NPR Check: Q Tips

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Q Tips

NPR related comments, critiques and observations are welcomed and encouraged.

84 comments:

gDog said...: Damn - that's some serious presidential Q-tipping. Obama take note!

I must confess that I've figured out how to use an internet alarm clock, so I don't wake up to NPR anymore. Tahnk da goodiness!

Currently I'm rousing to Al Jazeera via KPFA, and while I'm not terribly keen on Al Jazeera either, at least they don't have all that feel-good fluff about celebrities and whatnot. And no Scott f**king Simon.; 1/15/12, 8:31 PM
Maine Owl said...: I did not expect to find anything about this on NPR and I didn't.

Fallujah babies: Under a new kind of siege : Doctors and residents blame US weapons for catastrophic levels of birth defects in Fallujah's newborns.

NPR of course has a long history of minimizing civilian destruction by US forces--Fallujah in particular. An item in this blog from last May during the Libya siege, A Tale of Two Cities - NPR and US Exceptionalism shows the stark double standard in NPR coverage:

"There is one standard for countries and forces that the US government opposes and a completely different standard for the US government and its closest allies."

For a further exercise, look up "fallujah anne garrels" and listen to some of the embedded reports from November 2004. The way she casually describes the taking of the hospital by US Marines, a war crime, like it's a good thing reports of casualties won't be able to come from there anymore. Ooof.; 1/16/12, 11:34 AM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: All the NPR 1% salaried news readers have been telling us how important and how much they honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. King was a pro-Union, anti-war pacifist who believed in economic justice.

Ask your self: When was the last time you heard any of those viewpoints on NPR's news shows ATC,
Morning Edition?

NPR where they honor the man, but hate his beliefs.

Scott Simon, the #thebloodyQuaker, was all gushy on Twitter about MLK. Here'shis Twit platitude:
"Happy King Day. No man ever deserved a day in his name more than MLK. Like Lincoln, he made America live up to its creed."

That's Scott Simon, who toured the country in the run up to the Iraq War giving pro-war speeches, the man who never hasdany anti-war or pacifist guests on his show ever.

But Simon does, on a weekly basis. host writers from The National Review, a publication that defended segregation and repeatedly smear Dr. King with vile racist stereo-type smears.

Yeah, Scott you really know how to honor Dr. King.; 1/16/12, 4:42 PM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: NPR: Where you only hear a speech by a pro-union, anti-war advocate for social justice one a year.

And that's only because he's been dead forty plus years.; 1/16/12, 4:45 PM
Anonymous said...: Waking to NPR will chase even the best dream into oblivion with its combination of uncritical boosterism for the latest and least significant economic data; the grating sound of Inskeep; insipid commentary by the likes of Joffe-Walt; and not least, the steady onslaught of advertisements placed by the local station.

Why just today I woke up to Carter's piece on Pakistan, practically dripping with contempt and ending on a "many people say" anecdote about folks wanting to see the gov't fall. Great job!

NPR didn't used to be this way.; 1/16/12, 11:45 PM
Patrick Lynch said...: Or trying to eat breakfast while Susan Stamberg does another gush piece glorifying a one percenter who had connections to the one percenters of the art world thanks to her daddy's connections and a job at Vogue.

Read it and wretch:Susan Stamberg's gush piece; 1/17/12, 8:31 AM
Anonymous said...: tell me more had a war mongerer on that somehow feels king would be ok with america's current military adverturism but i wonder?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b80Bsw0UG-U&feature=BFa&list=PLABD484E94888C67D&lf=results_video&index=5

232 submissions to puzzle. the numbers continue to fall

martin states: But Guantanamo Bay is filled with people like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and people who have conspired to do significant acts of terrorism

and they haven't even held a kangaroo court as of today.

edk; 1/17/12, 8:39 AM
gDog said...: Chicago will be hosting both a G8 and a NATO summit in May. They are expecting, according to blob siegel, "thousands of delegates and hordes of protestors." Uh huh. Hordes. A crush, drove, multitude, press, push, squash, and throng. NPR only uses number-words to describe the size of protests when they're low-balling by a factor of 10 or 100. Don't listen to NPR, it only gives you an ear infection. FDL has the story about right.

redoso; 1/17/12, 6:50 PM
gDog said...: Adam Davidson needs some serious tearing down, thank goodness Yves Smith has such a great wrecking ball:

Adam Davidson, the 1%’s Lord Haw-Haw, Fellates Wall Street; 1/17/12, 7:09 PM
Mytwords said...: Awesome find on Davidson. Noted...Tweeted! See, NPR does stand for something!; 1/18/12, 6:37 AM
miranda said...: Thank you, gDog, Maine Owl and Grumpy Demo, for the excellent and necessary critiques. Patrick Lynch, I couldn't turn off that atrocious Stamberg piece fast enough to avoid retching.; 1/18/12, 7:56 AM
Patrick Lynch said...: Miranda,

Sorry about that. Susan Stamberg reminds me why any attempt to ignore NPR "news" and listen to their "arts" coverage is mostly futile.

