Thursday, May 21, 2009

Q Tips

NPR related comments are always welcomed.
Posted by Mytwords at 6:31 AM
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20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Garrixson Keillor op-ed criticism. Though not from NPR but his syndicated column. It shows the thinking at NPR:

http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/140156/garrison_keillor%27s_prairie_torture_companion/

5/21/09, 11:24 AM
Anonymous said...

Please - ad journalist names to your tags so we can quickly go to a menu and get some idea of how biased that journalist is.

I think you'll find a lot more people using your site if you have that feature.

5/21/09, 3:58 PM
gopol said...

Rory O'Connor quoting Keillor:

But when it comes to "criminal prosecution," and "holding the Bush administration responsible for torture," the Man from Lake Wobegon says we be going too far, that something is rotten in America: "I smell the sour righteousness of the victorious lording it over the vanquished."
Wow, and these "victorious" include...who? The left? The antiwar/pro justice juggernaut? Har. Victorious, my ass. If Nixon had been prosecuted, we may have found that he was framed by the loony financial industry that put him in and then were disquieted by his independent streak. There have been multiple crimes: investigate and prosecute...for the sake of peace and justice, please!

5/21/09, 4:41 PM
biggety!pinkety!fuzzity!bunnity! said...

Wow, this is the first I noticed a critique of Mister Snoozy (can't carry a tune in a bucket either - let's be honest) on this site - he's usually a little more flippant than that in his op-eds, I had thought.

5/21/09, 5:10 PM
gopol said...

I didn't have a problem with Garrison before this oped. Other than his ubiquitous nerdiness seems to shut out other nerdiness I might also appreciate. But why is he opining on a need for injustice? It just seems uncharacteristically dumb.

5/22/09, 12:07 AM
Mytwords said...

Anon: re tagging journalist names.
Blogger is pretty handy in that it has a search bar right up in the left hand corner. Just type in the name and voila - most relevant posts will pop up.

5/22/09, 6:26 AM
Mytwords said...

I saw Keillor's commentary about 2 weeks ago (our local paper carries it) an was appalled and disgusted. Through the Bush years mushy Keillor got pretty harsh and angry in his posts against Bush - so it was sad to see him throw his lot in with the Washington consensus torture enablers - and to smear progressives as nothing but revenge seekers. I have to recommend Glenn Greenwald for coverage/deconstruction of "liberals" like Keillor.

5/22/09, 6:31 AM
WarOnWarOff said...

It's simple: Keillor and all the other NPR torture apologists project their whiny ass titty baby post-911 BOO "vindictiveness" and "desire for revenge" upon us. What they fail to perceive is that the desire for justice is not dark, base or savage in the same way that waging an illegal "shock and awe" war is. It is in fact quite the opposite.

5/22/09, 8:05 AM
Anonymous said...

Keillor was a critic of the President when it was fashionable among "progressives" to be one.

Bush bashing was something pretty much anyone with a brain could support, but it made Keillor feel like he was actually someone with something important to say.

Now that Obama is in office, it's "Stop whining you crybabies. Uncle Barak is going to take care of all our needs. He's one of the good folks from Lake Keillorbegone"

We saw this movie before. Just with different actors and at a different party.

"You are either with us or with the terrorists."

////////////////
From
Sam Stein

"Civil Libertarian Rips Obama's Speech: All Bells And Whistles""Obviously, he is a very effective speaker, but of course we have major problems with what he is doing," said Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights."He wraps himself in the Constitution, talks about American values and then proceeds to violate them."

In an interview with the Huffington Post shortly after Obama concluded his remarks at the National Archives, Ratner expressed disappointment and even a tinge of anger at the approach the president had outlined on detainee policy, military tribunals, and even accountability."

5/22/09, 8:24 AM
Anonymous said...

Listening to Keillor ramble on and on (and on an on [and on and on {and on and on...}] ) meets the requirements of "torture", as defined by the UN Convention Against Torture.

5/22/09, 8:34 AM
Juan "Toss" Ensalada said...

