NYT: A Battle Over Programming at NPR (execs at odds w/ Bush appointees)

[DeepModem Mom]

A Battle Over Programming at National Public Radio
By STEPHEN LABATON
Published: May 16, 2005


WASHINGTON, May 15 - Executives at National Public Radio are increasingly at odds with the Bush appointees who lead the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

In one of several points of conflict in recent months, the chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which allocates federal funds for public radio and television, is considering a plan to monitor Middle East coverage on NPR news programs for evidence of bias, a corporation spokesman said on Friday.

The corporation's board has told its staff that it should consider redirecting money away from national newscasts and toward music programs produced by NPR stations.

Top officials at NPR and member stations are upset as well about the corporation's decision to appoint two ombudsmen to judge the content of programs for balance. And managers of public radio stations criticized the corporation in a resolution offered at their annual meeting two weeks ago urging it not to interfere in NPR editorial decisions.

The corporation's chairman, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, has also blocked NPR from broadcasting its programs on a station in Berlin owned by the United States government....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/16/business/media/16radio.html

[jasmeel]

1. We're gettin' it from all sides- PBS also. n/t

[hector459]

44. I'm sorry but truth is not "balanced" and neither are "lies."

If NPR is programming the "truth" is does not need to be balanced out with administration "lies."

[dansolo]

2. Now they want the fairness doctrine??

I think that the Democrats should jump on this and bring up the reintroduction of the fairness doctrine on all public airwaves.

[Mountainman]

4. When conservatives monitor a radio station it isn't because they want

fairness.

[Mountainman]

3. Every morning going to work I turn on NPR and every morning they

have a sound bite of Bush making speak somewhere. It doesn't matter what else is going on in the world, they have to have Bush's voice on every half hour. Sometimes along with Bush we get some anti Dem swill from Kookie Roberts followed by a story of a poor peasant in India or Mexico. Never any stories about some middle class jerk like me who goes to work every day to pay bills and hoping something good will come down from Washington and not something to take my future away.

[Nancy Waterman]

5. I listen to Air America whenever possible

Occasionally I go to NPR during commercials. When will we get a real TV news station that will balance Fox News? This recent buried-memogate had me really angry and pushed me over the edge with the media. It is time for taargeted boycotts.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

7. The problem I have with Air America is that it is

still commercial.

I don't like being shouted at for any product, I could not care less if it is green or black for the world.

[intheflow]

8. I'm so with you, WJMS.

Air America is not the reasoned voice that NPR can be/has been. And my IQ goes down two points every commerical they air. x(

[Ernesto]

28. I can only suggest that YOU support AAR advertisers.....

Doesn't this make sense?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

33. yes, I understand that concept, but just replacing

commercial masters does nothing to tame the beast.

See my point?

[Ernesto]

40. Absolutely........ n-t

[The_Casual_Observer]

17. It's like reading Vanity Fair. The audience NPR is trying to reach

Either lives on a trust fund, has a GS-15+ level job, is a lawyer living in Manhattan or some kind of graphic artist. They couldn't care less about salaried 8-5 people, since nobody in the the whole enterprise has ANY experience with that kind of "boring and mundane" "lifestyle".

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

19. I have not one of those things, that is pretty cruel

to the American people, don't you think?

[struggle4progress]

22. Hmm ... Where did this collection of soundbites come from?

[The_Casual_Observer]

24. Off the top of my stupid head where else?

Inspired by a long painful listen to it this morning.

[struggle4progress]

37. We are hearing some rightwing propaganda on NPR nowadays.

I suppose my natural reaction isn't "Fug NPR" but "How can we get a good fight started over this?"

[warrens]

34. I just sent them a suggestion that should drive those wingnuts crazy

You want fair? OK, every time that fucker Smirk is on the news, Barney Frank gets exactly as much time to blast him. I think that would be very entertaining. Then when they have a serious academic on talking about the mideast, they can let Jonah the Fatboy or Mann Coulter on to rebut and get cut to shreds by someone who knows something about the subject, a la Juan Cole's smackdown of Jonah.

[yorkiemommie1]

35. i noticed that too

such obvious pandering. i never listen any more.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

6. Yeah, they should monitor NPR, they would find out

those whores are right up their alley these days.

