NPR blatantly biased towards bush

[redqueen]

I swear the RepubliCONs must be putting their spin machine into overdrive... this morning on NPR, every story about bush / Kerry was so heavily slanted it's hard to imagine even the daftest listeners wouldn't have noticed.

Every charge against bush was given by the reporter -- of course in the most deferential way -- and a bush campaign staffer was either directly quoted, or they played a tape of their rebuttal.

Every smear against Kerry was given directly from the lying stinking bushista's mouth, and not coincidentally, no Kerry staffer was quoted with any rebuttal to any of the smears against Kerry. It was just left hanging there.

and we hold these truths to be self evident:
#1 george w. bush is not president
#2 america is not a true democracy
#3 the media is not fooling me

[ArkDem]

1. NPR is definately a major right wing organ.

[sfecap]

2. Remember their bias the next time they want money. n/t

n/t

[robcon]

3. I think NPR is neutral.

I've heard as much pro-Kerry as pro-Bush newscasts on NPR.

[redqueen]

4. So you're saying you haven't noticed what I outlined above?

You claim they DO quote Kerry's staffers with rebuttals to repuke smears?

When do you listen... maybe I'm just listening at the wrong time... for an hour straight this morning (7:45 to 8:45 a.m. CST) the pattern was EXACTLY as I described above.

[coalition_unwilling]

5. National Pentagon Radio

They were hardly neutral in the run-up to the war; check out the ratio of pro-war stories\commentaries to anti-war stories commentaries.

I will no longer donate to NPR or PBS but instead will only donate to my local Pacifica station (KPFK in Los Angeles).

[redqueen]

6. I quit donating around that time

And let them know why.

Like they even care... they get money from corporations now. What an improvement in coverage since then, too, eh?

[not systems]

39. Me too.

I gave up on them because of the war cheer leading.

Now KPFA gets my money.

[donheld]

73. or maybe

National Petrolium Radio

[noonwitch]

8. I agree

I listen sometimes to Fresh Air during the evening rush hour drive and I think it's pretty balanced. I also listen to the news on the CBC2, and it's more biased toward Kerry.

[sendero]

46. Who said anything about...

... their other programming such as Fresh Air?

We're talking about NPR news here and it is absolutely biased and you'd have to be deaf to not notice it.

Like many major newspapers, they have simply pushed the "liberal" stuff off to the useless "entertainment" programming like talk shows and such, while the "serious, fair, balanced" news programming is completely one-sided.

NPR has gone well past "balance". They are now a full-fledged propaganda organ for the Reps and anyone here sending them money is a fool.

[Jacobin]

38. When I listen, the spin is always RW

Except for a couple of the programs. Terri Gross is excellent and clearly hates Smirky and does what she can to shed light on the neo-cons. She is really remarkable.

[Green Lantern]

65. Terri is great but

she is becoming the lone voice in the wilderness.

NPR has been taken over-see the new board members. See the new programming. See the new policy.

I complained a couple of months ago to our local PBS about their taking a pass on Democracy Now. They had a lame excuse about independent criteria. It was obvious that it was a crock. Right after that, the programming began to air programs with religious overtones, news reports friendly to the RW, and changes in on air personalities.

The drive to force "commercials" onto public radio and TV has taken a toll. They are no longer an independent source of information. just something else we will have to fix.

[southlandshari]

52. As Dante so prophetically wrote...

...the innermost circle of Hell is reserved for the neutral.

Objective and neutral are two totally different animals. As a journalism major and freelance writer myself, I long for a truly objective media outlet in the mainstream (even on the fringes of mainstream, like NPR, would be great).

I don't see having an equal number of pro-Kerry and pro-Bush stories as something to hold up as a positive statement on their coverage of national politics.

I don't mean to sound harsh - any media outlet that has equal positive and negative coverage of candidates is perhaps better than the horrendous slant to the right seen in most mainstream press coverage these days.

