NPR Check: 99 and Counting

Monday, May 24, 2010

99 and Counting

(Photo credit belongs to PhotoGraham, inspiration to Nena - of course.)

From the comments below the previous post, it looks like there is enough traffic here to maintain an ongoing NPR-related open thread. When the comment count nears 100, I'll put up a new post where listeners, friends, etc. can post relevant material.

100 comments:

Mytwords said...: I'm continuing to listen far less to NPR than previously, but occasionally I'm letting my evil twin speak for me on NPR. Oh and he's always polite, never rude...; 5/24/10, 9:22 PM
Boulder Dude said...: Woot! thanks matt! :); 5/24/10, 9:54 PM
Boulder Dude said...: And...

Since Edyar Peralts has informed Lori that my old account WILL NOT be reinstated, nor will I be informed as to why I was perma banned, I have set up a new account:

Peace Keeper (Piggy_IAB)

In keeping with Lori's belief that my posts were rude, I shall be posting nothing but sunshine, flowers and puppies and kitteh's in my usual level of snarkiness.

Be Seeing You.; 5/24/10, 11:01 PM
miranda said...: Love the nom de guerre, MTW!; 5/25/10, 11:18 AM
gDog said...: I confess to ongoing monitoring of the propaganda. This morning was just an amazing display of Republicans gone wild on NPR.

1. Did you know that hispanics in AZ support anti-immigrant laws?
2. That Rush Limbaugh is a vulnerable champion for misunderstood causes, kind of a Mohammad Ali?
3. Barbara Boxer is a snooty bitch who will get her comeuppance?
4. Afghan insurgents have a bias against U.S. troops?

and on and on...sheesh.; 5/25/10, 11:53 AM
bpfb (sans exclamation) said...: Wowee! Now my own doppelganger, WiddleBwackEightball will have to "fwend" you good people who have elected to/been forced to reinvent yourselves.

Hmmm, now if only I could remember my password...; 5/25/10, 1:24 PM
larry, dfh said...: ...kind of a Mohammad Ali?
Well, neither went to Viet Nam.; 5/28/10, 12:05 PM
Boulder Dude said...: Well, sad to report that me second account, Peace Keeper, the commentor that always agreeded with anything NPR posted and praised the reporter to the heavens has been banned and deleted.

And just like my first account, no word, no message, no warning, no nothing. So, yet another message in to Alcia and Lori, who have yet to respond as to why the first one was banned, what they mythical warning were, and what the reason was. So, I left another message tonight and would love to know what the heck is going on at NPR in light of the post the other night about other news org's commenting rules.; 5/28/10, 8:00 PM
JayV said...: Here's my comment on "BP Lowballing Oil Flow, Rep. Markey Says" (today - WE Saturday)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127257138

Scott Simon in this segment:

"BP often points out that they really have been doing everything they can to stop the flow of oil because after all, it's their oil, it's their money that's being washed away. Don't they have a compelling interest to cap that well...?"

I would like to remind Mr Simon that, while he may think it's "BP's oil," it's not BP's land that's been effected by this disaster, From Day One, it's been about BP's greed, BP's cover-up and BP's controlling the story. He's not helping us understand the full story by doing PR for the oil company.

What with the recent demise of Peace Keeper and my past experience in making comments, no tellin' if this comment will hold!; 5/29/10, 3:08 PM
gDog said...: Hey JayV,

I responded there to BP flack phil, who claimed: "That would represent a concentration of 484 parts of petroleum per TRILLIION parts of seawater."

I wrote, "Nothing like willful cluelessness dressed up in numeracy. It is its own unique form of buffaloism."; 5/29/10, 4:35 PM
RepubLiecan said...: There must be a conscious and concentrated effort by NPR to make sure poor beleaguered BP is able to have its PR and viewpoint heard throughout NPR land. I have listened to the local classical music hosts spouting the BP line as teasers for hourly headlines. It's not even safe to listen to only the classical music on NPR in an attempt to avoid the corporate-military-industrial complex propaganda.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++; 5/30/10, 12:26 PM
The Boss of You said...: Loving General Warlove!; 5/31/10, 10:38 PM
gDog said...: "Ida B. Wells is smiling down on you."

Damn, bitter irony has rarely been this twisted, but it's a natural consequence - an almost inevitable bit of propaganda, given the double think of MSM and their imperative to mold public thought. I gotta say they're doing a great job of being just really shitty bad people.; 6/1/10, 12:33 AM
Boulder Dude said...: ~wails~

Peace Keeper 05/25/10-05/28/10

BeeDeeThree 05/26/10-06/01/10

Well, thats three accounts deleted, and a forth on the way.

