Columbia President: Due to Explosion of the Internet We Must Have More State-Controlled Media

Since the mainstream media is losing its market dominance, this clown calls for government support of media, citing China's government news agencies and the BBC. Sure, just what we need when we're stating at trillion-dollar annual deficits: More money thrown at media outlets that already parrot the left's talking points of the day.

The idea of public funding for the press stirs deep unease in American culture. To many it seems inconsistent with our strong commitment, embodied in the First Amendment, to having a free press capable of speaking truth to power and to all of us. This press is a kind of public trust, a fourth branch of government. Can it be trusted when the state helps pay for it?

No, it can't. All one needs to do is listen to a day of NPR programming or watch a Bill Moyers special on PBS to know these outlets are saturated with liberal propaganda.

Ironically, we already depend to some extent on publicly funded foreign news media for much of our international news—especially through broadcasts of the BBC and BBC World Service on PBS and NPR. Such news comes to us courtesy of British citizens who pay a TV license fee to support the BBC and taxes to support the World Service. The reliable public funding structure, as well as a set of professional norms that protect editorial freedom, has yielded a highly respected and globally powerful journalistic institution.

Sure, just one that can't be trusted.

Indeed, it gets funnier.

There are examples of other institutions in the U.S. where state support does not translate into official control. The most compelling are our public universities and our federal programs for dispensing billions of dollars annually for research. Those of us in public and private research universities care every bit as much about academic freedom as journalists care about a free press.

Oh, and we know how academic research never comes with any political bias attached.

Now who does Bollinger cite as great examples of of strong media?

To me a key priority is to strengthen our public broadcasting role in the global arena. In today's rapidly globalizing and interconnected world, other countries are developing a strong media presence. In addition to the BBC, there is China's CCTV and Xinhua news, as well as Qatar's Al Jazeera.

Sure, never any bias or censorship with those esteemed media giants.