Still, just making the stories on the "left" and "right" equal in number doesn't qualify as telling the truth. And that is what I expect good, credible journalists to do. Whether the truth as they see it (after much investigation and contemplation) is on the "liberal" or "conservative" side of an issue, a truly talented journalist will report that truth regardless of personal bias or corporate pressure.

[jdj]

64. come into my parlor said the spider to the fly.

they used to be, but money talks, and the money done took over.

[KansDem]

7. "I Was Almost a Stooge For National Plutocrat Radio"--Crimmins

This article certainly lays to rest the notion that NPR is liberal:


(excerpts)
On Tuesday afternoon (2/18/03), I got a phone call from a representative of the National Public Radio show On Point. She told me she got my name from a friend of mine. She asked if I could do a brief piece on the burgeoning field of aspirants for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination for a portion of the show called Radio Diaries.

Because I am a professional and only torch bridges when absolutely necessary, I refrained from telling her that I didn't need to have my time wasted by NPR.

........

As ever, they approached me as if I were an unknown fledgling in need of guidance. Within the first thirty seconds of the call I knew two things: this woman had no idea who I was and what she wanted me to say on the radio was utter pap.

Two years into the court-appointed Bush administration's destruction of our way of life and the first call I received from NPR was a request to belittle Democrats. Ostensibly they wanted me to make fun of the fact that the field of candidates had grown very quickly in recent weeks. That's right; NPR was soliciting me to satirize democracy for showing signs of vibrancy. And so this young producer tried to steer me that way. She started by mentioning the size of the Democratic field and then asked, "Do you think any of them has the stature to take on George W. Bush?"

........

We went back and forth and I said I could run down the field for her. She reminded me twice that the game I was to bag was of the Democratic variety. I said I'd put something together for her. I requested a list of candidates in case I'd overlooked someone. She sent the Dem roster and the next morning, I wrote the piece. They had my script by midday Wednesday. I was supposed to tape it Thursday. I figured if I got it in early, we could sort out any difficulties with time to spare. Like I said, I'm a professional.
(more)
http://victoria.indymedia.org/news/2003/02/11973.php

NPR means "News Prostitutes for Republicans"
(edited for spelling)

[redqueen]

9. THANK YOU!

We need to disabuse some people of the notion that NPR is somehow 'balanced'.

:crazy:

[Ithuilwen]

49. Hahaha!

Fun article to read.

"Upon receipt of your gift of $500, we will send you an official pair of authentic NOCR kneepads, just like the ones our reporters at the Pentagon and White House use!"

and

"Remember, if the announcer speaks in clipped phrases and with anal punctuation and sounds as if he would rather wear a crisply starched white shirt than have magnificent sex, you're listening to National Over-privileged Caucasian Radio."

were hilarious statements.

But to be fair, Maine Public Radio really is a great organization. My radio dial doesn't stray too far from MPR.

[dolo amber]

10. It's been blatent for a while now

Just this morning they were previewing Sen. Graham's book and they managed to slip in *conspiracy theory* a few times...:eyes:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2329360&mesg_id=2329360

[RichardRay]

11. Listening critically lately

And I find some basis for the contention that NPR is moving to the right, but nothing to suppport the idea that they have moved into the same category as FOX, etc.

e.g. - This morning Juan Williams did a piece on the AWOL issue. He didn't come off as a Democratic attack dog, but he did pursue the story and asked followup questions that made the denials not believable. I was suprised and pleased since I'd seen him moving right in the last few months.

I agree that NPR is not demonstrating the strong support for liberal positions they once did, and it bothers me. BUT, I wouldn't say that they've gone completely over to the dark side quite yet. Maybe it's just that I'm up here in a bluish corner of and otherwise very red part of the country, but in comparison to everything else I here on the radio NPR is still the preferred source.


Richard Ray - Jackson Hole, WY

[redqueen]

12. Don't be so sure

A couple of months ago I heard one of their reporters quote bush as saying that Iraq is better now since the war because girls can go to school.

Any reporter worth more than a wad of snot would have come back with the assertion that in fact girls could go to school in Iraq BEFORE we bombed them, but not this NPR shill.

*sigh*

How different is that crap from FOX?