Though I did manage to get a hold of a Very Grumpy Lori who said she would get back with me.; 6/1/10, 9:57 AM
gDog said...: BeeDeeThree 05/26/10-06/01/10

RIP

Mebbe try using an IP hider?

http://www.allanonymity.com/ip-hider-hide-ip-software/

Can't vouch for that, btw.; 6/1/10, 11:20 AM
Anonymous said...: OK--here's my two cents on NPR's coverage of Israel's murderous raid on the flotilla:

I NEVER listen to NPR, but I can absolutely GUARANTEE that the coverage has been entirely servile, spineless, gutless, apologetic, weak, very much paralleling the fingers-in-my-ears, I-cannot-hear-the-rest-of-the-globe Obama/Clinton response--what an AMAZING coincidence!

I just dropped in here today to verify this with someone who had actually tuned in to NPR. I am very happy to see that many of the visitors to the site gave up, like me, LONG AGO.

NPR, RIP. (That's P for "Propaganda."); 6/2/10, 1:50 PM
Anonymous said...: Alicia is at it again. This time she is making pathetic excuses for factual errors in NPR "reporting"; 6/2/10, 2:37 PM
Porter Melmoth said...: I too am making a cameo here to lend a little solidarity.

Why should NPR ever change? They are more in bed than ever with their corporate masters, whom they are increasingly dependent on, no matter what MeeShill says in her 'America's Story-teller' spots of rubbish, in order to string along listeners. In the midst of its toxicity, NPR remains a crappy news source of mere recitation, obeying its masters like good little flunkies.

Check in with Democracy Now! and weep, but for the right reasons.

Check in with NPR and, yes, weep, but for OTHER reasons.

Strength to ye who still listen and critique!; 6/2/10, 2:42 PM
gDog said...: Melmoth! Glad to see you've set yourself free!

Meanwhile, there's this:

Myron Nordquist has been tapped to opine on the legality of attacking civilian ships on the high seas. Surprise! He says it's hard to say whether or not that's legal and it depends on your perspective and that everything is really just a big smudged up muddle for which the average listener couldn't hope to get a clue.

Here's a clue:

"Professor Nordquist was an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1962 to 1966 making the initial landing at Chu Lai, Republic of Vietnam in early 1965. For this action, he received an accelerated promotion and was awarded several combat decorations, including a "V" for valor."

I'll add "I" for imperialist.; 6/2/10, 5:22 PM
Porter Melmoth said...: Go, G-dog, Go!

I was born free, and yes, flung my NPR chains to the ground, but in a weak moment today, instant jail bars appeared around me when I heard Blob Siegel sound very disappointed when some scientist told him that the current Gulf disaster IS PROBABLY GOING TO BE WORSE than the shallow-water mega-leak near Mex-Tex, back in '79, the factoid of which The Blob revealed to us as if it were a secret condom guarded by a spoiled teenager.

Oh, and Richard Harris (think that's him; to me, the only Richard Harris really worth mentioning starred in 'The Molly Maguires') and his bouncy, sprightly, almost giggly play-by-play of the Gulf horror has to be condemned to be believed (I THINK that made sense...). Anyway, he is particularly sick-making.

Nationalistic Propaganda Radiation, adieu once again!

PS: Blatant plug: a few words about underwater power tools, over at my sparse 'n stark blog...); 6/2/10, 8:11 PM
big.pink.fuzzy.bunny...! said...: 'ey Port - your drop-in's cause enough to put a revived exclamation symbol in my recent sadly wilted moniker (still in mourning over Cursor, Moyers, NOW & this outlet, all long gone dark). When it comes to subject matter her I'm still abiding self-confinement to "headlines only" - and have been slightly surprised that they reported the way they did re Israeli dust-up on the high seas.; 6/3/10, 1:37 PM
Porter Melmoth said...: Take heart, loyal cottontail! Amy G. & Co. are carrying the torch at DM! with confidence and capability. Their seriousness of purpose makes sense in the chaos, needless to say.

Recently, one whole show devoted to a recent major Chomsky speech. Balm for the soul.

And now, I must get me to my blog bog.

Best wishes, all.

PM; 6/3/10, 2:31 PM
b! said...: ^ Yes, DN always comes well recommended. One problem for me, however: availability. Don't exactly have the luxury of field-&-streamin' online and "my hometown public radio station" sure as heck isn't about to pick it up (nasal voice)>>> "anytime soon." Gross Air's safety there, however, is well-ensured.; 6/3/10, 3:30 PM
gDog said...: Inskeep described the number of civilians killed by Israeli commandos as "several."

b : more than two but fewer than many

In other words, not many.; 6/4/10, 9:38 AM
gDog said...: I really hated this story: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127373157

How unfair it is that we can't just fire older teachers.

I discovered, in replying, that you can't use the word "lunatic." Har.; 6/4/10, 2:43 PM
larry, dfh said...: Friday, 4JE10. The afternoon 'news' review had a super-duper panel of david green and e.j. dionne, and a more israel0centric panel could not have been selected. Green was at his nasal best describing israel's rigth to self defense, and all but gushingly praised israel for its generous humanitarian aid to Gaza. What a load of zionist rubbish!; 6/4/10, 4:41 PM
gDog said...: Funny how Little Green Footballs manages to frame NPR's propaganda as a sort of "even the liberals have to admit..."