Speaking of wretching, that was my reaction to about the first 15-20 minutes of Tom Ashbrook's coverage of SOPA on On Point this morning. Classic NPR he said, she said. Finally just had to turn it off.; 1/18/12, 3:43 PM
Patrick Lynch said...: I think you guys are going to just love this one: NPR hack apologizes for wall stret; 1/18/12, 3:53 PM
Patrick Lynch said...: The comments on the link I just posted are every bit as interesting at the post itself.; 1/18/12, 4:30 PM
Patrick Lynch said...: Glenn Greenwald has an excellent piece on why it was so nauseating to listen to On Point this morning with regards to SOPA. Chris Dodd's lobbying for SOPA was I thought a rather blatant example of how corrupt the circle is between lobbyists and government. Greenwald doesn't specifically refer to the On Point show this morning but I would not be surprised he catches up with it in one of his updates.

Chris Dodd's Paid SOPA Crusading; 1/18/12, 5:11 PM
John said...: I'm not sure if it has been reported yet on this site but buried in a larger article is this interesting, if not surprising, gem: "Appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Jan. 8, and apparently unsure whether host Bob Schieffer would have the courage to ask the $64 question, Panetta decided to ask it himself rhetorically: “Are they [the Iranians] trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No.”

Yet, in a highly illustrative example of media hypersensitivity on this issue, PBS was not even willing to let the Defense Secretary’s comment reach the ears of the network’s listeners. Its “NewsHour” program deleted Panetta’s emphatic “no” and played only his subsequent comment:

“But we know that they are trying to develop a nuclear capability. And that’s what concerns us. And our red line to Iran is do not develop a nuclear weapon. That’s a red line for us.”

http://tinyurl.com/83plh82

John Puma; 1/20/12, 1:26 AM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: The NPR Ombudsman upset that a NPR reporter actually reported on GOP race baiting.

NPR never would have had this problem if the reporter had just stuck with NPR classic "he said, she said" journalism template.

The Ombot seems to have forgotten that Lil' Ricky initially admitted he did say the word "black people" and only changed his story later. Guess NPR is suppose to only report what the GOP candidates want them to, just like when it covers the Pentagon.

Santorum, Race and the Limits of Journalistic Fairness : NPR Ombudsman : NPR; 1/20/12, 1:38 PM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: Here's a couple of interesting stories on 1% Radio from around the web:

First, I'm not the only one to notice that Washington DC based NPR has almost no Black male reporters:

"Alex P. Kellogg, one of NPR's two black male on-air journalists, has left the network after 14 months on the job, Kellogg told Journal-isms on Monday.

Kellogg's departure reaffirms that the network's decades-old issues regarding diversity have yet to be solved. They are often attributed to a corporate culture that outlasts management changes."

NPR Loses Another Black Male Voice

Here's a article by the same writer in October 2011 spelling out NPR's lack of diversity. Note his conversation with NPR CEO, yet it Suburban White Radio at it's finest:

"I only met Weiss once, about a decade ago, but I never forgot our conversation. We were chatting over hors d'oeuvres at a convention of the National Association of Black Journalists, the organization I helped create. "So what do you think of All Things Considered?" she asked, referring to the flagship NPR show she produced for many years. "I love the show," I admitted. "But why does it have to be so white?"

"But we have Juan Williams," she replied defensively. I almost choked on my stuffed mushroom. But since she was paying for the canapés, I politely let the discussion move on to other topics. How ironic that, a decade later, the symbol of her liberal credentials would cause her departure from the network."

Gary Knell: New NPR Chief Faces a Problem With Diversity

Since we're on the subject of the "FOX News Negro" as designated another Black writer (Goolge the article it's a hoot) Juan Williams, for Vanity Fair. Remember all the years thinking Juan sucked, pretty much everyone else a NPR did to.

Don't agree with everything, but it a nice description of the train that is NPR. Turns out for years Juan was doing substandard unprofessional work and everyone knew it. Except the "Bloody Quaker" and fellow FOXcateer Scott Simon, he like and supported someone everyone else knew was a hack.

""Williams almost caused an international incident a month later, after reporting on Fox News Sunday that General David Petraeus, then commanding American forces in Iraq, had sought White House permission to chase arms infiltrators into Iran, a step that would have both violated the military chain of command and that he’d publicly decried—at a Senate hearing—only a few weeks before. At NPR’s Baghdad bureau, Williams’s report prompted disbelief, and ridicule."

What’s Wrong with NPR? | Business | Vanity Fair

Grab your favorite beverage, curl up by the fire place and enjoy.

Your humble typo-challenged servant.; 1/20/12, 3:38 PM
gDog said...: Nice find, grumps. Note that in the cover photo they've cropped out the BofA branch at the base of the NPR building.; 1/20/12, 5:36 PM
gDog said...: Having actually now read the VF article, I can't recommend it. What shallow bore.

lesse, as in lesse npr is more goode.; 1/21/12, 12:54 AM
RepubLiecan said...: It looks like Juan Williams is finding out about the downside to being a token liberal over at Faux News.