[sendero]

47. IT"S MUCH WORSE THAN FOX..

.... because almost everyone knows FOX's agenda. But many people (apparantly even a lot of people here, which is un-fucking-believable) still buy into the "liberal" tag when it comes to NPR.

Listen to an entire Morning Edition and come back here and tell me the Democrats and Democratic positions get a fair shake. You can't, because they don't.

Pay money to hear propaganda if you want to, but I quit sending them money after 17 years of donations in 2003.

[sundog]

13. All media has been bought out...

We just have to keep yelling & screaming till more people listen...

Knowledge is power... the more the people see the truth, the stronger they become.

We don't have the money to compete with the * regime - the only thing that can expose these tyrants is the truth.

The thing that will save this country is a re-birth of democracy on a grassroots level. As of now, *democracy* is dead.

[redqueen]

14. Definitely grassroots - nothing else will work

I've taken to distributing flyers. It's amazing how many people will engage in conversation after reading the first few lines of a flyer. Very encouraging. :)

[Ms. Clio]

31. Are these your own flyers, or can I download them somewhere?

I've wanted to create my own, but I'm not sure where to start on all the crimes and mistakes of this administrations, or what would be the most effective points to make.

[redqueen]

33. I download them

There are good ones all over... even here!

We can and should all share them with each other here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=106&topic_id=9545

[Ms. Clio]

43. Thanks for the link! n/t

[progressivebydesign]

15. My NPR revelation..

.. the other day, NPR reported about Bush speaking to a "crowd of over 10,000 cheering, flag-waving, enthusiastic fans!". Then.. in the next sentence, "Kerry spoke to a group in Missouri". Literally.. used those words. NPR used to be balanced, but they get their money from pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, and fat cat repuoblican foundations... they are no longer balanced.

[NeonLX]

16. The other day, NPR was reporting results from some "study"...

...conducted by none other than the Sam Walton Institute. WalMart is now the major corporate contributor to NPR. "Public radio" is a misnomer for them.

[BiggJawn]

17. 15 posts and no "But they have Garrison Keilor" yet?

The NPR apologists must be sleeping in this AM. Or they had early tee-times.

I don't care for NPR's "entertainment". Guess I'm not intellectual enough or something.

I care for their "news" even less, especially when Mara or Cokie is reporting on the Shrub. I noticed that lately, they will play the whole Bush sound-bite, but then say "And in reply, Senator carry said "Bush is Wrong" or similar tactics. Get the Chimp-boy's voice in the voter's ears, with an NPR shill going on about HOW manly he sounds, but quote Kerry out of context.....

If I'm gonna listen to somebody getting a "blow-job", I want it to be me.

[redqueen]

18. HAHAHAHAHA!

That is EXACTLY why I stopped listening months ago... but my car radio is out so I have this portable thing in the car with me, and the only stations that come in well are country, rap, or NPR. I like some country, and some rap, but not nearly enough to listen to these gawdawful lets-play-the-same-10-songs-over-and-over-and-over stations.

[MsUSA]

41. and how about Car Talk and Michael Feldman!!!

I love these shows......but I have cut back on my contributions to NPR. Wisconsin/Minnesota local programing seem to be ok, I think it's just the "national" feeds that have these rightway leanings.

[BiggJawn]

42. MPR has some great programming

I enjoy listening to Minnesota Public Radio productions.

The quality of caller on Car Talk has declined, IMO. I'm mechanically inclined, so I don't get any fun out listening to people going on and on about their "tinkel-tinkel-plink" noises in their 530i...
Good thing I'm not a service writer at a dealership, huh?

And Michael Feldman...I'm sorry, but I just dont get it.

I enjoy feature programming on RCI, R. Sweden and the BBC, so I KNOW I'm not a TOTAL Philistine....

[AP]

58. The good thing about Car Talk is this:

For most people, your car is your second greates investment after your home. Unlike every other aspect of the media, Car Talk is about how NOT to spend too much money and unwisely.

Every other show the media presents is about making you want to spend money. Car Talk is about saving you money.