The days of NPR as an alternative news source are mostly gone. They just don't have "commercials" yeah, right.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

11. National Republican Radio--think they've got us fooled for some reason

Ever noticed, a few years ago, the presentation format changed?
Notice next time you listen--

They'll present a controversial issue-
-They will ACT liike they are going to examine BOTH sides of the issue--

First the overview --for ex: something like "election fraud-is it possible?"-
-now we hear from those who think there may be a probloem-
--NEXT we hear from an "expert" who think there is NO problem,
then we hear from another "expert who feels there is no problem,
then it's back for a "short" rebuttal by those who think there IS a problem-
-Back to the "there is no problem" folks" to explain even further why there is no problem--

then it's "I guess that's all the time we have folks",--
-I guess we all truly THOUGHT there may have been a problem,
but now we can all see that the allegations must have been overblown by extreme conspiracy theorists

--Thanks for joining us,
your host, ,J. P. Republikkkan( "acting" like a dem again)... NPR, National Republikan Radio-
*******************
so now we can go home and all shut up about it already
might I add-
Friends don't let friends drive while listening to NPR--(likely to wreck the car)

[realcountrymusic]

15. i'm with you

I find NPR intolerable unless they are bringing me the BBC. I'll sit through 20 baldness and liberal dating commercials to hear Randi Rhodes speak truth to power. I haven't heard one spineless wonder on NPR do that in 5 years at least.

Face it, public broadcasting is dead. Time to fight another battle.

RCM

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

20. Never listened to Pacifica, I guess?

Democracy Now blows anything on Air America out of the water.

[realcountrymusic]

31. listen to it a lot

Sometimes it heads off into fantasy land, and I could do without some of the more extremist stuff I hear there, but basically I agree it's good radio and good journalism and kicks NPR's ass.


rcm

[PennyLane]

9. Eventually.........

......we're going to have to broadcast out of someone's garage and then risk being caught. I see people publishing papers in their basements just to get unbiased new stories. If this is a nightmare, somebody please wake me.:scared:

[intheflow]

10. NPR officials' and member stations' worst nightmare finally come true.

But maybe this indicates that they're growing a backbone. Here's hoping, anyway!

[DeepModem Mom]

12. That's the only bright spot in this story --

that the execs are talking, and we are hearing about it.

[howmad1]

32. Not another dime

For years, I've been a supporter of my local NPR station here in Phoenix. I recently phoned them to advise that until this nutjob Tomlinson goes, I will not send another dime. Boy, did that shake em up. I suggest everybody let their local NPR affiliate know you appreciate their effort but not another dime until Tomlinson goes.

[DeepModem Mom]

39. Good move, howmad1 -- and welcome to DU!

[Toots]

13. GOPBS

:shrug: read it Go PBS or GOP BS but it is still GOPBS

[ckramer]

14. I don't listen to NPR anymore

Now I turn to classic music.

[Ian David]

16. I think in the old Soviet Union, this was called a "Political Officer"

Political commissar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A political commissar is an officer appointed by a communist party to oversee a unit of the military. They were first used in the Red Army by Leon Trotsky, who faced the task of integrating Czarist officers and troops into the new Red Army, while ensuring their loyalty. The political commissars were appointed by the Communist Party to military units for the purpose of direct political propaganda, and to ensure that Party decisions were implemented. In this system, each unit had a political officer who was not responsible to the normal military chain of command, but instead answered to a separate chain of command within the Communist Party. The purpose of such a system is to ensure the loyalty of army commanders, and to prevent a possible coup d'etat. The political commissar had the authority to override any decision of the military officers, and to remove them from command if necessary. Therefore, sometimes the commissar usurped the functions of a regular military commander, but almost always that wasn't necessary — the mere presence of a commissar usually meant that military commanders would follow their directives, and the day-to-day duties of the political commissar generally involved only propaganda work and boosting the morale of the troops.

After 1942, the political officials in the army were no longer called commissars, their title becoming politruk (политру́к), an abbreviation for "political leader" and later zampolit, an abbreviation for "заместитель командира по политработе", "deputy of the commander in political works", the change reflecting the level of the authority: zampolit had no rights to interfere with operative orders of a commander. The position was refromed after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Now it is called "Заместитель командира по воспитательной работе", "deputy of the commander in the educational works", but is still referred to as zampolit quite often.

During the Russian Civil War, Joseph Stalin was the political commissar of the Western Front against the White Army forces of Baron Wrangel.

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_officer

[Hamlette]

18. not one more dime

we have contributed to NPR and PBS all our lives. No more. PBS called me a couple of weeks ago to renew my "membership". I told them they would never get another dime out of me as long as Tomlinson is there. They got their head and their right wing programing so let the GOP pay for it.

