NPR - stuffy or sexy?

as I've said before, most of WNYC's original talk programming (which doesn't include Terri Gross) is superfluous and responsible for largely eliminating NY's only non-Top 100 classical music programming. I like Marketplace, but don't see anything special about it. and while ME and ATC have seen better days, 'destroy'ing Daniel Schorr is heresy, sorry.

What about WKCR?

What about WKCR?

it's the best radio station in NY, probably, but a mixed-format one. weekday morning classical and weekday late afternoon new music isn't nothing, but it does not a 'classical music station' make.

And sorry, but calling Brian Lehrer and Leonard Lopate "superfluous" -- that's heresy.

it's really not

http://www.wnyc.com/shows/bl/archive.html?month=200504

Nor do these:

http://www.wnyc.com/shows/lopate/archive.html?month=200504

I was surprised to hear that Nina Totenberg has that much influence.

-- gabbneb (gabbne...), May 6th, 2005.

Um, so then you're arguing that NPR should be for people who don't have a classical library? I don't follow.

Um, so then you're arguing that NPR should be for people who don't have a classical library? I don't follow.

no, because it played stuff that went beyond the limits of most libraries. the same analogy doesn't apply to WNYC talk shows vs. the New York Times.

-- gabbneb (gabbne...), May 6th, 2005.

But it probably would if it had bumpers. That doesn't strike me as a very significant criticism though.

-- gabbneb (gabbne...), May 6th, 2005.

But that's just it, NPR fills a niche that the rest of radio does not. And in many situations (driving, working, etc.) radio is the only media you can take in.

I definitely remember the repeated question about Evangelicals not really wanting to prevent armageddon from happening. I can't really comment too much on it, because I don't remember exactly what was said, but I do remember feeling that the interviewee was sort of avoiding the question a little bit.

In the 90s in Southwest Ohio.

Mmm yes hello I am Garrison Keillor.

THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL YOU PEOPLE.

It's all been down hill since the Gene Simmons Fresh Air ep

This has been a slowly brewing local scandal:

https://www.axios.com/local/miami/2024/02/07/wlrn-latino-sundial-host-carlos-frias-discrimination

https://www.thefp.com/p/npr-editor-how-npr-lost-americas-trust

The original piece. I had mixed feelings about it. I feel like these kinds of pieces surface every so often. I have also sometimes felt like NPR has changed - I wouldn't necessarily say further left, but a lot of the reporting feels squishier and less fact-driven. I rolled my eyes a little bit when I got to the Hunter Biden laptop point, but OTOH I do think the lab leak theory is something that was weirdly and prematurely dismissed for political reasons.

This part did actually concern me some:

Race and identity became paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace. Journalists were required to ask everyone we interviewed their race, gender, and ethnicity (among other questions), and had to enter it in a centralized tracking system. We were given unconscious bias training sessions. A growing DEI staff offered regular meetings imploring us to “start talking about race.” Monthly dialogues were offered for “women of color” and “men of color.” Nonbinary people of color were included, too.

These initiatives, bolstered by a $1 million grant from the NPR Foundation, came from management, from the top down. Crucially, they were in sync culturally with what was happening at the grassroots—among producers, reporters, and other staffers. Most visible was a burgeoning number of employee resource (or affinity) groups based on identity.

They included MGIPOC (Marginalized Genders and Intersex People of Color mentorship program); Mi Gente (Latinx employees at NPR); NPR Noir (black employees at NPR); Southwest Asians and North Africans at NPR; Ummah (for Muslim-identifying employees); Women, Gender-Expansive, and Transgender People in Technology Throughout Public Media; Khevre (Jewish heritage and culture at NPR); and NPR Pride (LGBTQIA employees at NPR).

All this reflected a broader movement in the culture of people clustering together based on ideology or a characteristic of birth. If, as NPR’s internal website suggested, the groups were simply a “great way to meet like-minded colleagues” and “help new employees feel included,” it would have been one thing.

But the role and standing of affinity groups, including those outside NPR, were more than that. They became a priority for NPR’s union, SAG-AFTRA—an item in collective bargaining. The current contract, in a section on DEI, requires NPR management to “keep up to date with current language and style guidance from journalism affinity groups” and to inform employees if language differs from the diktats of those groups. In such a case, the dispute could go before the DEI Accountability Committee.

In essence, this means the NPR union, of which I am a dues-paying member, has ensured that advocacy groups are given a seat at the table in determining the terms and vocabulary of our news coverage.

EV-driving, Wordle-playing, tote bag–carrying coastal elite.

lol, what a clown. stuff like this goes here FYI

"croissant-munching, latte-sipping": instances of misconceived media-class self-loathing ITT

I think a lot of institutions in 2020 added or amplified various kinds of DEI/unconscious bias/anti-racist training, mostly for good reasons (and for PR reasons too, depending on the institution and how publicly they talked about it). Of course some of that was overly broad or simplistic or possibly had unintended consequences. There are good critiques of those kinds of efforts from people of color too, in terms of how superficial they could be. But Uri Berliner is of the exact vintage and demographic of people who whine about DEI initiatives the most — middle-aged white men — and it's a demographic whose thoughts on such things I'm least interested in. (Even though and/or because it's my own demographic too.)

Also the whole "I have a lesbian mom so my problem can't be any kind of bias" shtick is pretty tired.

I have no issue with DEI initiatives either, but the level of involvement in editorial decisions sounded a little concerning.

All this reflected a broader movement in the culture of people clustering together based on ideology or a characteristic of birth.

You just didn't notice when white people did it for your entire fuckin' life. Sit down and shut up.

the level of involvement in editorial decisions sounded a little concerning

Maybe. I'd want to hear from other voices there about what that actually looks like.

