When did NPR jump the shark?

[gottaB]

For my ears it was the soundtrack to Shock and Awe.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. When they canned Bob Edwards

it was coming before that, however. Its the only news radio I can get in my area, and when they feature the conservative pundits I switch to my CD of kirtans (sacred Hindu chants) and zikrs (remembrance of God in the Islamic tradition) to keep my blood pressure down.

[gottaB]

4. I only listen on the web nowadays

http://www.publicradiofan.com

You don't even need broadband to appreciate talk radio over the web.

NPR just makes me angry lately.

[AP]

28. Forever, you just didn't notice. From 1998-2000 all they really did

was advertize tech stocks. They REALLY fanned the flames trying to get people to BUY BUY BUY (which basically transferred a great deal of wealth from the middle class to brokerage houses and speculators).

They probably convinced a lot more people to let go of their money than Fox ever convinced. (Consider the demographics of their audiences and the impramutre of level-headed analysis that NPR offers).

In winter 2000 and early 2001, they were so on-board with legitimizing Bush's velvet coup, it was really unbelievable. I heard that dolt on TOTN once shout a caller down before hanging up on him in Feb 2001 for asking about the coup. "WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT THAT ANYMORE!!!!" Who cares what the listeners care about, right?

And then the war. God, the war. While Tavis Smiley was offering the only good critical daily analysis of the war ANYWHERE in the media, my local NPR station was preempting him to run 2 hours of that insipid pentagon "press conference" (which was really just a pack of lies broadcast to an uncritical "press" corps). I listened to the Tavis on the internet to hear what Cornell West had to say about American Imperialism. After two weeks of that I called my station and complained every day they ran that propaganda conference and said they HAD to put Tavis back on because what they were running was just propaganda and it was time to have news and discussion again. Fortunately, I only had to call three times.

[icymist]

29. Yup! NPR is dangerous because, since the mid 80's it pretended...

not to be so RW. This last two years, they've become more blatant about what they're really about... Brought to you by Walmart!

[mitchum]

49. Good call on their shilling of tech stocks, AP

they were some cheerleaders

[keithyboy]

2. Won't be sending any more money to them.

I'm sure they will have enough money from the RW to survive.

[lojasmo]

3. About eighteen months ago

I was listening in the car, and somebody was advocating that if the media outlets would only hype the economy, then the economy would indeed improve. I haven't listened since.

[MarkTwain]

5. Although it's been gradual...

.... over the last five to ten years, it's been a decided and obvious "jump" to anyone who began listening in the early seventies.

They have been, similar to PBS, co-opted by their "corporate donors" (read: "sponsors") and just like any other media outlet they pay attention to the hands which feed them.

The definitive and final part of the "jump" was this year when they shit-canned Bob Edwards - a man of class and dignity - in the manner in which they did. Not even allowing him the honor of staying until the end of the year at the 25th Anniversary which he had stated and they knew was truly significant to him.

They're just a bunch of shills catering to what they perceive as the "yuppie upscale" middle; they've lost the conscious and their soul which made them so special at the outset. Another example is the matter of Christopher Lydon at the Boston station - one of the NPR "flagships." What that bitch (who heads the station) did to him was just a precursor of the Edwards matter. To these self-presumed "purveyors of taste and substance," it's really the bottom line, folks, plain and simple. They lost their substance long ago and as for taste, they've become nothing more than the radio version of Starbucks.

They have not gotten a check from me for the last seven years and never will again. I have not listened for a good three years and catch my favorites (Car Talk) on stream. The Web is where real "radio" is found.

Fuck 'em.

[gottaB]

6. nice analogy, Starbucks

I wasn't aware of the issue with Edwards' 25th anniversary issue. That sucks.

The Lydon fiasco I remember well. A bad omen, as it's happened.

[radwriter0555]

7. about 2 years ago they went corporate. Now they're National Propaganda

radio, and purely for entertainment value only.

[BiggJawn]

10. But they air "A Prairie Home Companion", so stop saying that!

I don't believe what I typed one bit, but I thought I'd say it before one of the REAL "I support NPR, I got my blinders on" crowd turned off "Morning Edition" and came running to their defense.

I don't even find them that entertaining. I know what their target demographic is, and all I have to say is that your average wealthy,Patagonia-wearing "Ooooh, look, we created a BABY" Limosine Liberal seems to be as easily entertained as Homer Simpson.

Sopho-moronic PAP.

[gulfcoastliberal]

15. Praire Home Companion

Go here to listen: http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/

They complete archives going back to 1986 I think. You can listen to either segments or the entire show online. It rocks.

[jdsmith]

18. _Prairie Home Companion_ is actually a Public Radio International program

bought and broadcast by many NPR stations, but NOT one of their own.

[BiggJawn]

38. OK, maybe I should've said "Car Talk" or "Whaddayaknow?"...

Or that "Ooooh! Aren't we INTERESTING people? we have a CHILD! and we drink IMPORTED WATER! and we donate to the SIERRA CLUB!" crap that "ATC" runs in the last segment before the top of the hour when they don't have anything from Andrei Codrescu to run (I could actually listen to Andrei all day)

I like to READ Garrison Keiler, I just don't like to listen to him.

"PHC" was the first thing that came to mind. Sorry...Do I have to go do pennance at Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility?

[UDenver20]

52. Car Talk

I love CAR TALK!!!

Click and Clack are awesome!

[BiggJawn]

53. Yeah, but mechanicals hold no terror for me.

So I do a lot of head-shaking at most their callers...