The only reason they're on NPR is because they're funny. When those guys are gone, The Ford Foundation, or whateve, will NOT let NPR put on another show like that.

[BiggJawn]

59. You lost me after the first 10 words.

A car is NOT an "investment", it's an EXPENSE, just like the rent well-meaning people tell me I'm so stupid to keep paying month after month...

Automobiles, unless you have the good fortune to inherit something like a 1934 Auburn or a Rolls-Royce, will NEVER be worth as much as your original purchase price. Thus, it's an expense, NOT an investment. Much like that house I owned for a while before it bankrupted me.

Maybe I listened on the wrong days or something, but I have NEVER heard anything on "Car Talk" that would save me money that I already didn't know.

And I don't find dumb-asses wanting Ray and Tom to settle their marital arguments about whether or not to put the fucking Volvo in "neutral" at a stoplight funny, either...No Brainer, I learned to do that when I was 16 years old with a VW beetle. Also learned early-on that you don't sit at a light with your foot on the clutch, either...

[AP]

60. They're investments that depreciate, but help you make money other

ways.

Listen closely to Car Talk. While everyone else is telling you to buy things you don't need, they're telling you how to you don't need to spend money unless it's absolutely required.

You must appreciate that lots of people don't know as much about cars as you do, nor should they be required to just to keep from getting ripped off.

[BiggJawn]

62. "Investments that depreciate"?

"This wizard takes words and stands them on their heads"-Gimli, Gloin's Son

that's about the most convoluted thing I've heard in quite a few days.

OK, so I drive my Ranger to and from work, so in that sense it makes me money.If this was an ideal world, (ideal in the sense that there WAS public transport) I'd take public transportation to commute with. I suppose you'd say that I'd be "investing" my coupla bucks a day in an interurban train, too?

"Hey, everybody! I'm part-owner of a railcar! Woo-Wooo! all Aboard!"

but then, I also drive it into town to do the weekly shopping and take my ESSO out to dinner, so the damn thing COSTS me more money, too!

Tom and Ray usually tell people one of 2 things:
1. Fuggeddaboutit, it's just a noise.
Or,
2. Take it to your mechanic.

You're not a mechanic, by any chance? One with a whole attic full of those "investment" Beanie Babies?

[AP]

66. See how much you're going to make at your job if you give up your car

and have to spend 4 hours a day walking to work.

Why are you so angry about Car Talk? It's a little crazy.

By the way, if you've never heard of investments that depreciate, there are pages and pages of IRS publications explaining how to depreciate a very broad range of items, including cars and trucks. And if you think people buy those things just to spend money, you're living in a "whole nother reality" as Richard Linklater might say.

[BiggJawn]

67. I call those kind of things TOOLS or "Consumables"

I don't care what the IRS calls them. If I buy something, use it for 5-10 years, then it's worn-out and sent to the scrap heap or recycled, that's NOT an "investment" IMO.

And I'm not alone. Where I work, Asset Managment considers tools as "Consumables" also.

".. if you think people buy those things just to spend money..." That's bullshit. You're putting words under my fingers. Why not just admit you chose the wrong word and let it go at that, instead of acting like a ReTHUGlican and trying to twist other's words to fit your mistake?

OK, here's how I see it.:
Investment: something you buy that will increase in value, like gold, stocks, bonds, art, etc.

Tool: something you buy to do a job, whether it's make a cuppa coffe, commute to work, cut the grass, whatever.

Knick-Knack: something you have around the house that has NO value, will never be worth anything, but you like to look at it, like prints of poker-playing dogs, houseplants, Tee-Vee's,Beanie Babies, etc.

And your statement of "Give up your car and see how much you make walking to work" is sort of false, isn't it? I'm not a skilled enough debater to tell you if that's "begging the question" or "Strawman" or whatever, but it's pretty much smoke-screening on your part. Same for your assertation that I'm "angry" about "Car Talk". I'm not "angry" about the show, if you go back and read my other statements, you'll see that I consider it, and all the other so-called "Entertainment" NPR offers pretty inane. Anger has nothing to do with it. You're confusing "Anger" with "passion". I passionately consider stuff like Feldman, Keillor, and Car Talk boring tripe.