NPR: Details Emerge on Slain Radicals

Middle East | Fri, Jun 4, 2010 at 3:50:29 pm PDT

NPR’s All Things Considered had an interesting segment yesterday on the 9 slain Turkish “activists” from the Mavi Marmara. There are new details in here about their backgrounds, and it’s almost comical to listen as reporter Julia Rooke keeps trying throughout the segment to avoid drawing the obvious conclusion that all of these activists belonged to radical Islamic sects. She characterizes them as “very religious,” “very conservative,” etc. She describes the scene at the funerals, with children calling their fathers “martyrs,” and vowing to become martyrs themselves, without giving any sense that this might be a little … odd.

Finally Robert Siegel asks Rooke if she thinks it would be fair to describe them as extremely religious, and she manages to say the word “radical” at the end of the discussion.

It took a real effort, but even NPR now admits that the passengers who rioted and attacked IDF soldiers might just possibly sorta kinda maybe be called “radical Islamists.” Ya think?; 6/5/10, 12:53 PM
biggerbox said...: Someone should put a copy of this morning's ME political chat segment with Inskeep, Liasson, Ruden, et al. into a vault to keep for future archaeologists. In one segment they managed to exhibit every single one of the worst traits of Beltway common wisdom "journalism" as it exists today. It was really timeless, starting with the Inskeep opener talking about Obama's "disasters", through Liasson calling the Sestak kerfuffle an "unforced error" against Obama, and on and on.; 6/7/10, 9:24 AM
larry, dfh said...: and right after that daisy-chain was deenatempleraston, the COUNTER-TERROROISM CORRESPONDENT. Seems that people read on the internet and are getting 'radicalized'. That's apparently the new threat, Internet Radicalization. Is this threat to be color-coded? Is it contagious?; 6/7/10, 2:36 PM
gDog said...: NPR is called out by Phoenix Woman:

user
NPR Runs With IDF Slander Against IHH — Days After It Was Debunked; 6/7/10, 9:07 PM
larry, dfh said...: Coming to a network near you?; 6/9/10, 9:57 PM
Unknown said...: So where did Cokie go? I was actually kinda glad not to hear her on the regular Monday Morning "Gotta be Good for Republicans" segment this week...

A.; 6/10/10, 1:32 PM
gDog said...: Andy,

Since Cokie (nee Boggs) is a Louisianan with plenty political ties to big oil (through her Daddy, I'm guessing) it may have been bad atmospherics to have her nattering about...what, how nobody could have guessed this would happen, and isn't it interesting that the entire southern economy is now Va-t' la merde ?; 6/10/10, 3:27 PM
bg.pnk.unenthused.bny said...: ^ Well, that's at least ONE good thing to come out of this atrocity - KoKo is remiss to shut her pie-hole.; 6/11/10, 1:34 PM
larry, dfh said...: Friday AM, 11Je10, on the Queen of England's radio station we got a low down from a scientist in the Queen of England's science council about the spill from the Queen of England's oil company. Apparently, it's not so bad, and the best thing to do is: nothing. god save the queen!; 6/12/10, 10:10 AM
larry, dfh said...: monday, 14JE10. Since I was on the road alot today, I caught a little npr; I'm glad I kept it to "a little". Big on the talk shows was Iran. Diane Rehm had 3 neocons. One of them, from harvard/JFK school of bullshit, was asked 3 times about israeli nuclear weapons, twice by Diane the host and once by a caller. Having avoided answering all three questions, he basically ended with: Hey, they're our friends! The show was complete with the 'wipe israel off the map' non-quotation, this time provided by some guy with a 'middle-eastern' accent.
And then the seldom in depth reporting of michelle martin, also on Iran. She had a couple of Iranian neocons, for that little bit of extra credibility. Through both shows, however, I never heard the word 'Rafsanjani'. In other words, both shows were complete fabrications. I really got the impression today that the c.i.a./i.d.f was setting up the programming for npr.; 6/14/10, 9:30 PM
gDog said...: Larry - Contrast that with Steven Kinser on DN - who was able to talk at length about important progressive potentials in the ME without even mentioning Israel until prompted by AG. Consider this:

We need to break out of this policy quicksand that we’re in in Washington, think more creatively. Right now we’re thinking of Iran as kind of the evil empire and Ahmadinejad as the Hollywood central casting image of the new Hitler and Israel as the heroes of democracy and the plucky little state fighting all those evil enemies in the Middle East. What we need to do is leave our emotions outside the room. Emotion is always the enemy of wise statecraft. We’re so angry at Iran, we can’t even see what’s good for us in the long run. And I think that applies for the whole region. We’re so caught up in the emotions that guided our policies in the past and at our—we’re so caught up by our old angers—

Or, on Israel:
Saudi Arabia and Israel have of course been our traditional long-term allies in the Middle East. And there’s a general belief that our relationship with Israel is based on shared values and history, and our relation with Saudi Arabia is based mainly on oil.; 6/14/10, 11:03 PM
gDog said...: I shouldn't have left that quote (above) unfinished. Here's the rest of it:

