Tuesday, March 06, 2012

The Eyes of Mara


On February 22, 2012, when Jake Tapper, ABC senior White House correspondent, asked how the Obama administration's praise for serious journalism in Syria could "square with the fact that this administration has been so aggressively trying to stop aggressive journalism in the United States by using the Espionage Act to take whistle blowers to court" - journalists of conscience like Glenn Greenwald took note.  Readers of this blog were quick to point out that in the video clip of the interchange, NPR's National Pundit of the Right - Mara Liasson - could barely contain her scorn.  Enjoy!

11 comments:

Benoit Balz said...

Fracking Commercial Morning Edition 3/7



Dear Sir or Madam,


Your energy independence "story" on March 7 sounded like a (very) thinkly veiled fracking commericial.


It smacked of talking points, designed and paid for by the fracking industry.


Entrepreneurship, property rights, and financing?

Well, suck a duck! Sounds good to me...


Typical format: hit 'em with the happy horseshit talking points; throw a bone to a tepid alternative view (in this case, not a indictment of the increasingly recognized dangers of the practice, AND not a metnion of the earthquake "thing") then wrap it up with the take-home-message.


NPR employs this format with its military-war-complex propaganda "stories" too.

http://www.npr.org/2012/03/07/148036966/is-u-s-energy-independence-finally-within-reach


And during "pledge week" too?


Give us a break. That stinker was a SMASH THE RADIO MOMENT and yet another reason I tell everyone I know to never contribute to the NPR propaganda programs...


Sincerely,


Benoit Balz

New York, NY

Anonymous said...

Right on!!!

Nate Bowman said...

I was sure these stories wouldn't have appeared on NPR, so I checked inhere to leave the links. With my luck, it would have been the one time they DID cover it. So, I am glad BB posted.

Confirmed: Fracking Caused Ohio Earthquakes
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/03/09-1

Peaceful Anti-Fracking Activists Pursued by FBI as 'Eco-Terrorists'
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/03/11-2

gDog said...

NPR Joins Gang Greens Colluding with Frackers

Anonymous said...

i heard this morning that only a "handful" of Iraqis and/or afghans have been mistakenly killed by us/nato forces. That many have died in us run prisons.

over 1300 submissions for puzzle.

edk

Anonymous said...

An NPR series focused upon the need for and the resistence to Whistleblowers would be very useful. I was 6 years in Europe and when I returned to the US I could not believe the lack of civil discourse - especially on issues surrounding which we urgently need awareness. Now they are all focused upon the contraception conundrum...but mostly for the joy to dissing Rush. How about an analysis of the impact contraception has had on poverty, quality of life, etc. Alas, I ramble.

For a blast from the past, listen to today's Diane Rehm show. Phyllis Schafely (I thought she was deceased) was on. You will yell at your radio as you listen...promise.

Cheers,
M

miranda said...

NPR must love it some Schlafly: she was on "Tell Me More" not long ago touting her favorite candidate, Michele Bachmann, and bemoaning the Obama-led march to socialism (if only!).

Mytwords said...

FAIR notes how "mission" focused coverage of Afghanistan massacre is. NPR gives a fine example this morning - and as an added bonus features the ass-hat chickenhawk O'Hanlon. Needless to say, General Warlove was VERY pleased!

Unibrow said...

I just discovered this site, but I will take time to go over it. I cannot stand NPR anymore.

I live in Austin. Fort Hood is just up the road. When the 2009 shooting occurred there and 13 people were killed, our local NPR outlet, KUT combined with the BBC to do a special broadcast. Now there were a lot of angles that could have been taken with such a tragic event. What was the theme that KUT and BBC came up with? Will this incident cast doubt in American's minds about the war in Afganistan. Both parties agreed it would be terrible if people turned on the fine war we're having.

What's sick to me is how insidious it all is. KUT is a machine and people throw huge wads of cash at it every pledge drive. They can't figure out that shows like Fresh Air are just infomercials for whatever the guests are selling and that news, which used to quite good, is now framing stories with a very pro-military and pro-corporate bent. I have more respect for people who watch Fox. At least Fox watchers have consistent values (albeit crazy) and they can tell when those values are being deviated from. NOT SO THE CASE FOR EDUCATED LIBERALS,

Anyway, glad I'm not alone in noticing. You cannot convince people they are being hoodwinked by NPR BS.

Mytwords said...

Glenzilla takes note of NPR's twisted coverage of the Afghanistan massacre.

Anonymous said...

i stopped counting the jeremy lin stories on 1% Radio after the first FIFTY (that's a 50!) but i note there are ONE HUNDRED (100 in total) and I am too lazy to go and count the minutes but I would guess at about 5 hours of 1% insanity. Why carp about this? Besides it me being me I mean?

There were lots of people out there who knew this guy was a flash in the pan but . . . they really know basketball. 1% Radio simply jumped on the "feel good" bandwagon and anything that detracts from the feel goodness gets short shrift or is ignored.

And isn't this the real "problem" with 1% Radio. They are all about feel good in order to distract, pacify and mollify the cubicle class in America so we get Linsanity type of "news reports" from 1% Radio but with far more consequential results.

General WarLove I got a question for you? With your obvious devotion to war why have you never appeared on the Fighting Quaker Show hosted by Scott Simon? I know his budget is tight because of the lack of 50 dollar contributions but maybe you could appear at a reduced fee or even pro-bono. I'm sure that conversation would reveal much to the financial contributors of 1% Radio beginning with the destruction of the NPR is too "Liberal" canard.

edk