Sure, you can't be truly editorially independent, but I'd say any fair evaluation of NPR's coverage would show that it is not a state mouthpiece, like Voice of

Sure, you can't be truly editorially independent, but I'd say any fair evaluation of NPR's coverage would show that it is not a state mouthpiece, like Voice of America. It's an establishment mouthpiece (the state and the establishment aren't completely overlapping). This is America: you can bite the hand that feeds you and still be fed.