Sunday, April 26, 2009

Q Tips

(graphic from xrrr at flickr)

NPR related comments welcomed.
Posted by Mytwords at 11:47 AM
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22 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you were listening to ATC on Sunday, you heard Jackie Lydon (sp?) interview author Mark Helprin about an op-ed he wrote 2 yrs ago in favor of extending copyright for authors. At the end of the interview Lydon asks Lawrence Lessig to respond, and, after one question and one brief response, tells us the full interview with Lessig is available online. The radio audience deserved better: They deserved the full flavor of the debate.

4/27/09, 3:51 AM
beeg!peenk!fuuzy!buuny! said...

heh heh heh. NPI (Nat'l Public Internetz)

watta bunch. phooey.

4/27/09, 6:54 AM
Anonymous said...

What was this about, asking Newt Gingrich, to comment on the census. At leat the host calls him out at one point. More PR for his run for president, thanks to NPR.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103264526

4/27/09, 12:54 PM
gopol said...

The Kiriakou "revelation" (that CIA people lie strategically) seems just so quintessentially NPR that I can only surmise it more than coincidence that the letters CIANPR can be rearranged to spell that "CRAP IN" your ear you need the Q Tips to get out.

4/28/09, 1:04 PM
gopol said...

http://www.tomdispatch.com/ today:

Quote: Imagine if, on the day in early April when Jiverly Voong walked into the American Civic Association Building in Binghamton, New York, and gunned down 13 people, you read this headline in the news: "Binghamton in shock as police investigate what some critics call 'mass murder.'" If American newspapers, as well as the TV and radio news were to adopt that as a form, we would, of course, find it absurd. Until proven guilty, a man with a gun may be called "a suspect," but we know mass murder when we see it. And yet, in one of the Bush administration's lingering linguistic triumphs, even as information on torture programs pours out, the word "torture" has generally suffered a similar fate.

The agents of that administration, for instance, used what, in the Middle Ages, used to be known bluntly as "the water torture" -- we call it "waterboarding" -- 183 times in a single month on a single prisoner and yet the other morning I woke up to this formulation on National Public Radio's Morning Edition: "...harsh interrogations that some consider torture." And here's how Gwen Ifill of the News Hour put it the other night: "A tough Senate report out today raised new questions about drastic interrogations of terror suspects in the Bush years."

4/28/09, 4:46 PM
Anonymous said...

NPR "The economy shrank at a worse-than-expected 6.1 percent pace at the start of this year..."

Worse than who expected?

David Kestenbaum and the other quacks at Planet Money?

ps: Kestenbaum's PhD is in physics, which means on economics, he IS a quack. The stuff he writes about economics is just embarrassing, or at least would be to someone with a clue.

4/29/09, 8:06 AM
Anonymous said...

Gopol said: here's how Gwen Ifill of the News Hour put it the other night: "A tough Senate report out today raised new questions about drastic interrogations of terror suspects in the Bush years."Ifill's voice is quicker than the ear so listen closely or you will miss the trick.

She uses the "tough Senate report" raising "new questions about drastic interrogations" essentially to absolve herself and other members of the media for their complete FAILURE to objectively cover torture by the Bush admin (which has been NO secret since Sy Hersch first reported on Abu Ghraib).

Here's the undercurrent of Ifill's comments: "Before this Senate report, who could even have imagined that the Bush admin was actually waterboarding prisoners?"

People like Ifill are disgusting not just because they have been grossly negligent in doing their job as a journalist (eg, in reporting on torture), but also because of the "excuses" they make for not doing their job.

4/29/09, 8:30 AM
larry, dfh said...

And don't forget, ifill is condi's bff.

4/29/09, 8:55 AM
Anonymous said...

larry said: "ifill is condi's bff."

"Gwen Ifill giving home-cooked meals to Condi Rice"You just gotta wonder whether the menu included rice (lower case, of course)

And whether the rice was soaked before it wasfried.

4/29/09, 9:22 AM
Anonymous said...

Everything is gonna be fine, fine, fine, my friends cause It's almost fund raising time. Just think two weeks of "behind the scenes" people comin on air. I like this because it isn't just the dis-embodied voices that are bought and paid for (for the most part) but even down to the receptionists (for the most part)the rot can be found.

Something about paying a person to NOT understand things comes to mind.

Hang on till you can dig deep to support CRAP-IN radio with your Bush Depression era dollars! Everything is going to be fine, fine, fine!

edk

4/29/09, 10:23 AM
Paul Weimer said...

Why do any of you listen anymore?

Given the operating premise around here that NPR is a corporate right wing POS that is even worse than Rush because it pretends to be balanced, why do you even bother to listen to it anymore?

Is it the "gotcha factor"? Is it the reinforcement when listening that "Yep, NPR is at it again."

Is it pity for the sincere listeners? "Oh, those stupid idiots who think NPR is worth paying for or worth listening to. How dumb and uninformed they really are!"

4/29/09, 12:53 PM
Anonymous said...

Why do any of you listen anymore?Who needs to listen with sites like this one that quote from the NPR transcript and actually pick apart their garbage?

And yes, i do pity anyone who still gives money to NPR news.

4/29/09, 7:14 PM
Mytwords said...

Jvstin writes: "Given the operating premise around here that NPR is a corporate right wing POS that is even worse than Rush because it pretends to be balanced, why do you even bother to listen to it anymore?"

