LOL: That Snob Ken Burns Cries About Rural 'News Deserts' Over Defunding of PBS, NPR

Tim Graham
November 12th, 2025 5:29 PM

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Ken Burns appeared Sunday to discuss his new documentary series on The American Revolution on the "How to Fix It" podcast from the Trump-hating outlet The Bulwark, hosted by former CNN pundit and losing Democrat congressional candidate John Avlon. As usual, Burns is gently nudged to issue long answers, like he's a genius that everyone must enjoy. He did the usual mockery of patriotic thoughts about the revolution as "fife-and-drum treacle." 

But on social media, conservatives shared Burns bemoaning the defunding of PBS and NPR. 

“It’s a big deal, they killed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, incredibly shortsighted. It'll hurt mostly rural communities, maybe that's their intention. There'll be news deserts. Nobody will be covering the school board or the city council meetings."

This is the same lame argument all the PBS/NPR bureaucrats used, because they know everyone associates these channels and their snobbish liberal news with the Manhattan brie-and-chablis set. So they have to pretend that small towns and rural areas don't have any local newspapers or radio stations who cover the local meetings. As a college kid, I sat through more than a few county board, school board, and city council meetings as a news guy for a private radio station. No NPR person came. 

Ken Burns lives in an old farm house in the small town of Walpole, New Hampshire. We can only hope the local folks mock him at the grocery store about this -- if he doesn't send "the help" to buy his wine and cheese. 

The idea that rural folks get all their news from PBS and NPR was highly amusing. I retweeted a pile of retorts, like these. 

Bonchie:

Amy Curtis: 

Michael Graham (no relation): 

Mark Hemingway: 

David Burge:

And finally, Caleb Howe: 

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