Hello all, this is Chuck
I must admit, I was angry to get the chain letter about NPR funding. I'm amazed that people fall for chain letters at all as I don't think any of them are valid. I do have some sympathy for people who fell for the NPR chain letter, but when people I know and respect send me the letter claiming that Microsoft will pay $32.43 for each person they pass the letter on too...that's downright stupidity. Really, inexcusable! All you need is a basic understanding of mathmatics to understand that it's impossible.
So, just to set the record straight, on the NPR front...From their website:

How is NPR Supported?

NPR (National Public Radio) is a private, self-supporting nonprofit media company with hundreds of independent radio stations as members. NPR receives no direct federal funding for general support. NPR supports its operations through a combination of membership dues and programming fees from stations, contributions from private foundations and corporations, and revenue from the sales of transcripts, books, CDs, and merchandise. A very small percentage - between 1-2 percent of NPR's annual budget - comes from competitive grants sought by NPR from federally funded organizations, such as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. At present, NPR's annual operating budget is approximately $100 million a year (2002 NPR Annual Report).