other states. They just couldn't use it to buy NPR programming, which provides some kinds of information, music and in-depth news coverage that non-public stations often don't. That would mean that small stations especially would have to struggle to fund national content, or go without.

And to what purpose? We don't mean to imply that a few million dollars shouldn't matter, but the bill won't have much impact in a federal budget topping $3 trillion.

Lawmakers also should consider what that money buys: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting estimates that 37 million listeners tune in to public radio programming each week. Public radio officials in Iowa say more than 220,000 Iowans listen in.

In some areas, public radio is listeners' only option.

A well-informed populace with access to a variety of media sources is a cornerstone of our democratic system, as legislators well knew when they passed the Public Broadcasting Act in 1967. That hasn't changed.

And that's why we think HR 1076 does more than threaten public broadcasting; it threatens the public good. We urge Iowa's senators, Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley, to reject it.

Meanwhile, Iowans who value this news and information source should be willing to rally behind Iowa Public Radio with their financial and other support.

n Comments: thegazette.com/category/

opinion/editorial or editorial@sourcemedia.net