Guess that comes from having not experienced the beautiful life of the Buffy and Biff crowd. I'm not angry, I just don't find it entertaining.

what starts to make me angry, though, is when people insist that if I "just took the time to listen" I'd find those shows a laugh-riot. give it up. I like Kung-Fu movies (yeah, I know, how "low-brow" can you get) but that's MY thing. If you don't like the antics of the Wu-Tang Clan, I'm not going to evangelise you about it. Vive La Difference!

[AP]

68. Cars are investments. And unlike everything else in the media, Car Talk

happens to be one of the few places where the goal is to help people save money on their second biggest expense in their life. They don't create desire. They don't create a desire to desire. They help you hold on to your money.

I didn't say "look and listen" and you'll enjoy. I said "look and listen" and you might understand what their project is, especially compared to almost everything else on NPR.

I'm not saying they're perfect. I'm just saying that they're very different compared to everything else.

Fresh Air, for example, is just a commercial for the latest book, TV show or movie being distributed by one of the 7 largest media companies, and rather than promoting independent media productions, Terry is usually trying to take something pop or low brow and she tries to convince people who fancy themselves intellectuals that it's really high brow. I find her disgusting.

Compare that to This American Life. That show tries to tell the stories of people whose stories don't get told in media with audiences of 10,000,000 people. That's good, but they are now trying to tell stories that would make good movies, which isn't good. But it was pretty good for a while.

I think it's pretty obvious which shows on NPR try to get you to spend and which try to help you save, and Car Talk, even though it's not exactly left wing, is doing something that helps people who work for a living, and that is, they try to tell you how not to waste money on your car.

[BiggJawn]

69. What-EVAH...

Go ahead and keep "investing" in automobiles. If it helps you to sleep at night to incorrectly refer to the biggest expense in life as an "investment", who the Eff am *I* to bust your bubble, right?

I'll ponder your words next time I go to the grocery store.

"Hmmmmm....should I INVEST in Gouda, or should I INVEST in a nice Havarti with Cumin this week? Or maybe I should INVEST in a pint of Cottage Cheese? Maybe I should ask the stock boy-uh, I mean 'Investment Advisor' which is better this week?"

[AP]

70. You accuse me of sounding like a RW'er? OK.

I wish I had said your car is the second biggest EXPENSE after your home for most people, not because I was wrong calling it an investment, because it would have meant that you couldn't avoid my argument by hiding behind the skirt of my choice of a single word. (Now, where have I seen that deabte tactic before? Hmm.)

(Psst, a home can be an investment and an expense, just like a care. Usually you'd make money off of that expense, but there's no guarantee. And, with a car, it's an investment you make so that you can maximize the value of your time, and so that you can cast your net wider when you engage in the marketplace for labor.)

[BiggJawn]

71. Oh just stop it, please!

YES! you SHOULD have said EXPENSE, because that is what a car *IS*, dammit!

We're both starting to look pretty stupid here. YOU, for INSISTING on wrongly calling something that has NO appreciation value an "investment", and ME for carrying on this "pig singing lesson"...

I'm through with this. It's a draw, OK? You nuture YOUR misconceptions, and I'll nurture MINE.

[AP]

72. Whatever. I still think that a program like Car Talk is significantly...

...better than a lot of other shit on NPR because it tries to help you save your money.

And if you wanted to have a huge impact on people's bank accounts, it seems like you should start at the top -- at the things they spend the most money on. First, would be your house. Second would be your car.

[Ron Green]

19. And yet the perception across the land is that it's the liberal

alternative. This is very stealthy, this move toward the right. And since it appeals to Fear, the fundamental moving force, it's pretty much unstoppable, IMO.

[redqueen]

21. It is definitely not unstoppable

All that's necessary is to point out to people what they really should be afraid of... nothing that duct tape and plastic sheeting can protect them from -- the selling off of our natural resources, the squandering of the future wealth of the youth of today, and the loss of the very freedoms and rights guaranteed to us in the Bill of Rights and Constitution.