There is some truth to both of these clichés, but as you saw in my book, I devote a substantial section to talking about another reason why we became allied with those two countries during the Cold War. It was something that wasn’t really clear at the time. It’s only becoming more clear now. And that is that Saudi Arabia and Israel were the only two countries in the world that provided the United States with lots of covert, clandestine help for our Cold War battles in a series of obscure battlegrounds. When, for example, President Reagan wanted to help the Guatemalan military dictatorship in the 1980s, and he wasn’t allowed to do that because the Congress had banned American aid to Guatemala, he got the Israelis to do it. When we wanted to help the Contras in Nicaragua during a period when we were not allowed to do that by law, we got the Saudis secretly to give money for it. Saudi Arabia funded the mujahideen war in Afghanistan. The Israelis were our proxies in South Africa. You see this all over the world. And this was really a fundamental basis of our relationship with those two countries.; 6/14/10, 11:19 PM
am said...: A Tiny Revolution tweaks Neal Conan's nose.; 6/17/10, 8:49 AM
The Boss of You said...: I am not a TotN listener but this blogger is:

http://www.tinyrevolution.com/mt/archives/003308.html

It seems they are committed to the usual obfuscation that the rest of the network is.; 6/17/10, 9:00 AM
gDog said...: Wow, selective snips of the House BP hearings designed to make it sound like poor BP is unfairly beleaguered by a knee-jerk congress. May NPR choke on its own sputum.; 6/18/10, 11:53 AM
Anonymous said...: You know, Guy Raz has been doing a pretty terrific job with his weekend slot. I've been pleasantly surprised. (Tonight's interview with Rory Stewart was great, and his choice to have a weekly chat with James Fallows is totally refreshing).; 6/19/10, 6:25 PM
Steven J Heimel said...: Let me just add that there is an organized Zionist squad that peppers NPR with complaints whenever any reporter suggests any human rights apply to any Palestinians.; 6/20/10, 12:01 AM
larry, dfh said...: Wow! it looks like on 6/19/10 at 6:25 PM, this site was visited by none other than

Cass Sunstein. It's a little disappointing, however, that such an esteemed Ivy League scholar writes like a 5th grader, or maybe like some young npr intern.; 6/21/10, 5:20 PM
gDog said...: Larry, How do you know?; 6/22/10, 1:21 AM
larry, dfh said...: The: those who liked this also bought...
at the end of the post.; 6/22/10, 12:17 PM
larry, dfh said...: Just wanted to mention something about the crap I've listened to for the last few days on whyy, on their morning 'talk' show. Two one hour segments about Afghanistan, including mcchrystal, and the conversation ranged from 'stay the course' to, well, 'keep staying the course'. Almost all the callers were about the big continuation, it seemed like any anti-war callers were being screened out. And the guests were just the pits. According to them, leaving would give osama bin laden, sitting chuckling in a cave somewhere, the vindication he needs, so we'll stay in Afghanistan for another 20 years. Doing what, exactly?; 6/25/10, 4:32 PM
miranda said...: No antiwar commentary allowed on NPR, larry, or in the mainstream media altogether.

Helen Thomas was removed for daring to question the reason we're still in Afghanistan (and not for her misconstrued comments to Rabbi YouTube). Thanks to that defender of Truth, Ari Fleischer, we won't have to be bothered with such pesky questions at presidential press conferences. Onward with our noble mission! Whatever it is.

I was amazed to hear a Pakistani foreign policy analyst on Diane Rehm actually say that Bin Laden is dead -- that's one probably true thing never admitted in the NPR-lamestream universe.; 6/25/10, 5:50 PM
gDog said...: Tee hee, isn't it naughty?": we're out here fishing where were not supposta, and the fish are good, so who're are these idiot authorities who think there's a problem with the oil and gas pollution in GOM?; 6/25/10, 7:31 PM
Anonymous said...: I heard Jessica Stern prattle om the other night during The World. She continues on with her white-wash "theory" of Islamic terrorists - they are nothing but boys that have been sexually abused in Pakistani madrassas. NPR and their financial supporters love this "theory" because it absolves the West (in general) and America (in particular) of having played any role in creating "Islamic terrorism".; 6/26/10, 8:34 AM
Anonymous said...: Scott Simon ran on about McCrystal and never mentioned Pat Tillman or this:

For five years he commanded the Pentagon's super-secret Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), which, among other things, ran what Seymour Hersh has described as an "executive assassination wing" out of Vice President Cheney's office.
Huffington Post; 6/26/10, 8:37 AM
gDog said...: Yeah, McChrystal lied to congress about Tillman. The punishment for lying to congress is apparently the afpak detail. Or, if you're Oliver North, your own radio talk show.; 6/26/10, 10:35 AM
gDog said...: Heard on National Pentaganda Radio today: US soldiers in Afghanistan are pissed because they can't shoot until they're shot at. I suppose this extends to the drone soldiers, too.; 6/30/10, 10:06 PM
miranda said...: I heard this too, goop. Very frustrating, too, for Bowman & Co., the military's biggest cheerleaders. Damn those useless civilian-protecting rules of engagement!; 7/1/10, 4:58 PM
gDog said...: Reviving 'Little America' In An Afghan Province is filled with delightful Americanisms.

