Henry Ford to the rescue!

Of course ole Henry is long gone, but his money lives on under the control of the leftoid apparatchiks running the Ford Foundation and the cash is just burning a hole in their pockets - Public TV and Radio to Receive Big Grants. You see, they're mighty upset that the usually reliable mainstream media seem to be in such sad disarray:

"The media in general is at a crossroads in our country," said Susan V. Berresford, the foundation's president, pointing to declining newspaper circulation, a drop over the last decade in coverage of international affairs, and continuing market pressures that demand ratings successes while eating into news-gathering budgets.

So to keep the propaganda stream steady, they've anted up some of Henry's loot:

The initiative will funnel $50 million over five years to a baker's dozen of public television, radio and other media organizations. A major focus of the effort will be to spur the creation and distribution of public affairs programming, particularly programs dealing with international affairs.

The Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio will receive the largest grants, $10 million and $7.5 million respectively. But less well-known entities will also share in the wealth, including Link TV, a television network devoted to explaining the rest of the world to the United States; the Sundance Documentary Fund, which supports documentaries about human rights issues; and New California Media, a consortium of more than 600 print, television, radio and Internet outlets devoted to ethnic news.

Hey, those are some familiar faces! We all know PBS and NPR, the official leftoid TV and radio networks respectively. And there's Link TV, who in between sets of armpit music from Lower Elbonia, seems to be the official network of MoveOn.org and similarly exotic moonbats. And ITVS? Why they're a founder of Link TV and more to the point:

ITVS is a miracle of public policy created by media activists, citizens and politicians seeking to foster plurality and diversity in public television. ITVS was established by a historic mandate of Congress to champion independently produced programs that take creative risks, spark public dialogue and serve underserved audiences. Since its inception in 1991, ITVS programs have revitalized the relationship between the public and public television, bringing TV audiences face-to-face with the lives and concerns of their fellow Americans. More information about ITVS can be obtained by visiting www.itvs.org. ITVS is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American People.

Translation: "We take the citizens' money and spit in their face."

How about the Sundance Documentary Fund? Here's a hint, it used to be called The Soros Documentary Fund, one of whose greatest hits was The Women of Hizbollah. Sounds like a warm bunch! The Sundance version was made possible by a $4.6 million grant from the New York–based Open Society Institute (OSI). We sure wouldn't want to start any substantial leftoid enterprise without involving SPECTRE!

And let's not forget New California Media. They're the "ethnic" subsidiary of The Pacific News Service who has been toeing the party line since the Vietnam War.

It's sure nice to know that the Ford Foundation is thinking of us little people.