Gingrich:‘Work’ is ‘a strange, distant concept’ to Juan Williams

Who could have guessed this might happen?; 1/21/12, 1:55 PM
Anonymous said...: Cokie Roberts first met Lipson through the National Students Association in 1962.

her husband Steve roberts was also a member of NSA in the early sixties google: was steve roberts a member of NSA in early sixties i think it is 3rd entry

http://www.cia-on-campus.org/nsa/nsa2.html in '67 the nsa was outed as front for cia recruitment on campuses

explains a lot if you ask me.

i also think Bill clinton was a member but I can't find the citation though i have found an allegation that he worked for cia in england

edk

is this the plural of exquisite?; 1/23/12, 8:37 AM
Patrick Lynch said...: Did anyone catch the new sponsor on NPR this morning?

fracfocus.org

Not surprisingly, someone has already expressed their concerns about whether this site is bogus or not.
Is Frac Focus The Real Deal?

standio; 1/23/12, 12:47 PM
Patrick Lynch said...: Meant to say at the end of the last post that I expect with a sponsor like FracFocus, NPR will only issue the most glowing of reports on fracking from this point forward. As usual.; 1/23/12, 12:56 PM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: Looks like I'm not the only one getting tired of NPR's warmonger against Iran (aka Iraq 2.0) here's FAIR observation:

"Evaluating reporting and commentary about Iran could be reduced to one simple rule: There is no evidence that Iran is working on a nuclear weapon. Statements that suggest otherwise are misleading. Reports that fail to point this out are doing readers/viewers/listeners a disservice.

That sounds simple enough. But don't tell that to the outlets that are being criticized over their Iran reporting.

Take NPR and PBS, both of which were singled out by the group Just Foreign Policy."

FAIR Blog » Blog Archive » PBS, NPR Try to Defend Iran Distortions

Scott Simon "The Bloody Quaker" and Steve Inskeep "Iraq Pomp-pomp Girl of the Year 2002" have been repeatly demonizing Iran for behavior no different than the American trained, American armed, American "ally" Saudis Araba for more than a year.; 1/24/12, 10:36 AM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: Du'oh stupid link didn't take.

Here that link to the above story:

FAIR Blog » Blog Archive » PBS, NPR Try to Defend Iran Distortions; 1/24/12, 11:49 AM
gDog said...: http://nwpr.drupal.publicbroadcasting.net/people/anna-king

Looks like the NW has a decent investigative reporter...wonder how long she'll last?

encema; 1/27/12, 4:15 PM
Patrick Lynch said...: I'd comment about the ridiculous story on Freddie Mac that left NPR so "shocked, shocked I tell you" but I'll let Liz Berry from Firedoglake say it instead:

NPR is "shocked" about freddie mac; 1/30/12, 11:29 AM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: NPR reporters are so shallow and cowardly they can't even do a story on art history without waffling:

"It's 1949 over at National Public Radio, which this weekend aired an astounding segment on its popular program, "All Things Considered," claiming that Jackson Pollock, the Abstract Expressionist painter universally regarded as among the 20th century's great artists, is deeply controversial. Pollock died in 1956. The broadcast was in recognition of the centennial of his birth, which fell on Saturday.

"Even a century since his birth, American 'splatter artist' Jackson Pollock still provokes heated debate about the very definition of art," says NPR's Web version of the story. "Was a man who placed a canvas on the floor and dripped paint straight from the can actually creating a work of art?" (You can listen to the broadcast and read the Web story here; a transcript of the broadcast segment, which claims "his work is as derided as it is desired," is here.)

Um, huh? What's a "splatter artist"? Who is having a "heated debate"? What century are we living in?

The Pollock shtick reminds me of deniers of the Holocaust or global climate change. Virtually no one in the field doubts Pollock's achievement and significance for the history of Modern art, but one can always find some crank willing to abjure. What is this, National Booboisie Radio?

Wait, it gets worse. The really remarkable feature of the NPR story is that no one in it does renounce Pollock. No one.

Nobody, either in the Web story or in the broadcast, is quoted as expressing any doubt about Pollock's standing. Nobody takes the negative side in the supposedly raging debate."

National Pablum Radio.

NPR thinks Jackson Pollock is a controversial artist - latimes.com; 1/31/12, 3:23 PM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: Interesting read, NPR promotes male novelists 2X more often than women novelists, Remember NPR also interviews conservative think thanks a a 2:1 ratio too. It that ratio the NPR "Golden Mean"?

