NPR -- National Propaganda Radio?

Yesterday I heard a segment on NPR that was nothing less than a repuke hit piece on Al Gore and the liberals who support him. It was presented as comedy, but it seriously pissed me off. NPR USED to speak for me, but it has swung WAY to the right, imo. The tone of this story, and the timing, seems very suspicious to me.

I went to their website this morning and found this link:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11826943

What do you guys think? Do I just not have a sense of humor? Or has NPR gone to the dark side?

I WANT MY NPR, DAMMIT!!! :wtf:

mikey_the_rat

I've heard comedy skits that lampoon the GOP also.

People just don't like it when their particular ox gets gored (no pun intended).

to describe the US presence in Iraq. I didn't listen to them for years after * was elected the first time because they swung right of center, but now I feel they are swinging back (for the most part).

The Tesha family keeps reminding them (via mail and
responses to their solicitations) that we used to be
big-time supporters (holding memberships in three
separate NPR/PBS outlets at once) but that we dropped
them when they decided that their new friends (the
Republicans and the corporations) were more important
to them than their old friends (the donating listeners).

Maybe the message is finally getting through to the
brass?

But I wouldn't count on it yet.

Tesha

But I DO like having one or two media sites that have not sold out to the wingers.

As for me, I received a call last evening from a nice young lady who asked me for a contribution. We're between funding cycles, but I was happy to pledge $25. It's worth every dime because I recognize that NPR provides the very best in news coverage. Period.

... of getting crap off the air, and putting good stuff on, so that the airwaves become something worth watching/listening to.

:rofl:

One can't have a dissenting opinion unless they're actually paid by the "enemy".

Just so there is no doubt: I do not work in or for any news media at all. My feelings about NPR are the result of a personal opinion. I feel no compulsion to blindly follow the DU swarm.

Your dissenting opinion is based on your vain need for going "against the DU swarm"
Oh my what a bold individual.

What are the next Powerball numbers? I need some money.

Oh, you're not psychic, you're just playing to your need to be the badass iconclast liberal who tries to fit in with the other supposed cool kids by "rebelling" against everything.

Jacks Smirking cool guy? Already Ignored, so go play powerball you asswipe.

You rugged rebel... going against the du swarm... swoon. :loveya:

I should probably save everyone some strife and ignore your useless "contributions" to du too.

You'd put me on your ignore list, but then you wouldn't have anyone to stalk.

Yeah, if someone disagrees with you, they're a paid agent. Thanks for living up to the stereotype of a moronic GD jackass.

not necessarily for its content, but its poor production value and length, way too long. And I believe the volume went up as well. I'm not suggesting conspiracy and I truly like NPR but that one did piss me off somewhat.

I can't stand neal conan on totn, but Diane Rheem and Teri Gross are
great.

Yesterday he had huckabee on

Bob the door i lost interest.

Let's make that volunteering, as I am unpaid. Our subchannel is called the Accessible Information Network, and operates as a full broadcasting service, originally designed for blind people, but now more of an alternate voice.

As a broadcaster, and in my humble opinion, most everyone who works at the station is quite liberal. In fact, I'd be hard pressed to label anyone as anything else. I meet people in the lunchroom who are members of management, engineering, marketing There are no hard right wingers -- although a couple of people have revealed they are liberterians, Green Party, etc.

I believe that represents a good many of the stations in the network (I've been involved with three such stations in my 35 year broadcasting career, in Boston (WGBH), Miami (WPBT) and now in Portland (KOPB).

As far as content, I believe NPR and PBS are doing what is closest to the Fairness Doctrine in terms of coverage. However, with their funding under siege, who knows what will happen in the days ahead.

I used to work at Audience Services for four years at this station. We answered the questions from the public. I know for a fact that we got hundreds of calls when Bill Moyers left "NOW." Callers would be from BOTH sides of the political spectrum -- accusing us of being left wing liberals or right wing conservatives. Because much of what is broadcast is EDUCATIONAL or DOCUMENTARIAN in format, it would be hard to convince me and others that they are slipping down the radical right tube.

I love PBS and NPR. No complaints here.

OPB's Accessible Information Network. It's a sub-channel of the VHS station carrying both our daily offerings (local) as well as Described Video (DVT) for blind people.