Refocus the source of the fear...

[Ron Green]

25. "Point out to people..."

I'm with you on this, but the chances of pointing it out to enough people are slim, I fear. I don't know how many truly "undecided" citizens each of us runs into in a given week or month, but I don't think it remotely compares with the influence of the media. We will fight the good fight, but it's most likely lost in the end.

[redqueen]

26. Dude, what's with the defeatism?

If that's your attitude, why are you here? Why not just take the blue pill instead?

Distributing flyers is IMO the best way to get the message out to enough people to start to make a difference. Some of those people will become invested enough to become activist themselves, and so on.

Distributing flyers is also the primary method the founding fathers used to communicate their ideas... so I think it's got a pretty good history of being effective.

[Ron Green]

27. I'm not saying I'm not going to fight the good fight...

I'm just not optimistic about the outcome. If you look at the sweep of human history, what's happening in this country is pretty much right on course, right on time. People will never be smart enough in great enough numbers to sustain the kind of Democracy our Founders had in mind. But I'll hand out the flyers, believe me.

[Bush was AWOL]

20. C'Mon, NPR is fair

I listen to them constantly and have very few complaints.

[coalition_unwilling]

29. "NPR is fair"--Highly questionable before the start of the war

Public opinion polling showed before the war began that roughly 50% of Americans felt we should give inspectors more time to complete their inspections.

However, FAIR and other media watchdog groups have pretty conclusively demonstrated that the ratio of pro-war stories to anti-war stories in the run-up to war was decisively slanted in favor of the pro-war position.

Care to explain how that is 'fair'? Saying that all other mass media outlets did the same thing just won't cut it with me or my wallet.

[BiggJawn]

32. I know a couple of guys who say the SAME thing!

About Rush Limbaugh!

do you really LISTEN to it, or is it just background noise?

I ask because I catch myself sometimes going "WTF??? Did I just hear what i thought I heard?"

[Triana]

22. This is why I REFUSE to send the bastards any $$

...they keep begging. I sent them a nastygram back once recently in their damn contribution envelope telling them I am not sending them any $ and telling them why.

If I want bu$hit ass-kissing I'll watch Faux and listen to Limbaugh. I don't. And I'm not going to pay THEM for their right-wing shilling.

[redqueen]

23. I got to the point where I was calling or writing them a few times a week

Listing off all the ways they had shown their fealty to the right... then I figured that if neither the loss of my donations nor the constant badgering I was delivering was making a difference, I would just stop listening.

It's sad that so many still think they're fair... let alone 'liberal'.

[auburngrad82]

24. I've quit listening to NPR

They have recently added Wal-Mart and Fox as major sponsors. Add that to the fact that they depend on a Republican controlled congress for a large part of their funding and you can see why they have begun to swing right. They were one of the few news sources that I actually thought was unbiased. I don't feel that way any more.

[Cha]

48. WTF is npr gonna do when

we get a Democratic controlled congress and a Democratic President?

Fucking whores!

[Logansquare]

28. The fake "man on the street" interviews with Catholics did it for me

A couple of months ago, Barbara Hagerty interviewed mass-goers about whether they would vote for Kerry. Of course, three out of four of the interviewees think he's not a good Catholic, he's pro-abortion, etc.. Later on it came out that they were all employees and writers for either conservative Catholic organizations or the American Enterprise Institute. And one of them had attended a small (30 people) conference with Hagerty, so there's no damn way she couldn't have known who this woman was! I complained to NPR and never heard even a denial from the ombudsman. That pretty much did it for me--they are clearly co-opted.

[AtTheEndOfTheDay]

30. When I heard Cheney's wife

shilling her book for children or something I was gone.

[depakid]

34. National propaganda radio

has become insidious. It's not only their choice of stories and guests, but how they've come to phrase things.

I won't listen to it anymore- it's just another Amerikan misinformation outlet.

[jcappy]

36. "but how they've come to phrase things."

right on. it sickens me.

