The Truth About Guns deserves a lot of credit for breaking this story about the massive set up NPR’s On Point program was about this issue, which we mentioned here and here. I have confirmed through another blogger that other gun blogs received this request, so I reprint it here:
From: Matthew Baskin <mdbaskin@gmail.com>
To: XXXX
Sent: Fri, January 14, 2011 1:32:22 PM
Subject: NPR show On Point needing progressive gun guestHi Mr. Blogger,
My name is Matthew Baskin and I work for the NPR program On Point with Tom Ashbrook. I’m writing to ask if you’d be able to speak as a guest on Monday, January 17. We’re looking for a gun owner and 2nd Amendment supporter who is not opposed to the forthcoming McCarthy bill re: limiting magazine capacity. I’d be very grateful if you could put me in touch with any gun owner who is not opposed to regulation. Let me know if anyone comes to mind. Thanks very much.
Best,
Matthew Baskin
Emphasis mine. And we know they ended up, somehow, finding the AHSA shill. They also found Bob Levy who was on record at the time as supporting the ban. In short, they wanted no one on the show to speak for our side.
Given that these folks are conspiring to remove our constitutional rights, I think some guerilla tactics are from ourselves are in order. I am encouraging all my readers to e-mail their congress critters, and demand they immediately defund National Public Radio. Please forward or CC a copy of this letter to your critter to Mr. Baskin (see e-mail above), along with a short and polite note that you won’t stand idly by while your tax dollars are put to work funding one sided argument for removing your constitutional rights.
Hit them in the wallet. Don’t make it easy for them to get away with this.
Holy crap! So they truly were looking to “advocate” via their news coverage.
I actually listen to NPR quite a bit … this is totally despicable.
I also think that correspondence to congresspeople should be copied to the Director at NPR.
I admit to a great deal of skepticism that this will actually do any good, but NPR does have an ombudsman.
You can find contact information here (lower right hand side of the page).
I became completely disgusted with NPR when I listened to an episode of “All Things Considered” that gave subtle hints about how someone who was doing nasty things to his neighbor may have been a conservative, and not so subtle hints that people who believe in God are no better than hamsters who believe that the being that feeds them is some sort of Superior Being.
I was so disgusted by this program that, to this day, I have problems listening to NPR–even shows (and music) I like.
Shit. That’s my NPR station, and a show I’ve enjoyed listening to in the past. I’m going to let them know they’ve seen my last dollar.
Consider the congressman representing the 18th district of PA e-mailed by one of your readers. I will voice my support of other readers doing the same. The more of us from whom they hear, the better.
So… angry…
I’ll write the appropriate folks. Just… not right now. Blood pressure must drop first.
Just popped an e mail to Meehan in 7th. I copied Matthew from NPR also. Had to copy and paste everything into Meehans fill in the blank e mail filter. The I had to copy and paste and send to Matthew. Zip code qualifier dance.
I just finished writing the letter, and writing a letter to Matthew Baskin as well; I even decided to post the things as a blog entry:
http://epsilon-power.blogspot.com/2011/01/i-will-not-stand-idly-by.html
You know, for an organization that’s continuing existence depends completely on taxpayer-funding that must be approved by the House of Representatives, they seem pretty short sighted.
I sent an email. You can go to Gun Owners of America (http://capwiz.com/gunowners/home/) and use their “Take Action” app to automatically fill out most of the email for you and send it. I also sent a copy of the email to Mr. Baskin as well.
With all due respect, while the NPR is publicly funded, I don’t think that’s the majority of their funding.
I discovered this during the last debate over NPR receiving FedGov money, at this blog.
http://www.peekinthewell.net/blog/npr-funding/
Also, from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPR#Funding
Not to say that demanding cuts of funding over this would be wasted. This kind of thing is worth raising a stink about.
But both the friends and opponents of NPR seem a little misguided about where NPR money comes from, how important FedGov funding is, and how good the NPR is at its stated mission.
What’s particularly interesting is when you look at the creative financing involved in the operation of NPR and its affiliates. Enron was implicated for its illicit movement of funds through SPEs – special purpose entities. PBS and NPR have created similar off-book mechanisms to move money around so that it doesn’t appear that there are significant direct dollars.