The agricultural heartland is a potentially rich prize, in part because of American aid efforts in the 1960s and '70s — an era when parts of the province were known as "Little America."
Yup, what a surprise! We want to win prizes by going to war. Perhaps we should just have the Afghans take their own scalps and send 'em to us...as a show of gratitude for damming up their river once.
"Rory Donohoe, a USAID officer," knows, and so we should let him tell us, no?

"If you talk to the elders of Lashkar Gah, they will tell you very fondly about the days in the late '60s and early '70s, when a hundred American families lived in Lashkar Gah, when the governor had an American wife," says Donohoe. "The American experience in Helmand runs very deep across the community here."

And, lest we not forget, there was the bogeyman Communism to protect the king against. I kid you not:

The work was done in partnership with what was then the royal Afghan government, in support of a king the U.S. hoped would be a bulwark against communism.

Any questions? No? Well, NPR will provide one for you:

The question is whether the U.S. and allied governments, facing the costs of a long war and drained by a sharp recession, will be willing to continue the process that once made this place a Little America.

I trust you're coming to the correct conclusion: don't be a cut and runner! Little America is counting on your support.; 7/5/10, 7:04 PM
gDog said...: ..well that's mighty weird...what happened to my last post? It was here yesterday.; 7/6/10, 2:38 PM
bunny. just. bunny. said...: ^ Oh, it's those crickets again, isn't it?

See?; 7/12/10, 5:14 PM
b. aww man, again? said...: (crickets)

PS: Don't bracket your crickets with "greater than/less than" ymbols. The crickets become invisible.; 7/12/10, 5:16 PM
Mytwords said...: Be sure to check out Dean Baker's take down of the NPR's misinformation on European welfare.; 7/14/10, 8:39 AM
Anonymous said...: Come to Planet Money and listen to Adam Davidson place a value on human life and decide whether you are worth enough to continue living.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/07/16/128569258/the-friday-podcast-death-saves-you-money; 7/17/10, 3:20 AM
biggerbox said...: Cokie seems to be tired of merely repeating Beltway consensus and is now playing sound bites of Mitch McConnell lies as part of her "analysis" segment. Oh joy.; 7/19/10, 9:34 AM
larry, dfh said...: This was an interesting read. Although not surprising on the part of npr for readers here, the author was maybe a little too kind to his host.; 7/20/10, 10:40 PM
Anonymous said...: You guys should put these blogs into a book - see the book "So Wrong For So Long" which is an invaluable chronicle of the failure of our corporate media that marched us straight into this pointless Iraq war. Sooner than later out electrical grid WILL start crapping out (since FED and States are broke) and books will be back in style! :); 7/21/10, 10:17 PM
informedveteran said...: THANKS

I used to check out this site quite often- I was living in the sticks in Carbon County PA (where I recently witnessed a tea party rally - seriously) and all that was on Neocon Propaganda Radio was Mourning Edition, All Things (except Ralph Nader) Considered, and Weakened Edition - with Jazz the rest of the time. There was literally ONE cable company so I chose no TV. NPR was my only news - 2007-2009. I used to look here on this site frequently for the great articles and to make sure I wasn't the only one yelling at my radio. Now I live in Norristown, PA outside Philly and I can actually turn on the TV and watch GritTv followed by Democracy Now! I am at the point where I can literally listen to NPR now for less than 30 seconds before I start turning green like David Banner - unless of course Harry Shearer's LeShow is on which I now get on NPR. By the way it is GREAT (and has been for the last 25 years apparently). No one has the balls to advertise during it though:)

This site was vital to my personal journey in understanding our news media and how our power structure operates. Thanks for all your great work here guys and good luck in whatever is next.; 7/21/10, 10:57 PM
AnnPW said...: Was listening to NPR coverage of the Sherrod incident this morning and while they did manage to point out that there had been other phony scandals generated by rightwing propoganda mongers - and they even gave the ACORN incident a passing mention - they failed to note that the common denominator in many of these cases is Breitbart himself. Would sure like to see some mainstream media outlet take on that, which is the much larger issue.; 7/22/10, 8:06 AM
Porter Melmoth said...: Just checking in.

larry, thanks for the link to the Firedoglake story.

I tacked on the following to the comments:

"It is gratifying to see so many perceptive critiques of NPR that have added up here.

