What do they put in the water cooler over at NPR? First, they fire Juan Williams in October for comments he made on Fox News Channel — and Vivian Schiller, the CEO of public radio, smilingly suggests he needs to have his head examined.
This week, a sting video shows NPR Foundation President Ron Schiller (no relation) saying that Tea Party activists were “seriously racist” and telling two purported Muslim program underwriters that there aren’t enough “non-Zionist” news organizations.
Vivian Schiller and Ron Schiller both have been forced to resign. But, with a new, large Republican House majority, NPR leaders could hardly have done a better job of persuading Congress to zero out public-radio funding.
NPR’s response to defunding threats has been incoherent. Its spokesmen point out that NPR itself receives relatively little public money. But then they say that defunding would be disastrous, because more money goes to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds public-radio stations that buy NPR programming.
Here’s a helpful suggestion to NPR: Don’t fight defunding. Instead, work with Congress to get NPR and CPB off the public payroll. It may be painful in the short run, but in the long run, you’ll be a better organization — and you won’t have to worry about pleasing politicians.
There’s a pretty close precedent: the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In 1994, when Republicans unexpectedly won majorities in both houses of Congress, the National Trust was suddenly threatened with a fund cutoff.
The organization had been campaigning against a proposed theme park near the Manassas, Va., battlefield, which made some congressional Republicans angry. Congress seemed likely to cut off the one-third of National Trust funding that came from the federal government.
Rather than fight that effort, Dick Moe, then head of the National Trust, decided to join it. He approached Ralph Regula, the House Appropriations subcommittee chairman with jurisdiction, and proposed a three-year drawdown of federal funding.
That would give his organization enough time to develop alternative funding sources, he thought. As he correctly judged, it also took the wind from the sails of those Republicans who wanted funds cut off immediately.
In retrospect, Moe has said, it was the best thing that could have happened to his organization. It prompted the National Trust to reach out to citizens and donors who shared its vision. And it allowed the organization to take controversial stands without fear of political retribution.
The National Trust is thriving today. It has undertaken major projects, like a splendid restoration of James Madison’s home, Montpelier. It publishes a first-rate magazine. It has developed a large constituency of contributors (I give a few bucks every year) who appreciate its work. It doesn’t have to do the bidding of political masters.
NPR today has a much larger constituency than the National Trust had 16 years ago and much less dependence on federal support. It has a news product of great distinctiveness and millions of loyal followers, many already contributors.
Much, if not all, of NPR’s programming already attracts thinly disguised advertising. I’m sure the NPR demographic is one many other advertisers would like to target.
Plus, the case for government support of public broadcasting is far weaker than it was in the 1960s and 1970s, when there was far less variety in broadcasting and more reason to doubt that public radio could come up with a commercially viable product.
“It is very clear that, in the long run, we would be better off without federal funding,” Ron Schiller told the pretend Muslims in the sting video.
“I just think and believe and totally expect that they can survive in the private market,” says Rep. Doug Lamborn, who’s leading the move to defund NPR in the House.
When you have both sides in such agreement, it’s obviously time to make a deal. The Schillers’ ham-handedness has made defunding likely. NPR and CPB have a window of opportunity to shape the terms and conditions of defunding. If they have any doubts, they should call Dick Moe.