In this new episode of FAIR TV: The media’s Paul Ryan crush, fact checking failure at PBS and a look at the curious ethics at NPR.
Peter Hart
Peter Hart was the activist director of FAIR for 15 years, as well as the co-host of FAIR's radio show CounterSpin. He is now the senior field communications officer for Food & Water Watch.
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Comments
I like what you had to say, but you might want to invest in a teleprompter.
NPR sold out long ago to Wall ST. Adam Davidson and Planet money are just the latest stitches in that pattern. THis is not the NPR I came to know and love in the 70s as an alternative to corporate commercial media. I can’t understand why the GOP wants to cut its funding. We should all send NPR checks for $00.00 accompanied by an explanatory letter.
Peter doesn’t need a telelprompter. he sounds good.
Is this the same NPR, better known as National Pharma Radio,……….Yep!
Proudly giving no dollars to NPR since 2004.
@Dana GOP wants to cut funding so that corporations “foot” the bill and Steven skip keeps saying whatever they want him to say. Don’t bite the hand that feeds one…
Quit listening to NPR over 10 years ago. Our “local” station stopped doing local programing. The news got replaced with actors and music reviews and the so-called reporters sounded just like the corporate media. Who needs them. Let the Republicons get rid of them. Who cares?!?
Must agree that NPR is trending the way of most corporate owned media. Perhaps should be renamed National Corporate Radio. We recently stopped supporting it. There are still a few programs to garner bits and pieces of info from, but by and large it has been sucked into the black hole of corporate and “other” manipulation.
Complaining to the Ombudsman is great, but unless the people who work at NPR, writers and reporters, who are fully aware of the sell-out, stand up and say no -or better yet, walk out in protest- things aren’t going to change there very fast. They should occupy NPR.
Excellent short report, Peter. You crammed a lot about a lot into 5 minutes. Especially enjoyed your comments on NPR hypocrisy. Muckraking at its best!
Really? In my opinion, NPR has some of the most intelligent, balanced, and engaging reporting out there. I listen to a variety of programming on NPR and, even if I don’t always agree with every opinion, I am consistently educated, challenged, and engaged. It’s so exhausting listening to the extreme left and extreme right taking up all of the talking points with their small minded bickering. Most of us are just trying to get by, take care of our families and friends and merely survive. Sorry lefties who are thrashing on this blog (and I consider myself pretty liberal), you are just as small minded as those you fight against. You can’t even fathom the idea that other people might have different opinions based on how and where they were raised, etc. If you spent more time trying to educate people than talking down to them by asserting your superiority, maybe you could really make a change. It’s so tiring listening to the entitled on both sides divide this country in two. If you really want to make a difference quit tearing down the people that are out there working their asses off every day while you sit around and ponder how all of this effects you while you drink you double soy lattes or fight for your rights to carry concealed weapons. You are no longer part of the conversation.
I have to agree that the failure of NPR moderators to point all inconsistancies and misleading statement by both sides of a discussion misleads the audience. I expect that they believe their role is to present both sides of any argument and then let the audience decide without taking sides, no matter how wrong one side is. This does not help the audience to arrive at rational decisions.
Love NPR, but they’re not perfect.
What I would like to listen to is radio that considers balance and fairness to be a matter of presenting ther facts (truth) and not just ther lies told by both sides. I listen to NP daily and I agree with this article. It has becvopme much more like corporate media.
Paul Ryan is smarter without a teleprompter than the TOTUS (Teleprompter of the United States) himself – even (especially) when it gets to use O’Bama as a dummy.
Kicking a Boomer off the national stage and replacing him with a Generation Xer will be a pleasure. Never has a generation (boom boom bomb) dominated the national consciousness so long, and so less deservedly than the Baby Boomers. If they can’t yet die (which would solve so many problems!) then they should at least shut the fuck up and go away.
Wankers, the lot of them.
Better program than last week. Room for improvement visually.
Dana:
He keeps looking down at his notes, it would look better if he didn’t do that. I’m not complaining about the content.
Amen. Their shows are pap; very little of substance. Did you know that the City of Chicago council passed a non-binding resolution to overturn Citizens United and place a question on the ballot asking voters a question as to whether corporations are people, should be afforded the same rights, and whether we should have election reform? No reporting on NPR or any other corporate-owned station.