I myself am a veteran critic of NPR News (and I emphasize their News division as opposed to NPR as a whole), and I wholeheartedly refer interested parties to the now retired blog “NPR Check”, that did yeoman service in discerning what the real NPR News outfit was and is up to:

http://nprcheck.blogspot.com/

For those interested in media, it would be an hour or two well spent to comb this blog's archives, for example after example of NPR News' agenda actions. And they're still in play, under the guise of a 'sleeker' but more subtle mechanism of propaganda.(Although Juan Forero did a particularly drooling/panting anti-Chavez 'report' yesterday - absolutely typical!)

Leaving the investigations to far more capable hands, my contributions to the blog concentrated on style over substance. The motley collection of annoying personalities and voices bugged me almost as much as the propagandistic content, and my therapy was to burlesque them, sometimes overdoing it, but dammit, NPR News is a misguided and abused tool that was never meant to be a mainstream media outlet controlled by corporate and other interests. One of my jokings was that NPR News should be taken over by Rupert Murdoch, in hostile fashion if necessary, then dissolved, so as not to rival his Fox News outfit. That way a new, true NPR could be reborn. (And the NPR acronym would have to be scrapped, as, to my mind, it stands for Nationalistic Propaganda (or Pentagon) Radiation.)

At any rate, I hope some will check the blog out for its intelligent and trenchant exposes of NPR News.

PS: The blog was retired due to burn-out. How much torture can one take? New enthusiasts are welcome to carry on the work, however. Details at the blog."; 7/23/10, 12:28 PM
Porter Melmoth said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/23/10, 12:29 PM
The Boss of You said...: Dan Schorr died which means Scotty will have to have his thought provoking analysis conversations with, gulp, Juan Williams. And you just know they'll go to town this weekend as something racial happened.; 7/23/10, 1:42 PM
larry, dfh said...: Since I was driving yesterday, I did some npr-listening. Heard most of the eulogy on dan schorr. I thought it ironic that two 'reporters', lil' scottie and bob siegel, were mouthing on and on in such precisely-minced overarticulations about a guy who had absolutely no chops left. Well, I think schorr was over-rated, and scottie and bob don't deserve any ratings. Surely wan williams will bring...absolutely nothing to the newscasts.; 7/24/10, 5:52 PM
gDog said...: Larry, I am blissfully ignorant of the Schorr eulogizing - I steered clear of the weekend broadcasts precisely because I knew it would be putrid pusillanimous pontificating to score points for their self-perceived journalistic portmanteau of propaganda and parodic non-partisan objectivity.; 7/25/10, 9:42 PM
Anonymous said...: The "unvarnised" view and the "sanitized" version of the occupation, sorry, war of Afghanistan is how the wiki-leaks were described by NPR this morning. I guess the American people NEED the varnished and sanitized "truth" about this continuing occupation. And NPR is more than willing to bring the American people what they want (as NPR mouthpieces always respond to my complaints)

GoopDoggie: You are a nattering nabob of negativity!

The Daniel Schoor studio is where Liane was broadcasting from yesterday. This brings up some "interesting" possibilities as subsequent NPR people pass on. When MEshille passes I guess we might get the MEshall Norris lunchroom or perhaps teh Cokie Roberts uni-sex bathroom.

edk; 7/26/10, 10:35 AM
Porter Melmoth said...: Can't resist commenting:

Tom Gelatin and Don Gone's 'review' of the WikiLeaks phenomenon today was typical NPR 'kautious kowtowing to the Korporates': ultra-cautious 'assessment' of what is obviously another Pentagon Papers bombshell. Their laughable gravitas was attempting damage control to protect their failures and cover their sorry asses, which of course is a top-priority around SMS (Schorr Memorial Studios). Tom's sendoff was that we needn't take these documents too seriously, because they may not be exactly factual. Uh-huh. He sounded kind of scared.

PS: Couldn't help but fling a Scottwipe guffaw tpwards the radio at Tom's I-Got-More-Gravitas-Than-Dick-Cheney delivery, which always sounds as if it's from his Constipation Central water closet, and Don's nausea-inducing speech rhythms which surely must be due to a fluctuating pacemaker - or something. And their chummy first name-basis exchange is a growing tool at NPR to engage YOU, THE AUDIENCE. Effective, huh?

PPS: Boy, I better watch it, getting back into the sphere of NPRadiation is risky at best. And it's too easy.; 7/26/10, 1:28 PM
larry, dfh said...: Goopster, you did yourself a favor by not listening. Being from the West Coast as you are, you would have choked on hearing lil' Snottie and Bobbie dissing Frank Zappa. They just couldn't believe that 'The Mothers of Invention' would actually know a Gershwin tune, their being barbarians and all! One really has to ask: who do these blowhards think they are?; 7/26/10, 8:59 PM
a.bunny.in.npr.protest.area. said...: ^ Yeah, why would this too-clever musing brought to you by McSmarmy Radio-dio-dio be so far-fetched? The folks who possess not one microparticle of G. Gershwin in them would be today's (s)hit parade, from poseurs like Googoo-Gaga, Just BeeBee, contrived pop-country as dictated from corporate pitch room standards, and growly epic (epic fail) tattooed-jawk rawk (see previous standards memo).

and howdy-do, Port! Here's a Little Missy Muffet exclamatory lilt for ya! Ever see any Bela Tarr films? (def 4 fanz of A. Tarkovsky, T. Angelopoulos); 7/27/10, 1:39 PM
Porter Melmoth said...: Howdy-do to you too,a.b.i.n.p.a!

