David Brooks: 'NPR Was Really Biased Ten Years Ago - Now It's Pretty Straight'

March 13th, 2011 2:22 PM

As NewsBusters has been reporting, liberal media members have been out in force the past few days defending NPR.

On this weekend's "The Chris Matthews Show," New York Times columnist David Brooks said, "I thought it was really biased ten years ago, but now I think it’s pretty straight" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

KATTY KAY, BBC: I don't think actually most Republicans object so much to the sums, because as you point out they're very small. It is the idea that you are funding public broadcasting that they believe has a bias. There is an argument for public broadcasting, you have to make very sure that your news reporting is seen as objective.

DAVID BROOKS, NEW YORK TIMES: I think NPR’s done a good job over the last ten years of reducing that bias. I thought it was really biased ten years ago, but now I think it’s pretty straight, and the federal money for NPR doesn't so much go for the big stations. It goes so they can go out to the rural parts of the country which wouldn’t have those stations otherwise.

Ten years ago, Brooks was working for the Weekly Standard. He joined the New York Times in September 2003.

Think becoming a New York Times "conservative" may have changed his view of NPR?