I'll assume that the question is sincere, not just snark, and offer my take on it.

First, there is no "operating premise" about NPR being worse than the hatemonger Limbaugh. My operating premise as the creator and main author of this blog is to listen critically to NPR and archive evidence of its pro-militarism, pro-US exceptionalism, pro-predatory capitalism, and general disdain or hostility toward progressive and leftist points of view.

Second, I could care less about "gotcha" or condescension toward "sincere" listeners. However, I am astounded at how pervasive the idea is that NPR is somehow a "liberal," serious, or substantive source of news. I think it is a viewpoint that needs to be challenged with evidence - not just opinion.

Third, I seriously have cut back on how much I listen to NPR news - but it is a force to be reckoned with - as its growing listenership indicates. But honestly, I find it depressing at how dismal NPR's work is and how much money they squander.

Lastly, I think NPR's symbiotic relationship with its member stations makes it very problematic. I know at our station, WILL-AM 580, they pay out $150,000 a year to NPR. However, our local programming is good, and the station offers BBC News, Alternative Radio, Counterspin, Media Matters, etc. so I still support it. I'd love to see a member revolt against NPR - but I just don't see that happening anytime soon.

So what do you suggest Jvstin? If you have any creative ideas, I'd love to hear them - seriously.

Cheers,
Matthew Murrey (Mytwords)
NPR Check

4/29/09, 8:38 PM
gopol said...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103632009 - please no bot listen to that drivel. Suffice it to say that Dorothy Rabinowitz has nit witz and a torture fetish, so she must be an expert on something.

Why do I listen? I dunno, I was listening to the presser and then these creeps came on before I switched off. Hell, they're our public air waves. How come this wag gets to shag her tongue all over 'em?

4/29/09, 9:08 PM
gopol said...

Oh, and did I mention how the evidence would tend to indicate that Dorothy Rabinowitz is [STRIKE]someone who will lie for money[/STRIKE] a lying whore.

4/29/09, 10:28 PM
Paul Weimer said...

I don't have any answers. I just read the endless tilting at the windmill here and just wonder what, in the end, is the point.

And, perhaps, how you can manage to keep it up.

Still, maybe I am wrong Matthew, but I sense a deep sense of disappointment in NPR in these posts. Maybe because of the clash between its perception as being a progressive/liberal source for news, and the evidence you present to the contrary?

4/30/09, 6:19 AM
Anonymous said...

Jvstin Tomorrow saidGiven the operating premise around here that NPR is a corporate right wing POS that is even worse than Rush because it pretends to be balanced, why do you even bother to listen to it anymore?forgive me for being cynical (thanks largely to NPR and other news media), but the above comment sounds a little too much like what I might expect the Ombudsman at NPR to say -- ie, someone who is trying to dismiss the complaints of NPR listeners as petty an spiteful.

Jvst sayin, Jvstin.

4/30/09, 7:20 AM
Anonymous said...

BTW, MTW

That "Why do any of you listen anymore?" indicates that what you are doing is having an effect.

And that is especially true if the comment was made by someone at NPR (eg, the ombudsman or other NPR official), which would actually make sense in this case.

4/30/09, 7:29 AM
Anonymous said...

Condoleeza Rice, responding to a student question at Stanford U:

"The president instructed us that nothing we would do would be outside of our obligations, legal obligations under the Convention Against Torture." -- Condi Rice

"The United States was told, we were told, nothing that violates our obligations under the Convention Against Torture, and so by definition, if it was authorized by the president, it did not violate our obligations under the Convention Against Torture." -- Condi Rice

Watch Condi pull a Nixon (and squirm a little) hereBy the way (and this is directed to Alicia...I mean Jvstin... and anyone else who may still be supporting NPR news) what do you suppose the chance is that NPR news will ever air Condi's above quotes or even talk about her role on the whole sorry torture affair?

4/30/09, 10:09 AM
Anonymous said...

Jvstin:

Why do I listen to NPR? I am interested in cultural hegemony and how it is achieved (as a lay person) and since I don't have a TV I do it this way. IMO this "network" is a good example of how the dominant culture maintains its' social control through the use of "information". But it is not my only example.

The indoctrination begins early for all citizens of all nation/states (socialization process). There is always an added supplement in local paper that is "by teens, for teens" and these are willing students that are taught how to believe and act upon those beliefs (as so ably enumerated by MtWords) while becoming media trainees. I think many will grow up and join the staffs of NPR stations where their training will put them in good standing.

The rest of my time is spent with a five-disc CD player set on shuffle and a keyboard. And I keep my money in the wallet - at least until there is some sort of effort made by NPR to be what they were when i was a member 30 years ago.

Do you listen to NPR?

edk

4/30/09, 11:15 AM
big!pink!disappointed!bunny! said...

Well, Jvst, don't mean to pile on what with Matt's succinct rebuttal and our other wonderful 'misfits' but this perked up my widdle lop-ears...

"but I sense a deep sense of disappointment in NPR in these posts."

Um, yah. Ya rilly think so?

4/30/09, 7:45 PM
Anonymous said...

Fund raising at midnight on WHYY! That's a first. They are pulling out all the stops this go-round. They might even have "Dollar Bill" Marazzo come out and earn some of his 600+ salary. That's second in country. It takes 7500 listeners just to cover this guys pay (at $80 average pledge).

Happy May Day NPR!

edk

5/1/09, 12:30 PM

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