Might I suggest, film-o-talk might be pursued at Melmoth Hall, via link?; 7/27/10, 11:40 PM
geoff said...: Disasters In Reel Life: It's About Time (And Suspense) is a Bob Mondello movie review that is breathtaking in its naivete. I dropped my jaw somewhere while listening to his assessment of the reality of the fiction of the official 911 scenario. Wow. Hook line sinker glub glub glub.

I saw Inception the other day. There were some good psyfi features of the film, but it was just so full "Man From Uncle" pseudo violence that it was hard to suspend unreality enough to get into it.

Americans just love to blow stuff up, huh? Clinton's proclaimed solution to the Deep water well SNAFU was to bomb it. Yeah, a bomb ought to fix that! Remember that whale that started to rot on a beach in Oregon?; 7/28/10, 12:38 AM
Anonymous said...: Terry (GasBag) Gross discussed the wiki-leaks yesterday on Fresh Air. I was so happy that she spared me the "grim" details of Americans killing women and children and instead spoke non-stop about Pakistan. Nice!; 7/28/10, 9:07 AM
bun. said...: ^ Yeah, that'll ruin your golf outing.

Duly noted, PM - guess there's a little bit o' Yakk in all of us, bursting out at the most inopportune times.; 7/29/10, 7:27 AM
bun. back. said...: This just in, to be filed in the "Scoff! Don't Make Me Laugh" subfolder:

CREDO Action Alert: Tell the White House Correspondents Association - Give the best seat in the briefing room to NPR, not FOX!; 7/29/10, 8:59 AM
--- said...: Someone needs to have a talk with Credo Mobile

They are pushing to give a White House press seat to NPR Credo Facebook Action Page

Surely there is a better news organization for that seat.; 7/29/10, 1:38 PM
geoff said...: Yeah, I took myself off Credo's mailing list with a comment about how NPR is worse than FOX. Worse than Fox in Sox in a box on a train in a tunnel in the rain.

Heard a bit of Wan this AM. Everything is like, "literally," to him. Reputations are "literally" destroyed and words are literally without their natural meanings.; 7/29/10, 2:13 PM
Anonymous said...: I left a message on the web-site of this ridiculous notion pushing this nonsense stating that NPR is simply smoother than Fox but they are all the same under the skin.

I suggested they push for Amy Goodman.

ed; 7/30/10, 10:42 AM
Anonymous said...: More jack-assery over at Planet Monkey

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/epa-whistleblower-hugh-kaufman-weve-now-po; 7/31/10, 2:38 AM
Anonymous said...: Sorry,

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/07/30/128880374/the-friday-podcast-tallying-up-the-pelican-bill; 7/31/10, 2:39 AM
JayV said...: Dean Baker comments on NPR ME segment on housing. "NPR still doesn't get it."

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/npr-still-has-not-noticed-the-housing-bubble; 8/2/10, 7:15 AM
larry, dfh said...: More on the go-to media critic which is a fav. of terri gross. Hey, if you hang with wing-nuts, maybe you're a: wing-nut.; 8/2/10, 9:40 AM
larry, dfh said...: And
another subject for a soft-ball interview at npr.; 8/2/10, 12:06 PM
larry, dfh said...: And
another subject for a soft-ball interview at npr.; 8/2/10, 12:07 PM
geoff said...: JayV,

The Baker bit is short enough to deserve a full reprise (below). The trouble is, even my jaundiced opionion of NPR was a little swayed by this spin: ignoring the continued overpricing of houses and papering over their earlier blithering ignorance of the bubbling in that market.

NPR Still Has Not Noticed the Housing Bubble
Print
Monday, 02 August 2010 05:11

Morning Edition told listeners that the shadow inventory of foreclosed homes will keep the housing market depressed for several years to come. Actually house prices are not depressed. House prices are still 15-20 percent above their trend levels. The housing market will not be back to normal until house prices fall back to a more sustainable level.

This is really getting annoying. NPR completely missed the housing bubble. During its run-up they relied almost exclusively on economists who did not have a clue, many of whom were on the industry payroll. Given the enormous damage that has been done to the country by the collapse of this bubble, can't NPR make a point even now of finding someone who knows something about the housing market? Isn't that what their reporters are paid for?; 8/2/10, 9:28 PM
The Boss of You said...: I was really happy that ATC didn't interview from the anti-Prop8 side last night, because why muddy the waters with a human rights discussion, when this was about overturning a vote of the people. I mean the people voted and now as a result of this dictatorial activist ruling, I am no longer safe to practice heterosexual marriage and I kind of have a thing for the neighbor dog.; 8/5/10, 11:57 AM
The Boss of You said...: Top of the hour update makes it sound like Republican Senators were the noble ones to go ahead and approve Kagan for SCOTUS. This stuff is getting more blatant; 8/6/10, 1:37 AM
Anonymous said...: NPR is fully on borad with American policy in Iraq and Afghanistan if I "hear" their news reports correctly (maybe it is just me lol).