Good job! How often do you do this? I’m going to subscribe via RSS.
I am becoming very disenchanted with both NPR and PBS/ They ARE selling out. They are supposed to do investigative reporting and give sources for the truth. The lies coming out are not being refuted and carefully reported. “for example” exactly what was said about the welfare business. The govt. wants to allow folks who need welfare to get more college or training or retraining so as to become independent. But need the welfare while they are relearning. This is NOT just sending out checks. They are being monitored and followed as they begin to adapt to a new and difficult work environment. Those factory jobs that paid well are gone. If they must simply keep job hunting for their welfare or take anything that pays something – they can never truly become independent workers. No one can live on $8.00 or so an hour – usually part time with no benefits – then rush to an emergency room if they get sick. Taxpayers will pay more for their own occasional use of an emergency room. These more complex answers need careful explanations – not just a 2 minute sound bite that is completely misleading. I will be informing both PBS and NPR that I will no longer be sending my hundred dollar or more to them until I hear otherwise from places like FAIR and AlterNet.com.
A few years ago the Maryland PBS station refused to include in their gubernatorial debate candidates from 3rd parties. The election was very close and their presence could have made a difference, as one local station remarked about the Green Party candidate, Eddie Boyd.
All of you who continue to demean NPR are playing right into the hands of those who wish to destroy public media. I’m referring, of course, to the defunders in Congress who care more about raising money to be re-elected than to represent the people who elected them in a fair and unbiased way. Studies show that those who listen to NPR are better and more fairly informed than those who don’t. We need to reinstate govt. funding, not cheat the “liberal” media by forcing people to get their news from the faux media. The success of Fox and friends is forcing, by their own gutlessness, every network to emulate them. Real news doesn’t exist. We’re being co-opted by right wing ideologues who want a “Christian” (a dubious description at best) nation.
At a time of such despair, it is heartening to read some (but certainly not all) of the comments here. It is good to know others can see what NPR and PBS have become. I would only add that the wholesale sellout of the American news media, including the supposedly non-commercial segment, could not have come at a worse time.
The impact of global warming is already vastly more catastrophic that the media report, and yet several major columnists with no credentials whatever continue to deny its existence, and their frequent appearances on broadcast media panels continue to be unchallenged by equally unqualified moderators.
American’s firearm obsession has created chaos in our streets, yet most of our elected and aspiring politicians have absolutely nothing to say about it.
Wall Street criminals not only remain unindicted, they continue to rake in billions from an increasingly manipulated stock market that individual investors have begun to abandon for that precise reason.
IRA and 401(k) pensions, most of them vastly overpriced by hidden fees, are typically limited to specific, mediocre mutual funds their sponsors own or control.
Despite rarely cited polls indicating that a solid majority of Americans favor single-payer health care, the current Presidential candidates of both major parties favor for-profit plans.
Unlike the previous five generations, typical middle-class Americans can no longer afford to buy a home during their family-formation years. Their inability to accumulate sound assets combined with their typical lack of any sort of defined benefit pension plan is leading them to severe hardship in later life — and yet the Republican Party’s current candidates for public office would also eliminate their Social Security and their Medicare.
In lieu of a progressive tax system enabling the rich to help the poor, we now have extremely regressive taxes that allow the richest among us to pay little – or no – taxes, and yet many of our current Republican candidates for public office want to further lower taxes on the rich.
It now seems unlikely that the American news media will ever again face up to their responsibilities in what used to be a democracy but is now a plutocracy. Perhaps when our columnists and discussion moderators have to step over dead bodies on their way to work?
Don’t count on it.
