It's Not Shocking That PBS and NPR Are 'Alive and Kicking'

CNN's Brian Stelter sent out his "Reliable Sources" email on July 28 with the chirpy headline "Surprise: PBS and NPR are still alive and kicking." AdvertisementIn last year's debate over defunding, PBS and NPR executives routinely claimed federal funding was a tiny fraction of their budget—and that cutting them off would have a horrible result. Then again, PBS and NPR executives also claimed they weren't biased, which was preposterous. He then touted a "terrific story" on the state of so-called public broadcasting by NPR media reporter David Folkenflik. In the years afterward, as other liberal media outlets admitted the laptop was authentic and newsworthy, NPR adamantly refused to bend.