Contribution records appear to show that the newly hired heads of the National Public Radio Foundation and National Public Radio (NPR) are liberal partisans. So why does NPR continue to receive taxpayer funding?
The new Chair of the NPR Foundation Board of Trustees John McGinn gave the maximum-allowed $2,800 to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s (D-NY) presidential campaign Mar. 2, 2019. The contribution occurred just months before being elected to his new position for a three-year term, Federal Election Commission records revealed. The FEC lists his occupation as Vice Chairman at the NPR Foundation at the time of his donation. He began his new role Nov. 1, 2019.
What makes this concerning is that McGinn gave cash to a senator who later voted “guilty” for both articles of President Donald Trump’s impeachment. He also gave $2,700 to Gillibrand in 2017, according to Open Secrets data.
The NPR Foundation “enhances current and long-term financial support for NPR, support of NPR's mission of creating a more informed public,” according to an Oct. 7, 2019 NPR article detailing McGinn’s new role.
McGinn is not the only NPR bigwig to be discovered having contributed to Democrats.
The new NPR President and CEO John Lansing also contributed $500 to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), who also voted “guilty” for both articles of impeachment, and $500 to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) challenger Amy McGrath (D) in Kentucky. His contributions also occurred just months before taking on his new role. Records suggest that Lansing was CEO of the federal-funded U.S. Agency for Global Media at the time of his contributions.
NPR said the following about the NPR President/CEO's and the NPR Foundation Chair’s roles in the organization’s decision-making:
“On November 2, 2015, NPR Members approved a change in the NPR Bylaws to expand the Board of Directors to 23 directors, consisting of 12 Member Directors who are managers of NPR Member stations and are elected to the Board by their fellow Member stations, 9 Public Directors who are prominent members of the public selected by the Board and confirmed by NPR Member stations, the NPR Foundation Chair, and the NPR President & CEO” [emphasis added].
The move leftward seems to be an ongoing trend for NPR. One recent example is NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly labeling Iranian terrorist propaganda outlet Tasnim as a “right-wing news agency” Jan. 9. Another example is the organization receiving $43,817,931 from at least ten left-wing groups between 2003-2019. One such group was liberal mega-donor George Soros’ Foundation to Promote Open Society.