Keillor's essay just shows the short distance that separates liberal and conservative media elites. His folksy, practical wisdom is just bland infotainment. He'd rather just have us just "get on with the business" of making America great again, based upon HIS sage insights, wisdom, opinions and issues. As for the law, morality and ethicality, those are just abstract philosophical terms that Midwesterners (like him) assign to the pointy heads in ivory towers. Keillor, we are supposed to believe, is all "nuts and bolts; salt of the earth." Keillor clearly knows that 1/2 his audience of balding and blue-haired geriatrics believe that America has to "move on." And if Keillor is going to "sell the soap," he can't alienate his audience. Keillor's consistency is commerce, not politics. One more reason, besides his pompous and ponderous show, to ignore him.

5/22/09, 9:13 AM
Anonymous said...

I participated in my very first NPR listener survey today. I was sort of surprised because of my age (60) and my income level (under 10k/year) does not fit the "average NPR listener".

I will not invoke this very valuable site but I will carry my attitudes (much expressed here thanks you all) into these surveys. I guess about two more and I'll become just another "contemptuous troll" lol

edk

5/22/09, 9:22 AM
Juan "Toss" Ensalada said...

edk,

I find you neither contemptuous nor troll-like. And I should know, because I suspect I am both.

Regarding surveys...

There is some pretty sound (mostly) academic critique regarding NPR's use of audience data that shows how it "commercialized" the public airwaves. In my opinion, surveys are just another extension of public radio's commercialization.

Regarding "PIN"...

Another example of public radio's culling of listener opinions is MPR's use (and sale) of the "Public Insight Network." Colorado Public Radio uses it to get listener input regarding story ideas. And CPR pays MPR to use this technology to collect a "database of sources." Clearly, it CAN be used for this purpose. However, the use of the "PIN" raises several other questions and issues:

1. While PIN purports to gather insight from the average public radio listeners, it undoubtedly garners story ideas from a very small subset of the population.

2. The story ideas that PIN generates sound very much like the stories heard on NPR and the member stations that use PIN. Thus, PIN is self-reinforcing.

3. The use of PIN by journalists in some ways frees them of having research story ideas. Thus, journalists might actually do less investigation by relying upon PIN for story ideas.

4. PIN is used by member stations to get listeners to contribute. Member stations and networks, like Colorado Public Radio, use PIN to endlessly promote their connection to the community. In Colorado, you might actually be confused by thinking the Public Insight Network is an actual radio show. Thus, marketing, advertising, fundraising and news content are mixed into this confusing mess.

In short, audience data (Radio Research Consortium/Abitron), survey instruments and "everyday journalists" services like PIN just reinforce the commercialization of non-commercial, public radio. And while I like your idea of polluting the data with your "attitudes" I think the damage to public radio is irreversible. Your voice, no matter how sage, will never overcome the echo chamber of NPR group think and group speak.

-JET

5/22/09, 9:50 AM
biggerbox said...

Great job, Morning Edition! Reduce the speeches yesterday on the issue of national security and torture to a chat about the "style points" of the two speakers. Wow, that's journalism, all right. Wouldn't want to actually talk about, you know, life and death issues with any kind of seriousness. What a downer that would be.

But then, following it up with a long story about an analysis of Jim Cramer's stock picks! Friggin' brilliant!

First, treating serious stuff as if it was fluff, and then treating fluff as if it was serious stuff! The old switcheroo! Clever.

I have to warn you, though. This time it probably only worked because people have been trained to 'tune out' and stop really listening when Steve Inscreep is talking.

5/22/09, 9:53 AM
Juan "Toss" Ensalada said...

biggerbox,

Nice analysis.

Gonyea, Shapiro, Inskeep, Milbank and Cramer. Send in the clowns...

-JET

5/22/09, 10:28 AM
Anonymous said...

A Prairie Home Waterboarding of Muzzies!


HEY! Ron Paul is to the LEFT of Obama.


Think About It!

5/22/09, 10:58 PM
boog!poonk!faazzy!baany! said...

^ Yah. Don't take much.

5/23/09, 12:30 AM
b! said...

PS: Where all the women are strong... all the men are good-looking... and all the "vanquished" are beyond reproach.

5/23/09, 12:32 AM
Anonymous said...

Ron Paul is to the LEFT of Obama.

...and Dick Cheney is ABOVE Obama (pulling the strings).

5/23/09, 12:38 PM
Anonymous said...

I used to like the show (character fault perhaps) but I found on Saturday I couldn't listen to him.

edk

5/26/09, 11:01 AM

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