This morning’s Morning Edition featured a puff piece on Mike Huckabee, the title of which on the NPR web page is Huckabee's Appeal Doesn't Help Presidential Bid . The paragraph introducing the story on the web reads:

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is an ordained Baptist minister, former governor of Arkansas, and has conservative credentials. Still, his poll results hover in low single-digit range.

Reading this, one would think perhaps the story was objective, or even mildly critical of Huckabee. Listen to it, and listen to the radio introduction carefully, and you’ll see a very subtle spin. The introductory line, "performs well enough to get air time on cable TV" is omitted.  Huckabee is compared to Bill Clinton, whom nobody thought had a chance, either. Huckabee is given a chance to pump up his own credentials, and to drop references to NASCAR racing. After a visit to a factory in New Hampshire, two locals are asked reactions, and both are favorable. We get 20 seconds on how sincere his handshake is: another 20 seconds on how a person would be convinced to vote for him if he "knew more about him". David Green couldn’t have been nicer to Huckabee if he tried. The whole piece is placed in the context of the negatives each of the "top tier" Republican candidates bear with them. It couldn’t have been written better by Huckabee’s campaign manager.

I really only catch Morning Edition and All Things Considered. My NPR station switches to classical music betwixt and between. But I can’t remember NPR delving into the second tier of the Democratic Candidates. Where’s the equivalent piece on Chris Dodd, or Denis Kucinich, or Joe Biden? I suspect the top tier Democrats are just as happy about this as they could be, but I’m not. Aside from the lack of balance–more reporting on Republican politics than Democratic politics–the impression is given that there is less breadth in the Democratic Party because only the more centrist candidates get any play.

I’ve been a monthly contributor to NPR for 30 years or more. I believe in Public Radio. I don’t believe in what it has morphed into under this administration. Politicization has been a concern from the early years of the Bush administration, and between packing the board and using the threat of cutting of funding as a Sword of Damocles over the head of institution, the swing to the right is palpable. I’m not giving up on Public Radio, not yet. But, perish the thought, if the radical right dominates past the next election cycle, I’m quite sure I can find a better place to park $20.00 a month.