Sunday, September 07, 2008

Q Tips

NPR related comments always welcomed.

As some of you may have noticed, I've cut back a bit on my listening and blogging on NPR. For the time being, my goal is to update NPR Check at least once a week.
Posted by Mytwords at 12:40 PM
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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

As much as I agree with you that most of the time NPR tends to fail to actually report on critical issues, instead continuing to echo conventional wisdom no matter how false or nonsensical they are, I was pleasantly surprised by Scott Horsley's reporting on the McCain campaigns double talk. On Friday he listed McCain's claim to offer change noting that McCain is really proposing for follow Bush's economic policies.

Today he followed up pointing out how Republicans are touting Sarah Palin's great celebrity after beating Obama up for his perceived celebrity and mass appeal.

It's a small and refreshing change, maybe I'll listen a while longer.

9/8/08, 9:30 AM
Porter Melmoth said...

Indeed, NPR can inject a bit of refreshment into their daily grind, but speaking for myself, I think I'm too far gone to have that much faith in NPR's overarching agendas (hinted at in my post one notch down from here). NPR is perfectly happy to hook us with a little carrot from time to time, that makes conservative critics think that NPR is decidedly 'left-wing'.

Who the hell cares about 'wings' anyway? How about just the truth, or at least getting as close to it as possible? (Egads, I'm sounding like a pronouncement from Fox News!)

9/8/08, 11:40 AM
Anonymous said...

Hi mytwords,

First time here (via C&L), and I wanted to say, great stuff! Bookmarking now! Your bit on NPR "coverage" of police state tactics in St. Paul is exactly right, of course, as it is for the corporate media in general. I, too, have been noticing the slide of NPR into something approaching the Pravada-esque.

I wanted to relate a little noticed "event" on NPR from over a week ago, something no one I've talked to noticed or, apparently, even thought was odd. Maybe everyone is getting used to it.

Friday morning, after Obama's speech in Denver, Diane Rehm, whose show has become so glutted with AEI and Heritage "fellows," it's nearly unlistenable, had guests on her show discussing what topic might you imagine? The big speech? No. No, no, no.

They were discussing who McCain would pick as his running mate, as his promised and purposefully timed announcement had not yet happened. This went on for an hour; mind numbing in its banality. In the second hour, was the subject ... Obama's speech? Again, no.

The second hour was devoted to Russo-European relations in the (sort of) aftermath of the Georgian conflict. An important subject to be sure, but during the entire two hours, Obama's historic acceptance speech was treated as though it had not happened.

The episode was creepy, and frighteningly so. And even more so given that her show devoted itself to McCain and the RNC the morning after his grim parade of dour bullshit.

NPR is gone. The Republicans have done a fine job on it.

9/8/08, 5:38 PM
Anonymous said...

Diane Rehm's show is my particular bete noir. You are so right about the "think tank" shills, not to mention the right-wing "journos" (WSJ, WashTimes) that pack the guest lists. Often it is left to the callers to raise important questions and objections, which are usually dusted away by the Repub apologists like so much dandruff. UGH!

9/9/08, 7:01 AM
RepubLiecan said...

My NPR station dropped Diane Rehm's show years ago. I didn't listen to her that much, but when I did her guests seemed to be more from the left side of the political spectrum. Has she had to go along to get along in the right wing dominated media?

I agree that NPR and PBS have both moved far closer to mainstream media in their content, acting more like stenographers than truth seekers.

All that said, in one of the top of hour news headline reports on Morning Edition today, they reported the "lipstick on a pig" being a dig at Palin accusations from the Republiecans but they also mentioned Obama has used that phrase in the past describing Bush's policies, particularly Iraq. They also reported that McCain used the same phrase earlier this year to describe Hillary Clinton's health care plan.

I'm all criticizing NPR and PBS when they act like the MSM, but we should recognize when they do a few things right too.

Glenn Greenwald has several excellent commentaries on the MSM, lapdogs of the right.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/

@anderson
Very good observation about the republicans destroying NPR. They couldn't do it under Newt Gingrich by defunding them, so they took another tact and brow beat them into submission.

9/10/08, 10:55 AM
Anonymous said...

Diane Rehm has never met a status quo she doesn't like. I'm not sure why she takes up space on NPR -- when he shows are pedestrian she's at the top her game.

9/10/08, 9:03 PM

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