The problem isn't left or right, it's telling me the facts without screaming or calling "the other side" names. Is that too much to ask for? If you heard Bill Moyers recently, the first thing they went after was him. Now he's gone and they want MORE. They don't want anyone to broadcast the facts. They want everyone to broadcast the lies. Think how awful this would be without the internet!

[yorkiemommie1]

36. when i complained PBS

here in SoCal told framed it like Bill Moyers wanted to retire. I knew better.

[AngryWhiteLiberal]

21. FASCISM...pure and simple. Welcome to Hell, folks.

We are witness to the systematic destruction of the free press in America...which is the last remaining obstacle to the Repuke vision of a christofascist empire.

Generally, I'm a pascifist...but maybe it's time to exercise my right to "keep and bear arms." Lord knows, that will be next on the list of rights to dismantle.

JB

[demo dutch]

27. Don't worry that will never happen, the righties love their guns!!

They have been wanting to do away with PBS for a while, and this is how they're going to try it!!!

[ElectroPrincess]

23. Rove, Murdoch & Company own every other major news outlet ...

why not NPR too?

[mtnester]

25. Fascist, Communistic, Dictatorship governments do this...

Not a free society! Say it out loud dammit!

The word is CENSORSHIP
It is called MEDIA CONTROL
It is CONTROLLED INFORMATION

I figure the so called press has about 6 months left to it, or less, to live, unless it snaps out of it.

Or maybe I am wrong and it is too late already.God help us all...first Dan Rather and CBS, now Newsweek....so we see the pattern yet, or is the deer in headlight look still the soup du jour?

[demo dutch]

29. The only way out is that PBS will have to solely reply on donations

and that will not sustain the organization. They have been wanting to kill it for a while, now it looks like they're going to succeed!

I am SOOOOOOO sick of it all!!

[killbotfactory]

26. With all the numerous complaints of Bias repeated by the right wing

Surely they should have some examples ready, right?

right?

...

why am I only hearing crickets?

[splat@14]

30. Where the hell is this goin..Hannity Hour after All Things Considered? n/t

[sendero]

38. Right before the Iraq war started in earnest..

... I was listening to NPR as I had for 17 years.

They ran an "interview" with Colin Powell. He lied his ass off, made all kinds of ridiculous assertions that have turned out to be dead wrong, and there was not one fucking word taking him to task.

Right then and there I had an epiphany. I'd been like a frog in a pot of water slowly coming to a boil. I hadn't noticed just how awful NPR news had become, it was so gradual.

Between the endless lies from numerous Bush** administration officials, uttered with virtually no dissent or rebuttal, to the continual spots from the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, The CATO Institute, and the National Review - I realized that NPR was over, co-opted, sold out.

I stopped giving them money on that day, and I doubt they will ever be worthy of a donation again, although I will admit that have pulled back to the center (from the right) a bit.

I really don't give a shit if they fold tomorrow. I'd rather have nothing than have a news outlet everyone believes is "liberal" that is anything but.

[geckosfeet]

41. I gave up on NPR when

I had to listen to a piece on "The Whizinator" when that very day MP Galloway had lambasted a senate subcommittee.

Who made the decision to run that absurd and useless story?

[Clovis Sangrail]

42. How does NPR work?

I'm confused, and hoping someone here can help shed some light on this for me.

From the article:
-----
NPR recently received a huge bequest from the estate of Joan B. Kroc, the widow of the founder of McDonald's, and it gets only about 1 percent of its overall funds directly from the corporation. But its member stations are far more reliant on the corporation's money...
-----

It sounds like NPR is a private entities that produces content and then sells that content to "member stations", and that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting provides funds for individual stations that subscribe to content.

So how does CPB have control of content of NPR programming?
(beyond the control any customer has over a provdier)

Are "member supported" radio stations that play NPR affected by the CPB's actions?

[AP]

43. They have control by way of the affiliates, I'm guessing.

If CPB doesn't like NPR's programming, they will not give grants to the local stations so that they can buy NPR's programming.

Incidentally, I understand that the largest NPR affiliates pay up to 40,000 bucks a week for the typical slate of NPR shows (ME, ATC, Terry Gross, etc.). (This American Life and the new Tavis Smiley shows are Public Radio International shows, I believe.)

I have no idea how much of that money typically comes from CPB and how much comes from donors, but you can imagine how CPB can use those grants to influence NPR. Furthermore, if the grants are show-specific, they could really make it hard to pick up or continue shows that really challenge people to think differently.