Thanks for the inside information. I'm glad to hear that NPR hasn't sold out. I just don't know what to make of pieces like the Al Gore/Nascar skit. Maybe I DON'T have much of a sense of humor these days. I'm willing to consider that possibility. That's another reason that BushCo has got to go! I not only want my NPR back, but my sense of humor, as well.:hi:

They were on NPR, but then they went commercial and are now heard on Saturdays on our Air America affiliate, KPOJ, 620 AM in Portland, OR.

Now, I'm an only child. Occasionally, my husband is the co-host on my program, but I fantasize about having other sisters to "schmooze" with on the radio. That WOULD BE FUN!

From: http://www.satellitesisters.com

who are the satellite sisters?
The Satellite Sisters are five real sisters: Julie, Liz, Sheila, Monica and Lian Dolan. After growing up in the same Connecticut house with two parents, three brothers and one black lab, they went off to lead very different adult lives, only to come back together in their 30’s and 40’s to create The Satellite Sisters. The Dolan sisters have been married, single and divorced. They have older kids, little kids and no kids. They have worked as teachers and nurses, Fortune 500 business leaders and major university admissions directors, school auction chairwomen and team moms. They are news junkies, People Magazine subscribers and lovers of great books. They have lived in big cites and small towns, in America and abroad. It is these lives and experiences and knowledge and opinions that the Satellite Sisters bring to their radio conversations every day from their posts in three very different cities.

News. Talk. Laughs. The Satellite Sisters tackle the world one cup of coffee at a time.

Thanks for the link.

Kansas (?), but I don't find a station listing. Sorry I could not devote more time to this search, but I'm going to the opening of a play tonight.

Yes, it's true that NPR and its affiliates is more beholden to corporate support now although that does NOT drive programming. In 1995 when Newt and his minions took control of Congress, they tried to shut down funding for public broadcasting completely. While they didn't succeed, they DID manage to get CPB funding criteria changed from it being based on market size to it being based on audience size as measured by Arbitron, a flawed service at best. Many stations had to give up cutting edge programs in favor of those that would generate bigger audience numbers (i.e. more mainstream) so they wouldn't lose federal funding AND we have had to go out and gather more corporate support which is why you hear more funding messages now.

Plus the current administration has tried to stack the CPB with right-wingers; remember the Ken Tomlinson fiasco?

So, my advice is to lobby Congress to change this flawed funding criteria so stations can go back to more daring programming without fear of losing funds. I know NPR and PBS have been lobbying for this ever since it was changed.

For the record, NPR is not listener-funded, only its affiliates. When you withhold support from an affiliate you like because of what NPR is doing, you punish only the affiliate. Ask if the station has any accounts that are not used to pay for NPR programming and designate your gift to that. We have one and we have listeners who contribute only to that fund.

NPR annoys me too sometimes, but it also has some excellent reporting, for instance the bit on Blackwater some months ago. It was quite revealing and it took on a subject (the privitization of military operations) that does not get enough air time. I could best describe it as fair, as in Fairness Doctrine, but leaning liberal.

1) Brian Unger's "Unger Report" is aired exclusively on Day to Day.
2) Unger skewers left and right with great delight. (If you can't laugh at the silly/stupid things your heroes do, well, that's your fault)
3) Unger's piece on Gore III was on the money and well deserved. Are you folks suddenly forgiving Al the Third for his multiple violations? This wasn't his first brush with the law.

So, would you prefer that Day to Day simply brush this under the carpet? Tell Unger what he can and cannot lampoon?

This is as fucked up as the poster yesterday who begged to have DU ban all posters who might consider voting for anybody but a Dem in any race -- national, state, or local. Are we all a bunch of clones with raging insecurities?

They like to keep it warm and fuzzy.

and the men all sound as if they would like to help, but are afraid that would come off as too patriarchal"
Unfortunately, I can not remember the brilliant wag who came up with that assessment, but it is indeed brilliant.

:shrug:

"Agitate against NPR dishonesty and push for responsible public radio. Support your local station if they deserve it!" from the about page.

Job hunting in Iraq
http://nprcheck.blogspot.com/2007/07/job-hunting-in-la-la-land.html

I appreciate this blogger's perspective.

I DO think that NPR's programming has lost some of its cutting-edginess, and it's good to know that someone is monitoring them. I'm glad to hear that most people who work for the affiliates are progressive, but some of the programming seems a little too corporate for my tastes.