Enjoy:

Gender bias at NPR — and what it reveals about the world of literary fiction - News Features

"NPR and WBUR talked about male writers about 70 percent of the time. Of the roughly 60 works of fiction discussed on NPR, only about 20 were written by women. Of the six novelists featured on more than one program, all but Amy Waldman, author of The Submission, were men. Of the three novelists interviewed on more than one program, all were men. Terry Gross interviewed twice as many male as female novelists, and Morning Edition apparently dedicated no coverage at all to women fiction writers."; 1/31/12, 3:42 PM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: Lastly, we're not the only one's who've notice the Planet (worship the) Money promotes poor economic understanding and corporate agtiprop:

"Adam Davidson ". . . is what we might call a “One Percent Whisperer”—a salesman for conservative economic philosophy who regurgitates ruinous myths that have led to policies that depress prosperity and chuck justice out the window. Take a quick look at the most recent example of his one percent apologia, “What Does Wall Street Really Do for You?” and you’ll get an idea of where he’s really coming from.

Financial blogger and author Yves Smith (whose Naked Capitalism website is a must-read for the financially-literate) noted that Mr. Davidson’s recent column, "The Other Reason Europe is Going Broke," “manages the impressive feat of making you stupider than before you read it.” She catalogues the misrepresented facts and appeals to American prejudices that form the hallmark of Mr. Davidson’s work."

Mr. Davidson's Planet: NPR/NYT Guru Adam Davidson's Discredited Economic Principles | Economy | AlterNet

I've got a new has tag for twitter #onepercentwhisper.

That's all for now, . . .; 1/31/12, 4:01 PM
miranda said...: Grumpy, that Pollock report has a distinctly dead-fish smell. Another example of the infantile level at which so many of NPR's features are written.

No one to denounce Pollock? What, was David Horowitz (of the notorious Howard Zinn obit/denunciation) unavailable?; 1/31/12, 5:48 PM
gDog said...: The CIA was the Pope of Pollock.

http://gizmodo.com/5686753/how-the-cia-spent-secret-millions-turning-modern-art-into-a-cold-war-arsenal; 1/31/12, 11:29 PM
Anonymous said...: NakedCapitalism takes down NPR.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/01/propublicas-off-base-charges-about-freddie-macs-mortgage-bets.html; 2/1/12, 9:57 AM
Anonymous said...: NPR's version of the story.
http://www.npr.org/2012/01/30/145995636/freddie-mac-betting-against-struggling-homeowners?ft=3&f=1003,1004,1007,1013,1014,1017,1019,1128

DQP; 2/1/12, 9:58 AM
Anonymous said...: pledge time at whyy?. Had to start three days early and they are already in the hole. I did find out that they recently purchased 5 transmitters in Jersey with anonymous donations.

I think you can explain a lot about whyy this "network" is in the shape it is in.

edk; 2/1/12, 10:25 AM
Anonymous said...: duh edk finish the post:

by listening to the worker bees that toil there.; 2/1/12, 10:26 AM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/1/12, 11:22 AM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: GRUMPY DEMO said...
This was shockingly bad "he said she said" journalism by NPR, even given it normal pro-corporate pro-Defense Department bias, NOT ONE mention that Agent Orange causes birth defects?

Listen in disbelief Agent Orange: Monsanto Accused In Suit Tied To Agent Orange : NPR

For more that a half century Agent Orange has been linked to birth defects, a fact not mentioned in the story. Here a Veterans Admin list of illnesses related to Agent Orange, it scary but not news worthy to NPR:

Agent Orange - Public Health

Hard to believe an NPR reporter could be that incompetent, it must be an intentional cover up.

I'm sure the fact that Monsanto, manufacture of Agent Orange, being a corporate sponsor of NPR had nothing to do with this whitewashing.; 2/1/12, 11:30 AM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: Was it something I tweeted?

Current list of NPR celebrities that have me blocked on Twitter:

@dongonyea: after I pointed out he reported more on the food at the Iowa State Fair than on the GOP candidates issues, or may it was when I asked him does wear racing silks when files his "horse race" reports on the primary.

@NPRInskeep: after I pointed out Bush/Cheney lies were not " mistaken Intelligence" that took us to war, and he didn't ask Colin Powell one critical question.

@Ari_Shapiro: reminded him that as DOJ reporter he missed every major scandal

To be updated regularly.

Fun part NPR is now promoting the #NPRlife hashtag, for all their tweets. Guess who's an uninvited guest to the party?

With poison pen in hand,
GD
@Grumpy_Demo; 2/1/12, 11:42 AM
Anonymous said...: monsanto is also allied big time with Bill and Melinda gates Foundation. So . . .; 2/1/12, 12:12 PM
Patrick Lynch said...: @Grumpy Demo: When I was an art student, I hated Pollock's work,but now I'm largely indifferent.Having said that, there is no denying his place in 20th Century art history. When I looked at the web article at NPR I expected drivel from Susan Stamberg. No, just her male counterpart, Guy Raz.

On other notes: I found listening to On Point today exasperating as they "discussed" the new Google "privacy" policy.