However, any accountant familiar with Department of Education funding can attest to the financial flows beneficial to NPR through back-door funding that arrives to affiliates and is used to purchase NPR programming. As such, NPR feels sufficiently firewalled from any direct Congressional action as the “off-book” flows through other agencies and entities is too substantial.
Direction action, while meaningful to the message of fiscal reform and accountability, will have no economic impact and will certainly be offset through other financial flows. Only a radical reform of the Federal financial infrastructure and elimination of Department-level fiscal autonomy will limit NPR’s fiscal reach.
Funny that Baskin didn’t use an NPR related email account, but instead used his gmail account. Makes me wonder if maybe the higher-ups at NPR would like to hear about this.
#16, Flyover Fred:
Legislation can be written so that any federal monies obtained by any means (that is, back-door channels) is illegal, and penalties constructed so that any perpetrators can be maximally fined and imprisoned. “Off-the-books” federal funding can be dis-incentivized.
Further, much money that fiunds NPR does not go directly to them, but to the states, who then use it to fund their local stations through “community radio grants.” This source of funding can be dried up also.
WE are the government. What we say goes. We just have to say it loudly enough. Nebver give in to the tyranny of bureaucracy!
Reminds me of their coverage of the Middle East. Find a Palestinian who blames everything on Israel, and an Israeli who blames everything on Israel, and presto! You have “balanced coverage”…
I have a feeling that NPR is already feeling some heat. I listen to NPR shows on occasion, when I can’t find anything else worth listening to on the radio (which does happen when you’re out in the boonies). Today I happened to tune in … oh wait, who was it — right, “The Diane Rehm Show.” Very distinctive voice, she has. Easy to recognize. Anyway, the topic of her show today was the values and benefits of public radio, and why it needs continued government funding.
Every time NPR wants to get a quote from a registered Republican soccer mom they go to the Main Line. Whenever I hear “I’m standing outside (EA|Haverford|Shipley) with Mrs Smith, a Republican…” the following conversation can always be paraphrased as “… who dislikes Bush just as much as we do!”
For years, I’ve marveled at the complete coincidence from NPR interviews of farmers, or construction workers or mechanics, where the interviewee speaks with the same precious cultivated diction the host does, and just happens to hold the same sensitivity to multiculturalism and the environment.
Couldn’t be on account of such form letters used in recruiting opinions from the man in the street, could it. Can’t have just any old redneck who ‘doesn’t get it’ on NPR.
Would it be wrong to fib to Mr. Baskin and then give your real views on the air?
Ah, defund NPR. Now. who would have thought of that?
Sigh. Been there. Done that.
Elect more Tea Party candidates. Hold their feet to the fire. NPR will fall by the way side.
On Point is a show where they bring in a few people from different sides of the debate. To me, it looks like they needed a person from the pro-gun side that was ok with regulation. Therefore, they would have all different sides. That’s all. They are not keeping the pro-gun argument out of the debate. I am sure they already had someone lined up for the show to argue that side. But that’s my opinion.
As a gun owner and advocate, though in favor of thoughtful regulation, I would have loved to have gone on the show.
Also, NPR gets most of its funding from donations from listeners. Its not all federal $. I personally think it does a good job at objective journalism. Just because they bring on educated guests does not mean it leans towards a certain political ideology. Though open and well informed discussion tends to be a progressive phenomenon…so maybe that’s why NPR is so controversial.
There was no person on that show that wasn’t on record as approving of the magazine ban.
HOLD YOUR HORSES!!
First off, they were seeking a “progressive gun owner” because they already had an “against voice” please listen to the actual story and you will agree.
Second, NPR IS NOT FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT
http://www.npr.org/about/support/
“We receive no direct federal funding for operations.”
SO writing your congressmen is meaningless. It was “defunded” under Gingrich with the first contract with america.
@sebastian tsk tsk. first understand then act.
@everyone calm down this wont get passed
They don’t receive DIRECT funding from the federal government. They do receive indirect funding through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which IS federally funded.
http://www.cpb.org/annualreports/2009/images/stories/docs/CPB2009financialsFINAL.pdf
Also this:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11/17/proposal-defund-npr-wins-gop-anti-government-spending-contest/
So yes, they receive taxpayer support, indirectly through CPB. Don’t come on my blog and tell me what I need to understand when you yourself know nothing of this subject.
So I went ahead and listened to that particular show. They had callers against the magazine ban. They screen those calls, so let’s give them some credit for letting those people on the air. Interesting show too.