If you have some time, try and listen to the segments he cites... some of them are doozies.

Cheers!

... they are deluded.

NPRCheck is simply one guy venting his spleen about any story that passes by on NPR. He'll post a quote, make an unsubtantiated claim, write the ombudsman at NPR, and bitch about the reply or lack of it.

This guy has a hard-on for hating NPR, and a lot of free time. Too bad it ends there.

has actually listened to any of the stories that the NPRCheck blog cites, fine. but he hasnt.

And as to "stalking you" Get a grip.

You are right Buzz Click NPR is the bestest ever, nothing wrong with it.

Let me guess was it some keyword that that "spleen venting" blogger used? Maybe something on Israel Palestine? That's usually the "third rail" that activates idiots like you.

"Is the intention of "a green version of NASCAR" to be funny? Because for those of us who take climate change seriously, it wasn't. If the intention is to express NPR's solidarity with those who don't take this crisis seriously, I will no longer be able to take NPR seriously either."

<<<"Is the intention of "a green version of NASCAR" to be funny? Because for those of us who take climate change seriously, it wasn't. If the intention is to express NPR's solidarity with those who don't take this crisis seriously, I will no longer be able to take NPR seriously either.">>>

That, in a nutshell, is why that skit sounded like a repuke hit piece to me. Making fun of environmentalists does not sound progressive to me. And the timing, right after Live Earth, seems significant.

y'know, that kind of masochistic "progressive"

As in progressives thinking it's funny when progressives are the butt of jokes. Yep.

I am very green, drive a hybrid, bought Al Gore II's movie, yet I found the piece hilarious.

"Gentlemen! Push your start buttons! (soft beeping followed by total silence of the Prius electric motor)... It's more than a parking camera, it's a portrait making machine." Anyone who has ever driven Prius is quite aware of its quirks and excesses. I love the Prius, but Unger nailed it.

A lot more balanced and informative. No wonder NPR uses them when they need good reporting. Otherwise, NPR has a lot of irrelevant junk.

I listen to BBC World Service as well. Only bad thing is it goes off at 5am (my time) and NPR takes over. Fortunately, since the weight of the world is on my shoulders daily, worry and despair cause me to wake very early so I'm able to catch a little of "World Service" before "New Presstitutes for Republicans" comes on...

Channel 141. I love it. I flip between 141 and 146 (Sirius Left).

:hi:

on Sirius you will also get CBC Radio from Canada. More music and non-news things than BBC, but when you get their news it is very accurate and unbiased as well. Sorry if I sound like a Sirius salesman, but that little radio is really a way to cut through the American mainstream media noise.

why in the hell would I want to listen to those tools catapult the propaganda?

NPR news is the most progressive on the airwaves. You must be friggin' miserable.

media for news delivery? I can read much faster than ANY newsreader can recite. Unless, they are going to start hiring auctioneers for those jobs...

... and is your printed news bias free?

Anyone who gets their identity from NPR, DU, or anything like them has no identity at all.

But I stopped listening to them well before then, as what talk there was (i.e. Cokie Roberts creaming over "shock and awe") made it hard to keep my breakfown down anyway.

I bet even Al laughed when he heard it. Hit piece? Hardly.

But you're not alone in your suspicions of NPR. THere are many, as you see, you think of it as Republican Radio.

I'm not one of them.

And support them instead. Different from NPR, they rarely run NPR programming. Not even necessarily Pacifica stations, more like regular radio in your city, rare commercials if any, all different kinds of music.

...The increase in minimum wage. She alluded to the perception that the Dems have done little else.

She also went on to say that only 1 in 4 Americans believe Bush is doing a good job. I thought "OH, NO, COKIE!!! SAY IT AIN'T SO!!! Isn't the 'charm offensive' working anymore? You know, Cokie, the 'charm offensive?' You told us 'Bush is charming--oh, so charming' during Campaign2000, and declared the CO will make everyone in DC succumb to Bush's "charm." You said that's how he'll united the country and get things done! You remember, Cokie??? DON'T YOU?????

Maybe you were just making shit up, Cokie? Like your "the Dems haven't done much" statement?

low power radio transmission for over 25 years. And that's a fact.

I wonder why...

they, along with the rest of the bought media, started cheerleading for a war. Since Ray Suarez left the network has gone steadily downhill in the quality of its reporting and talk shows.