[depakid]

57. Example:

back when a federal appeals court was considering a BLATANTLY unconstitutional portion of the so called "patriot" act, the NPR announcers shameless whored for Ashcroft- had guests on that lied through their teeth about the what the law was, and then when the REPUBLICAN judge ruled for Ashcroft, their commentators declared it a great victory in the war on terror... when of course it was no such thing- if anything it was a stunning defeat for civil liberties (i.e. our freedom). Unfreakin believable.

I never listen to those bastards- and they'll never get another dime from me. EVER. Fuck 'em. I hope they go off the air.

[jcappy]

35. "their fealty to the right"

you got it.

before it was just a rather liberal (if dispassionate) station catering to mid to upper-mid class whites. you know, the bourgeoisie. always found it a hard go in comparison with Pacifica or Democracy Now

[SoCalDemocrat]

37. Bush

I've read AP articles that said the Bush administration has been pressuring NPR, threatening to cut funding, and also seeding it with more right leaning members. They've beefed up the board with right leaning pundits as a start.

A google search should unearth the supporting documents that the right is moving against NPR.

[Name removed]

40. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[stickdog]

44. Listen for the daily campaign speech segments.

Bush - miked well, ample crowd applause in background
Kerry - miked too loud and distorted, applause and cheers can be barely heard

[sendero]

50. You noticed that too?

They use these sorts of techniques ALL THE TIME. I'm afraid that many of the people here who claim they are not pushing for Bush* are not noticing the subtle little things they do EVERY SINGLE SEGMENT.

I heard that one a couple days ago. They had all this crowd noise when Bush was talking and the crowd sounded like it was 3 miles away when Kerry spoke. Just an accident of mic placement? I doubt it.

And as another said, they will play Bush* spouting his nonsense and they tell us a 4 word synopsis of what Kerry said rather than actually playing a sound clip.

When discussing anything remotely controversial against Bush*, they will make sure the "conspiracy theory" idea is mentioned several times.

I don't pretend to know just exactly what is going on at NPR. I just hear the result. I used to listen to the entire Morning Edition almost every day. Now I hear 10 minutes or so and even in that short time I hear blatant cheerleading for Bush*.

If you are still sending your money to these clowns, why don't you just send it to the RNC and cut out the middleman?

[AlFrankenFan]

45. NPR right-wing?!

I must've not been listening for a long time cause last time I checked they were pretty damned neutral, if not left-wing.

[Neelie]

51. Air America Rocks!

:hi: This my very first message. Love lurking but got brave enough to jump in.

The people I know who listen to NPR all day are still in the fear mode about the election. Air America at least has hosts that express healthy anger which feels real to me. This current administration and all their blatant lies makes me angry and it feel important to express this anger (creatively) or someone else who can speak for me.

[Strelnikov_]

61. Great First Post, And Welcome To DU <nt>

[southlandshari]

53. Turn that dial to Tom Joyner

If you live in an area where you can pick up the Tom Joyner Morning Show, I highly recommend it as an alternative to most any other drive time news program in the morning.

It is a heck of a lot more fun, and significantly more insightful than competitors in its time slot, even "serious" programs like Morning Edition.

John Kerry was scheduled to be on the show this morning (I was at work before he came on - I hope he really was interviewed). The list of questions Tavis Smiley gave to Tom to add to his own prior to Kerry's segment was OUTSTANDING. Razor sharp at times, and side-splittingly funny at others.

Give it a try.

[southlandshari]

55. I should add that

Tavis Smiley, a major part of the TJMS, has his own show on...NPR! It airs in the evenings here.

I don't mean to indict all of NPR with my comments on this thread. I've just been saddened by what I see as a loss of objectivity in the past two years or so.

[Strelnikov_]

54. My NPR "Dear John" Letter

Sent to the local NPR affiliate a week and a half ago.

....

I am writing to express my disgust with the rightward shift of your station, and NPR, over the last year. It appears to me that you have fallen into the "earth is flat, opinions differ" approach to GOP/right-wing journalism. I have heard many comments over the last year that called into question the integrity of your staff, but on today’s ‘Talk of Iowa’, specifically, the ‘Dr. Politics’ show; my ‘line in the sand’ was finally crossed.