It started me to think that although NPR's economics are Libertarian and their political POV is center-right they will support any party in power as long as it furthers American "interests" and deepens the American "exceptionalism" understanding of the world.

So we get a jaundiced view of Democratic policy (which I share but from a different perspective) but as long as Obama maintains the occupation of Iraq and expands teh occupation of Afghanistan they will go along. So you get two NPR connected (one a translator and the other was Deborah Amos who is out flogging her book) people wailing that the occupation of Iraq is ending. No such thing is going on. 50k American troops and 100+ "contractors" remain and they ain't leaving in our life times.

But it makes the management/professional class happy to know that this Iraqi mistake is gonna work out ok in the end. And those are the people the Government and NPR depend on. The Government depends on those people being "propagandized" and quiet; NPR wants their money. It's all good. I note the differences in the reporting of the death of a corrupt Senator from Alaska and Howard Zinn. Wonder if there will be anyone allowed to point out Stevens was symbolic of almost every thing that is wrong with America.

edk; 8/11/10, 10:00 AM
larry, dfh said...: From Eschaton this A.M. (8-13)

Lunch Thread

enjoy

...adding, I forgot to mention earlier that I heard part of a piece on NPR about the economy, and the basic gist was the consumers just need to be more confident that we aren't entering a double dip and all will be well. There seems to be little understanding that people aren't spending money because they, you know, don't have any, and not because of unwarranted existential angst about the future.

-Atrios 12:15

Pretty much sums up their whole 'let them eat cake' attitude.; 8/13/10, 1:54 PM
Anonymous said...: Please visit the head monkey at NPR's Planet Money as he gets it wrong again!

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/08/13/129187369/; 8/13/10, 10:02 PM
Anonymous said...: Get ready folks for the "Terry n Scott" show today on Fresh Air. Gonna talk about his new memoir telling the excitement of adopting a child from China. I'm going to suggest that she remind him that he could have saved a lot of time and trouble if he'd gone to Iraq where he and Terry helped to create tens of thousands of Iraqi orphans.

In NPRland Kookie and Renee discussed the "victory" acheived in Iraq. USA! USA! USA! We ARE # 1.; 8/23/10, 9:06 AM
bunny. said...: ^ I got stoned and I missed it (happily)

signed,
bunny.; 8/24/10, 12:10 PM
gDog said...: Yeah, bunns, count me among the missing too...also. Revving up the work ethic for another semester, tho, I yam spuddling at the wakeup call from my local NPR afflictiate. NO! Mebbe Sirius Radio will have a new customer... This morning I was advised to hard boil my eggs - that it's really the only sensible reflex to mega ag's salmonella gag. Well, how silly of me to expect inspection and regulation when I can just get me some hard boiled.

The Real Battlefield is the Mind; 8/25/10, 2:56 PM
bn. said...: ^ Such are the slings and arrows of modern existence, G-Dawg. Being 'bout 80-90% vegan sorta immunizes my lop ears from the ovophobia - but they're still tryin' to eke in & monkey with my tofu~

Intwestin' link thar - imminent guest spot on Gross Air? (haw haw); 8/26/10, 8:52 AM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: Hi guys and gals,

Let see, . . .

An 10+ year employee of a company that just gave a $1 million donation to the GOP

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2010/aug/20/news-corporation-fox-news.

is asked to provide "analysis" of a FOX News co-worker and leader of the GOP

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/01/palin-signs-on-with-fox-news.html?hpid=topnews

I wonder what he will say? Does anyone think Mr. Williams would say anything negative about another FOX News employee. Also, he discusses GOP fund raising without mentioning his bosses $1 million donation?
Yesterday, NPR" Morning Edition report by Juan Williams, the" FOX News Negro" (Google the term, its a great essay).

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129418020

Yeah, there's no conflict of interest or ethical problems here.

NPR doesn't i.d. Juan Williams as FOX New employee and ignores two blatant conflicts of interest. I wish I had "thirty years of journalism" to understand how is isn't unethical.; 8/26/10, 9:03 AM
Anonymous said...: Gosh folks, I hope you didn't miss the Beckster on ME today. He is just what NPR really needs at this point because donations are way off, corporate sponsors have much more important things to spend their propaganda budget on than piddling 'ol NPR, and the Tea Party is a ripe source of new funding. After all, from Schiller through the lowest drone in NPR system is already inclined to be tea party adherants because they are right wing all the way up to slightly right of center. That's why they are so gay and diversity "friendly". They work with all kinds of perople except anything progressive.

Hah! I got the hundred? Is there a prize?

edk; 8/27/10, 9:16 AM