Inskreep and his scurvy crewe want war with Iran so bad they can taste it. My fiancee' told me I should be glad I missed his segment with Tina Brown. Maybe I'm wrong but it seems like NPR has cranked the odiousness factor at least 200 percent in the last couple of days. Their glee that the Romneymaton won in Florida was palpable.

dicsillu; 2/1/12, 3:12 PM
Patrick Lynch said...: Did anyone hear the "interview" Inskreep had with Robert Kagan yesterday on ME? He's introduced as a neo-con in the segment and then before its all over, Kagan says there's no difference between Bush and Obama. I'm posting a link below, but disappointingly there is no transcript. I also had to dig for it as it already fell off the ME home page. But if you can stand to listen to it, it's there.

Robert Kagan interview

eumarant; 2/4/12, 9:06 AM
gDog said...: @Patrick,

That was Kagan having a nice laugh at humanity. "Tee hee, humanity, you got no options. We war monger nihilists will annihilate you no matter what!" Inskreep is just a little talking puppet for this guy.

miosi (mi, moi, meme, osi); 2/4/12, 9:40 PM
Jay Schiavone said...: Absolutely pathetic economic assessment by Adam Davidson of Planet Money in the NY Times this morning. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/magazine/economic-doomsday-predictions.html?src=recg; 2/6/12, 9:01 AM
Anonymous said...: something i have noticed about 1% Radio. Here in America you can get your butt bounced if you even hold up a sign with anti-1% sympathies (Lisa Simeone) but in Syria? You can pick up a weapon and NPR will demand that "something be done" to "protect you". Something meaning L-I-B-Y-A as the russians and Chinese know all too well.

whyy into the second week of fundraising and the hole gets deeper and deeper. They start the begging a half hour earlier and three days early but so far? Big Fail! They will eventually get their 8000 members but I think it will be nearer to 12 days than the ten they originally planned for.

edk; 2/6/12, 9:48 AM
gDog said...: @edk,

That's an issue where S40 and Al Jazeera are on the same page.; 2/6/12, 10:42 AM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: Nothing says you're "Public " Raido, like taking money from corporations that have a vested interest in the stories you report.

The wife of a corporate lobbyist, Michele Norris is picking up nice fat speakers' fees from corporate health care profiteers. Picking up her payoff for ignoring Single Payer Health Care, ignoring uninsured, and never mentioning the Canadian system.

NPR anchor discusses women's health | Aiken Standard: "Norris served as keynote speaker for the event, sponsored by Aiken Regional Medical Centers, which rolled out the WE initiative in December. "

Juan Williams was one of the biggest pigs at the corporate trough. Simon and Inkseep are also big on getting paid under the table for the protecting the 1%.; 2/6/12, 12:13 PM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: Inskeep again, caught reciting #GOP talking pts again "NPR's Inskeep Ignores Actual Polls" http://bit.ly/yWmWI2; 2/6/12, 1:31 PM
gDog said...: The Temple of Doom strikes again: Case In Britain Echoes Dilemma At Guantanamo

KPFK and KPFA are in fund-drive mode, so I'm listening to NPR a bit more. It doesn't disappoint, and DTR is in top form with soft, self-assured sense of urgency in the WOT.

Indefinite detention is unambiguously something she dearly supports, as this piece makes clear.

It's odd that the written piece ends with this:

"The right place for a foreign terrorist is a foreign prison cell far away from Britain."

In fact, DTR simply says, "The right place for a terrorist is a prison cell." And no one can smell a terrorist like DTR.

parind - taking the ao out of paranoid.; 2/8/12, 10:51 AM
Anonymous said...: NakedCapitalism to ProPublica/NPR: "You're still wrong."

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/02/michael-olenick-more-on-propublica%E2%80%99s-off-base-charges-about-freddie-mac%E2%80%99s-mortgage-%E2%80%9Cbets%E2%80%9D.html

DQP; 2/8/12, 3:24 PM
Anonymous said...: whyy is all so B---S--T. "In the interest of our listeners" . . .they are stopping the full force fund raiser. No they are stopping it for two reasons. 1: They will be there until saturday to reach 8,000 member goal but that conflicts with 2: a big gathering of the local 1% elite in and around Philly and their mouthpieces at whyy on Saturday for a Valentine's day love fest. What they really are saying is the people that donate 120/year ? We don't really need them but we do need to stay on the good side of our benefactors in the 1% so . . .

I heard a slip the other day which stated that whyy receives 2m/year from feds but that was quickly followed by a pronouncement that that money immediately flows to NPR. And i have asked the people at whyy what the phrase "operating expenses" means. I still think npr/whyy is nothing but a fund-raising propagandizing tool used by the 1% to calm the cubicle class who are so . . . . they think npr is "liberal" and "not at all like Fox".