On last weeks segment, K. Perkins and Dr. Schmidt allowed an obviously far right individual to rant on for what seemed like 10 min. During this tirade, near the end, the right-wing smear that Sen. Max Cleland was somehow not deserving of ‘decorated veteran’ status because his injuries were the result of an accident (a smear first put forth by Ann Coulter) was presented. The hosts of the program did not intercede at any point during this tirade. Actually, this individual went further than Ms. Coulter in claiming that Sen. Cleland was responsible for killing two other soldiers and blowing up a helicopter in the accident.

Now, on this week’s program, a caller expressed concern that one of the hosts should have questioned the individual denigrating Sen. Cleland regarding the factual basis of the statements. To this, Dr. Schmidt replied that this is an opinion show, and that the caller is responsible for the accuracy of their statements.

My experience with your station, and these two individuals in particular, is that anything stated by the right leaning is taken at face value, while the veracity of any statements by anyone left leaning is called into question. And when I say left leaning, I mean anyone not presenting a party line GOP/right-wing position.

Examples? Well, here is one.

On the June 29th, 2004 ‘Talk of Iowa’ program, with K. Perkins and a stand-in for Dr. Schmidt, the following transpired.

The movie Fahrenheit 9/11 was being discussed. Some (partial) quotes from the above commentators are as follows:

"I would compare it to Oliver Stone's film JFK . . . "

"I haven't seen the film, but the art of propaganda . . ."

A number of people called in supporting the film, noting that it is being misrepresented by the mainstream media, that it is not comparable to "JFK", that it is eye-opening, etc.

After a number of these calls where Ms. Perkins expressed her skepticism with the caller’s position, she stated, "we are journalists, and are supposed to be skeptical."

Later in this program a caller noted that fourteen massive bases are being built in Iraq by the U.S. for permanent basing of U.S. Forces. At this, Ms. Perkins grilled the caller as to the source of this information, and then pontificated again on how she is a journalist and must have sources for information. That is, of course, unless the information supports the GOP/right-wing position.

(By the way, the information on the bases is out there, the same way that it was clear in early summer of 2002 that we were invading Iraq. But if you are looking for a Washington Post article on them, forget it. But I guess since you are modern journalists, you need to wait until there is an ‘investigative’ press release before you report.)

And I am not even going to mention where Dr. Schmidt today noted that the Kerry daughters were booed at the MTV awards, but did not mention that the Bush daughters were also booed. Nor the recent FAIR study documenting NPR's preference for GOP/right-wing leaning guests.

The above incidents are simply the more egregious examples of GOP/right-wing bias that I remember. Like all marriages that end in divorce, the partners gradually grow apart, as result of the cumulative effect of differences, as we obviously have done.

I am a long time contributor to NPR in the various communities I have lived in over the years. I did not pledge the last drive due to my perception of your rightward shift. Basically, I was monitoring to see if this was a short-term aberration.

As of today, I am done with you, and NPR. I request that you remove my name for your membership rolls, and cease any future mailings from your organization, as I have no interest in associating myself with a Fox News knock off. Lets just see how many member contributions you can garner from the GOP/right-wing.

“If you give the people the choice of a Republican and a Republican, they will choose the Republican every time”.

[hippiegranny]

56. I guess they won't care

but I stopped donating. They don't need us anymore anyway, now that they've been bought and paid for by Republican tools.

[leesa]

63. Stop donating and make certain they know WHY.

[greekspeak]

74. I had NPR on this evening and heard a big coverup for what Cheney said

Remember Cheney? You know the one who used fear to exploit Americans into voting for BushCo last week, by guarenteeing a terrorist attack under kerry and gaurenteeing no attacks under Bush/Cheney? This statement was softened to suggest that Cheney implied that a Kerry presidency might result in some sort of attack. If I wanted this kind of spin, I would watch FAUX. NPR...shape up or go Cheney yourself.