Not the NPR! Hands off my NPR!

(Via Ezra)
While Gene is a fan of the more stridently partisan Air America, I am a die-hard NPR fan. They're just about the last bastion of sanity in the media right now. Which is why this latest attempt at total media control by the Bushies is totally freaking me out.

WASHINGTON, May 15 - Executives at National Public Radio are increasingly at odds with the Bush appointees who lead the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

In one of several points of conflict in recent months, the chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which allocates federal funds for public radio and television, is considering a plan to monitor Middle East coverage on NPR news programs for evidence of bias, a corporation spokesman said on Friday.

The corporation's board has told its staff that it should consider redirecting money away from national newscasts and toward music programs produced by NPR stations.

Yes...more soothing classical music...no need to get ourselves all worried about the unpleasantness going on overseas.

Together with a survey that reported 43% of the public being of the opinion that the press has too much freedom and a jaw dropping 22% who thinks the government should be allowed to censor the press, this does not bode well for the future.