I think you can learn a lot by listening closely to the fundraising bashes local stations run. And not much of it is good imo

edk; 2/9/12, 8:55 AM
Anonymous said...: NPR loves Ally Financial. And, Ally financial loves getting absolved of fraud and bailed out by the public.

http://www.scribd.com/webber3292/d/81059707-Settlement-Graphic

DQP; 2/9/12, 9:23 AM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: This was really awful classic NPR "memory hole" work from yesterday's ATC: States Debate Foreclosure Robo-Signing Settlement

If it wasn't NPR, I would've found it bizarre and amazingly unprofessional that no where in this story about America's largest banks confessing to criminal conduct and paying $26 billion in fines does it name the guilty banks. Not even once?
Why on earth was NPR not stating their names and thus protecting the guilty.

I didn't understand it until if saw the list of the banks:

"Banks covered by the settlement: "Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Ally Financial."

Each and everyone an NPR corporate underwriter. Underwriting has its privileges I guess.

They really are "National Corporate Radio" protecting the 1%.

This was another of my "Proud to not pledge moments".; 2/9/12, 11:21 AM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: As a banker for 20+ year I know the NPR hit piece on Freddie Mac just stunk to high heavens.

NPR mischaracterizing Freddie's hedging it's risk, something every bank does and should do, and distorting it horribly. Financial risk management is highly wonkish and very complicated, something I stayed away from and kept in formed just enough to do my job.

I think a good analogy would be it as if NPR is portraying surgery as if it where an assault: "Doctors. who are suppose to protect their patients are taking knives and intentionally cutting their patients and making them bleed!!!!"

Here's a good explanation of the NPR hit job, which I think is them just pandering the Right which has wanted Fannie & Freddie killed since their creation:

Michael Olenick: More on ProPublica’s Off Base Charges About Freddie Mac’s Mortgage “Bets” « naked capitalism

No context no background reporting rules at NPR the home of "the view from no where."; 2/9/12, 11:32 AM
Anonymous said...: All,

NakedCapitalism's Yves Smith will be on Democracy Now and LeShow. Check it out. She did the original takedown of the ProPublica/NPR hit piece that GD mentions above.

DQP; 2/9/12, 5:45 PM
Mytwords said...: NPR ran more shallow coverage of the contraception "controversy" on WE Sunday.

My comment stayed up most of the day and then got scrubbed. Seems like somebody at NPR has a thing for the US Bishops and their protection of child molesters.

Here's the comment that offended:

"Of course the US Bishops are against birth control - who needs birth control when the sex is with children? - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_sex_abuse_cases#United_States - and when you can blame the pedophilia on, of all things, THE 60S! -http://nprcheck.blogspot.com/search/label/Catholic%20Church
Yep, I know I look to the US Catholic Bishops for moral guidance...NOT!; 2/13/12, 5:57 AM
Anonymous said...: when did the "mission statement" of 1% radio state anything about regime change? I think the UN is wrestling with this question; is the purpose of the UN to prevent WWW 111 or is it's purpose regime change.

And I love the irony of Al-Queda and NPR being strange(?) bedfellows as regards Syria.

edk; 2/13/12, 9:20 AM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: NPR Math?

On last Friday's @MorningEdition, Steve Inskeep (life support system for GOP talking points) crows that "Catholics narrowly support" the White House position on insurance coverage of birth control http://n.pr/z6VnaO.

A WaPo poll indicates that Catholics favor the White House by 58% versus 37% a margin of +21 thats a "narrow" margin? http://wapo.st/vZ27vF

Another "narrow margin" in that NPR report which evens states that 98% of Catholic women use birth control. To Steve 98% vs 2% is also "narrow".

Maybe Inskeep forget the preferred "view from no where" NPR framing device which would have been "Catholics Divided over White House policy"?

NPR: When the facts conflict with the GOP meme, recite the meme.; 2/13/12, 10:37 AM
gDog said...: MtW, If there were justice at NPR, instead of all the underwriting Croc of lies, they'd have to interject periodically readings from the litany of Catholic child abuse...though there really isn't enough air time, is there?

ablec; 2/14/12, 10:46 AM
Nate Bowman said...: Finally, a Scott Simon who doesn't reflexively bow to the powerful:

"The government’s deal with banks over their foreclosure practices after 16 months of investigations is cheap for the loan servicers while costly for bond investors including pension funds, according to Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Scott Simon."

http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/pimco-foreclosure-banks-pensions/2012/02/10/id/429048

Yves Smith referred to this in her piece here:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/02/quelle-surprise-taxpayers-will-be-paying-for-part-of-mortgage-settlement.html; 2/17/12, 8:10 AM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: Anyone else wonder how many things GOP can legislate to stick in women's vaginas before NPR thinks it's newsworthy?

(Yeah recycling my tweets for some of you ludities)

P.S. Nate! Good to hear from you, I've even got Mrs. Demo noticing how little NPR mentions criminal conduct by their bankster underwriters.; 2/22/12, 11:56 AM
Nate Bowman said...: Thanks Grumps.
I'm always stalking around here, but for various reasons (mostly personal) don't post that much anywhere. I think you now that the hopelessness for any change for the positive at NPR is one of the non-personal reasons.

I don't listen to NPR at all NPR. I check in once in a while when someone posts something here.