Agree it would be a more compelling point if he could actually point to some examples of where this actually factored into a decision and how

i stick to PBS. Amna Nawaz for President! John Yang for Vice President! Lisa Desjardins for Secretary of Health and Human Services! Judy Woodruff for the Supreme Court!

NPR is the stink. Peeyoooooo.

and before you ask yes i do pay 5 bucks a month to PBS so that i get PBS Passport and can watch every episode of Nova if i want.

I listen to the PBS New Hour... on NPR!

It's the R that's the stumbling block for me. People listen to the radio? In 2024? Really?

its the only listenable thing i get in my car but i often turn it off anyway in favor of one of the THREE bad country stations near me. so, they are turning THIS Trumper off as well. Hello, Hank Jr.

every time i hear the beginning of wait wait don't tell me i almost drive into a tree. on purpose. because it fills me with dread. its all so terrible...

Bluetoothing internet radio from my phone to my car is the strongest argument for having a smartphone I'll ever have. I love cruising around the middle of nowhere listening to WFMU and pretending it's a local station.

Why do we always fall for right-wingers (claiming to be liberals) pretending to be worried about how liberal the Times or NPR are? How many hand-wringing editorials have you seen worrying about the diversity of voices on Newsmax?

NPR gets nearly nothing anymore from the government anyway, and they basically have ads now (like PBS).

People listen to the radio? In 2024? Really?

every day, all day... but I've always been radio person, since childhood

yeah i just like FM and AM. always will. it just all sucks so bad now. the robo stations are horrible.

maria started doing a show again on the local public access fm station and i can barely get it in my car! its right here in town! but cars don't bother with good radio anymore. this is maria's 4th radio station she has had a show on. she loves the whole thing.

AM around the Bay Area still has some rad ethnic stations.. we also have public jazz & classical station on FM, and college radio

I have a KLH Model Twenty-One kitchen table radio, designed by the great Henry Kloss... with the optional satellite speaker

For another thread Andy, but I have questions about my KLH model 27.

How many hand-wringing editorials have you seen worrying about the diversity of voices on Newsmax?

I know, like basically everyone just tacitly agrees upfront that right-wing media is nothing but ridiculous bias and ideologically slanted commentary. But the "MSM" must be held to account!

Andy what are your favorite Bay Area AM stations? I haven’t explored the band too much, but there used to be a great oldies AM station that played serious lit r&b and cool fifth dimension songs and stuff

the Bay Area AM dial has been pretty gutted.. KGO is essentially gone and turned into a sports-betting station called "The Spread" where they just play sports podcasts

I don't listen to as much AM as I once did.. there's an interesting conspiracy theory about new car makers completely dropping AM radios, which is where all the conservatives get their yelling-at-clouds stations, because they don't want us to hear the truth or something like that

but the slow demise of noisy commercial AM has opened up bandwidth for various ethnic language programming which is a cool development

I listen to the radio a lot — usually local NPR station unless:
It’s wait wait (unbearable)
It’s the insipid local daytime show
It’s a holiday and they’re playing the most unlistenable shit ever: a radio play

Still prefer PBS newshour, Amna & Lisa for president, Lisa’s cat in charge of homeland security

We also recently had some major cuts to Chi Public Media that ended the sister station that played local music and was p much the only place to hear it. :(

the most unlistenable shit ever: a radio play

Lol.. I listen to all ghostly & supernatural radio plays on BBC Sounds

The CBS Radio Mystery Theater was already an oddly anachronistic format by the 1970's.. just the eerie opening music makes me super nostalgic, I used to listen to it on a old tube Philco in bed... free episodes here: https://www.cbsrmt.com/

I used to fall asleep to those as a kid!

The only good thing our local npr does is host a two hour old timey radio show with things like gun smoke.

every time i hear the beginning of wait wait don't tell me i almost drive into a tree. on purpose. because it fills me with dread. its all so terrible...

― scott seward, Wednesday, April 10, 2024 2:51 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

This is exactly how I used to feel about Prairie Home Companion. Except it would require me taking the wheel, because I was usually in the backseat with my parents playing it.

sexy or stuffy?

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/16/business/media/npr-suspends-business-editor.html

A longtime (now former) NPR staffer responds to the Berliner piece:
https://slate.com/business/2024/04/npr-diversity-public-broadcasting-radio.html

She acknowledges that NPR is an "organizational shit show," but not because of wokeness:

"And that’s what the core editorial problem at NPR is and, frankly, has long been: an abundance of caution that often crossed the border to cowardice. NPR culture encouraged an editorial fixation on finding the exact middle point of the elite political and social thought, planting a flag there, and calling it objectivity."

i just read this linked on the political thread about PBS's Buckley doc.

https://prospect.org/politics/2024-04-17-an-implausible-mr-buckley/

"caution that often crossed the border to cowardice" is a good description of that doc apparently. though i haven't seen it because ugh i was just glad when he finally died i don't need to watch a doc about him.

one of my closest friends worked at WHYY for several years (and for many more years before that at KQED) and that slate article could have been written by him, it absolutely tracks a lot of the complaints he had about working in public media.

the final paragraph is the kicker: "I guess that’s why I think Uri is most wrong about NPR’s relationship with the rest of the country. It’s a very accurate reflection of America right now, a place where people won’t admit that good intentions don’t always yield good results, and would rather hide behind the myth of its excellence than do the hard work of making it a reality."

looks like that dude resigned

yes he'll be whining about being cancelled on podcasts along with Taibbi and other dummies soon

Berliner seems like basically a newsroom crank, which every newsroom I've worked in had at least one of and often more.