Among our story categories at NewsBusters, there's one called "Covert Liberal Activists." Today's CNN This Morning provided a perfect example of the phenomenon.
The panel [which the show calls the Group Chat] was discussing yesterday's vote by the Senate to end federal [i.e., taxpayer] funding of NPR and PBS.
The panel included one self-disclosed NPR veteran, Lulu Garcia-Navarro, who stated that she did so for the purpose of transparency.
But also on the panel was Noel King, who was described both by substitute host Jessica Dean and in the chyron [see screencap] only as the co-host of the Today, Explained podcast.
What CNN didn't reveal was that King is the former co-host of NPR's flagship "newscast" Morning Edition! And in contrast with Garcia-Navarro's nod to transparency, King didn't disclose that herself...or that her Vox Media podcast airs across America on NPR stations.
King said that, growing up in rural New York State, "NPR was what we [who's "we?"] turned on when we wanted to learn if a snowstorm had blocked the roads." She claimed that "rural stations provide news to people in rural America who can't get it elsewhere." They always pretend there are no commercial radio or stations...or any internet.
For her part, Garcia-Navarro had the chutzpah to claim that NPR is "not beholden to a political party. It is independent."
So "not beholden to a political party," that as NPR staffer Uri Berliner found:
"In D.C., where NPR is headquartered and many of us live, I found 87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions and zero Republicans. None."
Berliner also reported that in reporting the phony Russiagate story:
"We hitched our wagon to Trump’s most visible antagonist, Representative Adam Schiff. Schiff, who was the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, became NPR’s guiding hand, its ever-present muse. By my count, NPR hosts interviewed Schiff 25 times."
Garcia-Navarro claimed that defunding constitutes an "attack on the free press." So, to be free, the press must be funded by the government? Guess that made Pravda the freest press ever!
Substitute host Jessica Dean also bewailed the defunding. Turning to [MRC alum] Rob Bluey, Dean parroted the liberal party line:
"I'm thinking about Noel and her mom and snowy streets, but also recent Texas flooding. You know, just there's so many parts of America that are rural and are out there and reliant on, on this information for their safety."
Rob wished NPR and PBS well, but said they would need to seek private sources of funding, just as he has had to do in founding the Daily Signal.
It's simply untrue that NPR is the only source of emergency notifications in rural counties. For example, the county government of my rural North Carolina county sends out text messages to alert residents in the event of hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and other emergencies. It follows up with an automated phone call. And the broadcast TV stations we receive break into normal programming to devote intensive coverage to such emergencies. And by coincidence, just this morning I received an email from the small town [population 395] where I used to live, just two miles away from my current home, encouraging residents to sign up for emergency emails and alerts.
Note: This is the second day running that CNN This Morning has qualified for the Covert Liberal Activist category. On Thursday's show, to discuss the Trump administration's plan to increase the number of ICE agents by 10,000, host Audie Cornish brought in Garrett Graff, who was innocuously described as a "journalist."
Here's the transcript.
CNN This Morning
7/18/25
6:03 an EDTJESSICA DEAN: All right, joining us now in the group chat, Lulu Garcia-Navarro, CNN contributor and New York Times journalist, Noel King, co-host and editorial director of the Today, Explained podcast, and Rob Bluey, president and executive editor of the Daily Signal. Good to see all of you. Good morning to all of you.
. . .
Advocates say, for the millions who rely on public media, it could change what they see, they hear, and learn every day. I want to bring back in our group chat now. Thanks, guys, for sticking with us.
Let's start first. Noel, I just want to start with you. We just heard from Randy Fine there making the argument that the deficit is what it is. He can't in good conscience keep supporting this when the deficit is so high. What do you say to him?
NOEL KING: I grew up in rural America, and NPR was what we turned on when we wanted to learn if a snowstorm had blocked the roads. It was what we turned on if we wanted to know what was happening in iireally local politics. I'm not talking about what was happening in New York City. I'm from Central New York. If we wanted to know what was going on in our neck of the woods, we would turn on WAMC, right?
So, I understand what Representative Fine is saying. I really do. I wonder how much he is hearing from his constituents who maybe value this service, who maybe value NPR or PBS. And maybe none of them do. And that's the really tricky part here. I think NPR's new CEO, Catherine Moore, has done a very good job of explaining that rural stations provide news to people in rural America who can't get it elsewhere.
. . .
DEAN: President Trump has always talked about cutting funding to NPR and PBS. Where do you think the line is in terms of actual fiscal responsibility, like what we've just heard, what we were talking about? Or is this more targeting different journalism outlets?
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO: So, I'm a former NPR host. I worked for NPR for 17 years, for full transparency, so this is obviously a subject very close to my heart.
. . .When we think about what public media does, it is there for the public good, right? The idea is that you are providing news and information that is not beholden to an algorithm, not beholden to a political party. It is independent. That is why the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was an independent entity, which provided these funds through Congress. And so, to Noel's point, I do think that this is a loss, and I do think this is another attack on the free press.
. . .
DEAN: Rob, what do you think, broadly? And also, too, what about this piece? I'm thinking about Noel and her mom and snowy streets, but also recent Texas flooding.
There are so many parts of America that are rural and are out there and reliant on this information for their safety. How do you kind of square all of that? Where should they be looking for that?
ROB BLUEY: Well, I'd like to see all media outlets flourish, including NPR and PBS. I just think that they can do so without relying on taxpayer funding.
And as somebody who started my own news organization, the Daily Signal, and has had to come up with creative ways to find funding for it, I hope that NPR and PBS can now look to the private sector in order to fund some of the journalism that Lulu and Noel were talking about.