Im not a big NPR listener so….And Peter that was a pretty good job there. But I want to home in on the numbers game that is just beginning concerning Paul Ryan.I am really jazzed over the fact that this sight and many news sources are giving Ryan so much respect.You would think he will be the next president.Every once in a while the left falls and tries to play the race card(Biden),or the gay card(chick- fil-a),or the rich thief card(Mitts taxes).Lots of dirty Chicago style politics,the usual Dem bag of tricks.Now maybe I may be being too hopeful ….but when I hear people wanting to debate Mitt and Ryan on their ideas Im tickled pink.It means picking Ryan is working.Changing the template to substanitive discussions.Looking at Obamas record.Looking at where he will take the country, and where Mitt and Paul will.This is exactly what we in the tea party and the conservative wing want.THIS is our game plan.To openly debate the different philosophies.To crunch the numbers.America needs this debate.They want this debate.The sooner we get past nonesnse the better
NPR won’t get my money.
Not a penny!
Does bcc stand for Before Civil Conversation? I take deep offense to his/her comments in regard to the boomer generation. The comments contribute nothing to the dialogue. bcc should take a vacation before the summer ends. Might do wonders.
A pity NPR sold out to corporate America. Now they’ve just become another FAUX News radio media conglomerate. What a shame America has nothing left to believe in. I’ve cut my funding.
bcc: “Paul Ryan is smarter without a teleprompter than the TOTUS (Teleprompter of the United States)…”
First, there is nothing wrong with using a teleprompter. All presidents and many other respected people have used them since they were first available. Even the best speakers can’t be expected to memorize everything they want to say, or to be able to speak off the cuff in front of millions of people without an aid of some kind. This is a totally bogus criticism that tea baggers and other Republicans use against Obama, because they’ll use ANYthing they can against him, including lying, bullying, and ridicule.
“Kicking a Boomer off the national stage and replacing him with a Generation Xer will be a pleasure… If they can’t yet die (which would solve so many problems!) then they should at least shut the fuck up and go away.”
As I said, BULLIES…
Boomers are not alone responsible for the state of our nation. People older than boomers, as well as X- and Y-ers have had a hand in bringing us to where we are. There are plenty of X- and Y-ers on Wall Street, for example, who are responsible for much of our national economic situation. And all ages of adults are represented in the US Senate and House, and in the Bush administration which is the group MOST responsible for the current state of The Union. The NUMBER of boomers is going to be a problem for the nation as we get older (a problem that has solutions), but we are not responsible for bringing ourselves into the world. What would you have us do? Kill ourselves?
Jeff: “Really? In my opinion, NPR has some of the most intelligent, balanced, and engaging reporting out there.”
NPR DOES have some of the best programming “out there.” That doesn’t mean that they aren’t also playing the false equivalence game, or cow-towing to their corporate sponsors. I pay pretty close attention to All Things Considered and Morning Edition, and I consistently hear them bending over backwards to appease conservatives and I hear them giving conservatives more airtime than progressives. FAIR and others have done serious research on NPR’s and PBS’s news programming and have found that the conservative point of view is represented more than the liberal pov. I frequently hear an interview with a conservative spouting their typical spin and lies, and then absolutely no analysis, and nobody doing fact-checking, and nobody telling the progressive side of the story. I almost NEVER hear the opposite.
“It’s so exhausting listening to the extreme left and extreme right taking up all of the talking points with their small minded bickering. Most of us are just trying to get by, take care of our families and friends and merely survive. Sorry lefties who are thrashing on this blog (and I consider myself pretty liberal), you are just as small minded as those you fight against…”
What you see here on this blog is NOT small-minded, except for a few random voices. It is, on the contrary, some of the broader thinking seen on the internet and other media outlets, and it is not generally extreme. Just because you don’t like what we’re saying doesn’t mean it’s small-minded or extreme.
And I don’t believe you’re “pretty liberal.” The things you say here are what Republicans say. In fact, I’ve encountered many people on blogs and other places where conservatives leave comments who make this claim, or a similar one: that they used to be liberal, but now they’re conservative. I see that so often that I have to be suspicious of it. It’s like some badge of honor or something that is supposed to give them some credibility that they might not otherwise display.
“You can’t even fathom the idea that other people might have different opinions … asserting your superiority … It’s so tiring listening to the entitled on both sides divide this country in two… quit tearing down the people that are out there working their asses off every day while you sit around and ponder how all of this effects you while you drink you double soy lattes…”
Where do you get the idea that anyone here is tearing down anyone? I don’t see that at all. And we are all “working our asses off.” I think I’m pretty safe in guessing that there are very few people producing or otherwise participating in this forum who can just “sit around” drinking lattes. Also, a core principle of progressive/liberal thinking is a concern for others: we are not just pondering “how all this affects” just us. That’s what Republicans do.
