Protest NPR's pro-corporate TPP coverage

[eridani]

After the Senate joined the House of Representatives in granting President Barack Obama fast-track authority to negotiate trade agreements, National Public Radio aired one report (Morning Edition, 6/25/15) on the legislative action that paves the way for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and other corporate-friendly international deals. The report, by correspondent Yuki Noguchi, had three sources:

Business Roundtable president John Engler, “president of the Business Roundtable, which represents more than 200 member companies who took to Capitol Hill armed with data.”
National Retail Federation vice president Jonathan Gold, who “says 7 million retail jobs are directly or indirectly tied to trade.”
National Association of Manufacturers vice president Linda Dempsey, who says the 1993 US/Mexico/Canada trade agreement “NAFTA has actually made US manufacturing overall much stronger and much more competitive.”

That’s it–according to a search of the Nexis news database, those three corporate lobbyists are all the voices National Public Radio chose to air on the victory of fast-track (or “fast-tract,” as the NPR News headline writer had it). What of the literally thousands of labor, environmental and other public interest groups that strenuously opposed giving Obama fast-track authority? They were relegated to a one-line summary from Noguchi:

Labor and environmental groups criticized the fast-track deal, calling it worse than the North American Free Trade Agreement passed two decades ago.

To which manufacturing lobbyist Dempsey was allowed to retort: “The critics are just wrong.” So much for the opponents’ perspective.

To her credit, Noguchi does correct Dempsey’s claim about NAFTA, saying, “After an initial bump following NAFTA, manufacturing employment declined.” But that raises the question: If business lobbyists are presenting a distorted picture of the impact of trade deals, why are they the only ones you’re allowing to talk to your listeners about trade deals?

ACTION: Please ask NPR ombud Elizabeth Jensen to investigate why NPR News talked only with corporate lobbyists to cover the victory of fast track.

CONTACT: You can contact Ms. Jensen via NPR‘s contact form or via
http://help.npr.org/npr/includes/customer/npr/custforms/contactus.aspx
Twitter: @ejensenNYC.

[Hissyspit]

1. It's really been rather blatant. nt

[NBachers]

2. I used to really like NPR. These days, when I try listening, I usually get pissed off within seconds

and angrily switch it off again.

Fox? I know what to expect. NPR? I still haven't adjusted to the betrayal.

[rurallib]

3. Meant to send a not the other day when I heard that crap

Actually, I mean to send a note damn near every time I walk away from listening to them.

Been listening since the early 70s. Now I frequently just turn them off. Since there are no viable terrestrial radio to listen to around here, I have pretty much had to forgo radio in my life. Radio has long been one of the constants in my life until recently.

Thanks for the kick to move me to action.

[GoneFishin]

4. The corporatists have been trying to take the "public" out of National Public Radio for decades.

As usual, their true agenda to concentrate the wealth and power in the hands of the 0.1% would never gain any traction if people knew the truth. So they have to cheat, lie, and propagandize. When NPR was honest and objective it really pissed them off.

It's safe to assume that they will keep going after the internet for the same reason, until they silence dissent, or at least bury the truth under tons of propaganda.