I do appreciate what all of you do here (especially MyT for keeping this treasure trove in existence) and rely on you to fill out what I know about the world. Glenn Greenwald and CommonDreams.org are my two main other sources.

I also get some journalistic headline news from a Poynter.org daily email, but they are about what you would expect considering the Alicia Shepard used them as a paragon of journalistic ethics and also considering that the newsletter is sponsored by KochFacts.org. Still, without meaning to, they lead me towards some worthwhile stuff.

Most recently, Bill Keller's continued trashing of Assange here

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/20/opinion/keller-wikileaks-a-postscript.html

another place where my meager commenting output did not see the light of day.; 2/22/12, 9:43 PM
a.m. said...: A little amusement for the NPR Check crowd: watch Mara Liasson sneer, stare, grimace, and go through any number of piqued facial and ocular contortions as Jake Tapper grills White House Press Secretary Carney about the administration's hypocritical praise for journalists abroad and its contempt for journalism at home. She's seated in the row directly behind Tapper, and almost upstages him with her facial scenery-chewing. It's unfortunately necessary to sit through a brief 15-second commercial to see the show--but almost worth it in this case.; 2/23/12, 2:06 PM
gDog said...: a.m. - That was hilarious. I can just see her in Civics class in the Village of Scarsdale, NY, where she grew up* - playing toady for the teacher by ridiculing any other kid who dares question authority.

*The per capita income for the village was $89,907. That ranks 59th highest income in the country and 2nd most for towns with a population with over 10,000.

msUnity detarns; 2/23/12, 5:09 PM
gDog said...: Scarsdale is a regular incubator of enlightened citizenry, it seems. From Wikipedia:

Scarsdale became the subject of national controversy in the 1950s when a "Committee of Ten" led by Otto Dohrenwend alleged "Communist infiltration" in the public schools.[5] A thorough investigation by the town rejected these claims. This same group, known at the Scarsdale Citizens Committee, sued to prevent a benefit for the Freedom Riders from taking place at the public high school in 1963 because some of the performers (Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Pete Seeger) were allegedly "communist sympathizers and subversives."

ossichav issmeate; 2/23/12, 5:13 PM
Nate Bowman said...: a.m.
That was a hoot!
I wish I could put thought bubbles over her head.

At start...
"Let me see here in my notebook what sycophantic question I can ask."

Then...she notices something
"Wait! This guy is actually asking a proving question. Doesn't he know his job?"

Raises eyebrows
"He's actually CRITICIZING those in power!"

Grimaces in disbelief
"I've got to DISTANCE myself from THIS guy! I have to make it as obvious as possible that what he's doing is not MY idea of journalism."

Goes back to studying her notebook.
"Let me see if I can make up for his speaking truth to power by asking a question that is at the same time servile and promotes the conservative agenda."; 2/23/12, 10:59 PM
Nate Bowman said...: More on the Poynter Institute/NPR old boys connections:

1. Poynter owns the Tampa Bay Times
2. Politifact is one of their "projects".
3. KochFacts.Com sponsors their daily newsletter.
4. "Kinsey Wilson (a member of Poynter’s board of trustees) moves from general manager of digital media to chief content officer, overseeing all of NPR’s content: news, programming and digital media."

http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/164295/wemple-in-2-of-3-spats-politifact-and-maddow-are-talking-past-each-other/

http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/164299/kinsey-wilson-becomes-chief-content-officer-for-npr-margaret-low-smith-to-head-npr-news/

NPR also just released its new ethics handbook.
I haven't had a look yet.
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/top-stories/164223/npr-introduces-new-ethics-handbook-appoints-standards-and-practices-editor/; 2/24/12, 11:01 AM
Anonymous said...: Lyinsome says it all just through her face. Nice catch!

almost a 1000 entries on last weeks puzzle.

edk; 2/25/12, 9:50 AM
Anonymous said...: NakedCapitalism gives Adumb Davidson top billing today.

http://tinyurl.com/7l6vqat

Don Q. Public; 2/28/12, 10:27 AM
gDog said...: Yeah, Yves invited A. Dumbson to come and have an honest chat in the comments section. Not a sign of him yet...not holding my breath.; 2/28/12, 11:50 AM
Unknown said...: Haven't checked-in in a while; glad to see you all are keeping up the good fight. I see Atrios made a typically pithy comment re NPR:

Journey To The Center Of The Nonsense

I admit I still get a bit surprised when I read/hear otherwise very smart very liberal people singing the greatest hits of David Brooks and the Totebaggers. But then I remember I was sorta there once. The gateways into "Very Serious Stuff" are The Economist, NPR, and the NYT. They vary a bit, but all are basically left-leaning Republican outlets, if left-leaning Republicans existed.

So NPR has a new Ethics Handbook - perhaps MyTWords has actually managed to penetrate their defenses with NPR Check - bravo! I hear the new handbook says:

Our goal is not to please those whom we report on or to produce stories that create the appearance of balance, but to seek the truth.

