I guess that I’m not very knowledgeable about all this — but I still think that NPR, compared to other alternatives availble (we don’t want all news controlled by private entities, do we?), is worthy of support. Even if the local PBS is subpar, distribution is still needed if you think the news world is better off with NPR than without NPR.
Also, just because I believe that the real estate will go down badly, I don’t think that the media has an obligation to report my view (at this point, might be a minority view). In fact, you can view what they report as part of the sentiment — when they finally are fully on top of it, the worst is perhaps over. Occassionally, I read news articles that are truly forward looking, but their authors are taking a risk (reputational risk if their prediction doesn’t come true). So I expect that the media reflects herd mentality. Also, the media has adopted a really bad habit — in their persuit of providing a “balanced picture”, they always try to find a different opinion, and present them all without some indepenent, analytical thinking. What I can’t tolerate is intentional spinning (examples on the war comes to mind). Otherwise, I’d say, give them a break!
Full disclosure — I didn’t listen to the radio segment, so I’m not disputing any of your critiques. Also, when I donated my old car, I didn’t donate it to PBS, I gave it to salvation army. PBS auctioned it off to wholesalers and only 70% of the proceeds went to support its own use.