Is it too late for a critique of FAIR on air? I agree with hardindr that a teleprompter would help, and by now I would have hoped that the techie crowd could somehow have figured out that putting the play arrow dead center of video presentations is not a good idea. Talking heads without mouths? Yuck.
Just a thought for all you who are so into teleprompters: Where would Reagan have been without one?
And Michael – Yes, America needs a debate on a lot of issues. However, it will be very, very difficult with a guy who continues to stonewall and smile. Being coy, when asked what book he was reading, he just smiled.
Elizabeth
Im not sure what you are referring to(smiling….)As far as the teleprompter ,there is nothing wrong with using one.The problem we on the right have is that when Obama or Biden don’t use one- they revert to the people we have said they were all along.Then they say they misspoke .Or didn’t mean it that way.Over and over we see this happen.
As far as Ryan.Well the left can’t say he or Mitt are dunces.Pretty damn smart,the both of them.I think they rob the left of its usual game of denounce…..belittle….attack and ignore.One huge smokescreen devoid of issues.This time is shaping up differently.The right is coming down the path like a run away train.They are gonna be heard.And they are gonna nail jello to the tree.By that I mean they don’t want to hear a lot of nonsense from Biden and BAM.They are gonna slap them around until they ante up to their record.THEN……we can talk about plans for the future.And who’s is better.
Both NPR and PBS long ago sold old to big business and right-wing concerns. In addition their ‘arts’ programming is so lilywhite and whitebread, I’m amazed when (unapproved) blacks and other minorities show up. I would never give any money to those upper-class right-wing assholes under any circumstances. And, you know what, I FULLY SUPPORT ending funding to the extreme sham that is PBS and NPR. They do NOT serve the public under any definition at all.
And to Jamie H…
Before you accuse me of being a right-winger or Republican, I am neither – I am a progressive and an independent, and therefore can think for myself and not be a unthinking tool of hyrpocritical PBS/NPR supporters, one of whom you apparently are…
Addendum:
That last section should have been addressed to Jamie H. AND the John (s)he was replying to…
jeeez…
make that Jeff!
Once NPR had One Dollar of private corporate funding it became corporatized. It can no more be Partly Public than a woman can be partly pregnant.
One drop of (corporate) oil into the clear water of public broadcasting makes it not water, but contaminated, unpotable water.
It’s Fox News, for those beyond highschool…who are baited in by the “nice” Garrison Kiellor, Click and Clack, Gross Terry (just doing hour long ads for commercial entertainment biz, usually), Ira Glass, and etc. Heck, some stations even play classical music…as the Reich did on the train platforms en route to Auschwitz.
Next newscast we hear that Julian Assange is “holed up” (like Saddam Hussein, or Jesse James gang, or Ted Kazinski, or whatnot) in the Ecuadoran embassy….just as is said by AP and the NY Times.
Thing is….where’s the protests, or Occupations, in front of NPR affiliates to embarrass them about their pretend “public” packaging? As long as people think of it as “better” than the outright commercial outlets, the longer people will swallow their PR.
And, has anyone thought of charging NPR and affiliates with Mail Fraud for any mailed money solicitations on the grounds that they are public? See “partly public” line above.
DDB9000: “unthinking tool of hyrpocritical PBS/NPR supporters, one of whom you apparently are…?
I don’t know where you get that I’m a supporter of “PBS/NPR” after I criticized them above. And I also don’t know where you get it that I’m an “unthinking tool.” You certainly make a lot of assumptions and see things that aren’t in evidence. Like that there is only “lily-white” arts programming on NPR and PBS. That is SO not true. They do all kinds of stuff that is non-caucasian. Sometimes it seems that they’re bending over backwards to do that almost as much as they’re bending over for conservatives.
Jonik: Just because some people think public broadcasting is better than the rest of the mainstream media doesn’t mean that they “swallow” anything they offer, especially their PR. And Terry Gross is one of the best “things” about NPR. She spotlights some more obscure artists sometimes.
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