It will be interesting to see how the NPR Ombudsperson handles the "enhanced interrogation" she'll now get if they keep up the usual shoddy NPR reporting.; 2/29/12, 9:29 AM
Unknown said...: Whoa, when did NPR get a real Ombudsman?

Another sign of change for the better at NPR.; 2/29/12, 9:45 AM
informedveteran said...: Check out the "Reading the Trades" section of Harry Shearer's LeShow which aired 2/26/12.

Hint - it is about NPR's ethics handbook and involves Harry laughing.

LeShow; 2/29/12, 10:47 AM
miranda said...: Anyone catch the worshipful obit of Breitbart on ATC? The worst that was said about him (by David Corn) is that "he needed an editor." Contrast with the infamous hit job on Howard Zinn.; 3/1/12, 5:24 PM
gDog said...: The Zinn obit on NPR Team Check.

The elusive Sweeney is still at the switch?; 3/2/12, 12:47 AM
Anonymous said...: i was waiting all day for the "report" of the thank you dinner at the wh the other night for the occupational force stationed in Iraq. But, there was nothing the next day. I found that "interesting" to say the least. Maybe even 1% radio found that a bridge to far.

i am trying to find out exactly what Director of Strategic Planning is at NPR. That's Carvin's title and it seems like it is about formenting regime change in Iran, Syria, and probably Venezuela.

Dino Temple of doom hasn't yet been told if there are "terrorists" involved in Syrian revolt. You know those murdering, blood-thirsty, inhumane killers that were a major part of the resistance when they were fighting American occupiers in Iraq. Now they may be "freedom fighters" in Syria.

Less than 300 submissions on last sunday's puzzle section of ME Weekends

edk; 3/2/12, 8:43 AM
miranda said...: A must-read for NPRCheckers on Counterpunch.

http://bit.ly/zvCpCf; 3/5/12, 12:59 PM
Anonymous said...: The members of the Theater of the Emerging American Moment, or "the TEAM," as they call themselves, began reading about Wall Street and teaching themselves economics. They read Milton Friedman and listened to podcasts of NPR's Planet Money.

Marx nailed it but Marx is verboten at npr

finally hit 4 digits on puzzle

edk; 3/5/12, 1:32 PM
clark said...: I listen to a public radio station that has only a little bit of NPR content -- 5 min. top of the hour news breaks, World Cafe and a couple other programs. ATC, ME, etc. are on a different local station. But even still I sometimes hear something that makes me scream at the radio. Reporting on the Limbaugh story yesterday, news anchor Lakshmi Singh stated that Limbaugh's remarks were in response to Sandra Fluke's testimony 'in favor of free contraception'. An end run around the actual substance and effectively legitimizing Rush's POV on the matter, i.e. that the rest of us end up paying for Fluke's sexual adventures. Fluke was saying it should be COVERED under a policy she is paying for, is all. The difference is important.; 3/6/12, 12:14 PM
big!pink!fuzzy!bunny! said...: ^ Ohhh, give Fatso a break. He just wants to watch the viddies. ;-)

vationts(!) goonsta(!); 3/6/12, 4:44 PM
Scrawny Kayaker said...: Just heard a short bit on ME about school testing, which was actually mainly about a specific charter school. Paraphrase of parental quote: We were attracted to this charter school because they only spend a two week period on test prep, not letting it railroad the entire year's plan.

NOT mentioned: Does the charter school face the same immediate sanctions as a regular public school if their test results are not up to snuff, and are they in the same place in the NCLB/RTTT death-ratchet system or state laws? (I don't know the answer, so if someone could Google that for me...thanks!)

If the answer to both those questions are "yes" then it's not *crucial* to mention that for fairness, but it's a sufficiently important issue that they surely could have found time to squeeze in a clause like "even though the school faces the same high stakes for test results as public schools.

If the answers are "no," then this piece is a biased hatchet job that leaves unstated the fact that public schools that fail in the impossible demand to constantly ratchet upward in standardized test scores will be shut down and be replaced by charters, which won't be under the same pressure. In practice, most of those charters can be expected to be run not by parents or genuine community groups but by the same Ed Reformers and astroturfers (Gates, TFA, LEV, etc) currently driving the Democratic party to the right on education issues.

Of course, even if they have the same consequences, they may have less worry about test results due to cherry-picking or self-selection by more motivated students. That's always a powerful advantage for charter schools.

-Scrawny Kayaker; 3/12/12, 11:14 AM
D.O. said...: I hear Chris Arnold was trashing former Goldman Sachs guy, Greg Smith this morning on NPR comparing him to disgruntled grocery store employee. Of course no supermarket clerk ever helped crash the U.S. economy, at least not that i can recall.

If you missed the Greg Smith op-ed it's here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/opinion/why-i-am-leaving-goldman-sachs.html?_r=2&hp; 3/15/12, 7:10 AM
Maine Owl said...: www.salon.com/2012/03/16/npr_and_nyt_on_americans_v_afghans/; 3/18/12, 12:52 AM