Truth-based bias?
A caller to CSPAN this morning asked Tavis Smiley, NPR Talk Show Host, if the radio network has a liberal bias. I think it just appears biased to conservatives because it has more of an emphasis on the truth. If NPR spent half the time covering the conservative arguments, it would run the risk of misinforming its audience.
posted by Tom Cleland @ 12/10/2004 08:44:00 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Maybe when they call things conservative they are talking about conserving their brain usage to the bare minimum. If you go by that assumption, then anything challenging or intellectual would be anti-conservative. That is probably also why liberals are seen as elitists because liberals would be the ones flaunting their brain skills by actually using them.
Maybe NPR is liberal in terms of some social issues, but it certainly isn't all that progressive regarding many foreign policy issues and domestic economic issues. It is clearly pro-Israel in its reporting, using the balanced reporting practice but subtly bring their position into to news reports. I also don't hear that many stories that focus on working-class issues.
I recently heard that NPR leadership is determined by the presidential administration in power. NPR is a public corporation controlled monopolistically by the government, then, in that those in power control it from high. (Does anyone have the details on this? I forgot the nature of the governmental hierarchy.) Some somewhat reasonable reporting is allowed to be broadcast by "liberal" journalists, who knows why, but the control from the top acts like a filter so that stories that are truly critical of corporate America are filtered out.
NPR also receives a lot of corporate financing, including some real evil companies like Monsanto and Cargill. Not only are they controlled on high from the government, I'm sure these companies dictate by their money what stories will be broadcast on the "public" airwaves.
Yes, I agree. While NPR is better than TV, it’s not the whole story. I’ve been listening to Air America and “Straight Talk” radio more lately but even that I don’t feel is complete. I also have a great excuse for not giving to NPR: They didn’t let the Green or Independence Party candidates into the Coleman-Mondale Senate debate, even though our candidates had major party status in Minnesota. The debate received national attention after Wellstone was killed.
In terms of NPR funding, some rich woman died and left her fortune to NPR last year (or maybe it was earlier this year.) I can't remembr who it was, but it was quite a nice sum.
I don't know about NPR, but the President appoints people to PBS, so it wouldn't surprise me if he does for NPR as well. On the other hand, they are probably in rotating terms, so there might still be some Clinton appointees. Plus Congress has to ok appointments, but then there are not enough democrats now to save us from the republicans.
What we need are some of the moderate republicans to join Jim Jeffords and become independents.
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