"My Therapist told me that it's dangerous to drive around without Gasoline? Do you think it'll hurt my SAAB if I drive it without Gasoline? What's the Gasoline DO, anyway?"

But then there's that rare call from someone who wants to get nostalgic about the mighty 225 slant-six....Those are fun!

[ibegurpard]

25. I love "Prairie Home Companion"

I wish it aired at bedtime. Garrison Keilor's voice is better than any sleep-inducing medication out there. Seriously, I find his voice very relaxing and soothing.

[gauguin57]

47. i make tapes of garrison's

monologues, and play them on a continual loop all night on a tape player next to my bed. Gets me to sleep, keeps me asleep.

His voice soothes me to sleep literally every night.

You can buy collections of his monologues on tape or CD -- I got some out of my public library, as well.

[sendero]

39. I can sometimes enjoy...

... Mr. Keillor - and he can take down the Reps with the best of them.

As long as he doesn't try to sing. :)

[goddess40]

8. The right is trying to get rid of public radio/tv

since they are in power right now they are doing all they can do to achieve their goal. By forcing their way on to NPR they are turning the donors off and slowly killing NPR.

I never heard "jump the shark" before, could I have that in English please.

[Az]

11. Its a ref to Happy Days

During the run of Happy Days it underwent a number of changes but usually was able to keep the quality up. But eventually it burnt out. The moment everyone was able to percieve this came about in an episode where Fonzie jumped over a shark.

To Jump the Shark means its the last moment before the inevital plummet in quality.

[KansDem]

17. Website here...

http://www.jumptheshark.com/

Quite fun and entertaining if you've got a few minutes...:D

[goddess40]

50. thanks

[Stephanie]

9. Cokie Roberts

Cokie Roberts Cokie Roberts

[BiggJawn]

12. Mara Liason, Juan Williams...

Repeat until vomitting occurs.

[KansDem]

16. Agreed!!!

During Campaign2000, her "Bush is so charming" and "Bush will use his 'charm offensive' to win people over" reports on NPR where absolutely nauseating...:puke:

[sal]

24. Juan Williams host of TOA

That guy is some piece of work.

[ljm2002]

13. During the run-up to Election 2000

Juan Williams was interviewing some woman who had written a biography of * (could it have been Karen Hughes? sorry, I don't remember the woman's name... and had never heard of K.H. at the time). Juan Williams asked her about the "missing year" when * was AWOL from National Guard duty, and the woman replied, "you know, we don't know what he did that year, and we may never know..." Then a listener called in and said "That's absurd, that is a total whitewash". And Juan cut her off, saying "That's not nice."

That is when I realized that NPR was not a forum for truth seekers, but had morphed into a venue for RW shills.

Sad.

[bleedingheart]

14. When they allowed "experts" from the Heritage Institute to

defame the airwaves....and pretend it's unbiased...

[yella_dawg]

20. What's up with that?

I thought they were just letting the wingnuts shoot themselves in the foot at first, but they act like it's serious and genuine.

[jdsmith]

21. "Liberals" give leeway to argument culture types

then are trapped when it turns out that e.g. Heritage Foundationers and David Brooks are not playing by the same rules of discuss&debate that characterize liberal ("liberal" as in give&take) conversations.

[sendero]

41. and...

... the American Enterprise Institute, and the National Review, and lets don't forget CATO.

I'm happy to see more and more folks coming around. NPR is no longer even balanced, they were among the biggest cheerleaders for the Iraq war.

If you are still sending the local affiliates donations, why don't you go ahead and send some money to FOX too?

[bleedingheart]

43. You mentioned even more reasons why I think they have slid

into the slimepit of the right wing...

Everytime I hear a right-wing freaky commentary I wait for the end and I guess....which will it be today...Heritage, Cato, AEI...

[jdsmith]

19. McNPR: Around 1994

Many NPR stations responded to the "Gingrich Revolution" by turning hard to the right. It even affected classical stations' programming: more shorter pieces, more parts of longer pieces instead of the (e.g.) symphonies themselves--"Ode to Joy" instead of Beethoven's 9th. "Lite Classics" and "Memorable Melodies" are part of "Give the customers what they want," part of the corporatization of the US.

edited for punctuation

[Ann Arbor Dem]

26. Fortunately there are NPR affiliates like WEMU and WDET

which have retained and strengthened their music programming. WEMU (in SE michigan) is one of the best, if not the best, jazz and blues stations in the country. It carries some of the NPR programs such as ATC, Fresh Air, Car Talk, etc., but has the best local news progamming in the Ann Arbor area. It's local Morning Edition host, David Fair, is strong and the absence of Bob Edwards isn't as hard to deal with as it could be.

They webcast at www.wemu.org

Edited for typo and link

[misanthrope]

33. I'm calling bulls#!t on this one...

...We do all our own programming at our station and those parameters do not exist. I played a 40 minute Beethoven piece day before yesterday and have even gone so far as to raise the local ire by slipping in Steve Reich, John Cage, Charles Ives and Phillip Glass.

[jdsmith]

34. So what's your station?

I was refering to "most" NPR stations--so I'd like to hear yours.

[jdsmith]

37. I see from another post that you're in Mobile

I remember driving into Alabama on i-85 about ten years ago--out of Georgia--and the local NPR station was actually playing Bing Crosby followed up by Mancini.

It's great that Alabama does not have a statewide system and that you program for yourself. (And I understand that local political leanings make it necessary that you fill time between _Morning Edition_ and _All Things Considered_--a GOOD thing if you have time, and aesthetic leeway, for the kind of music you mention.)

[Selwynn]

22. I've never turned to NPR for political commentary, however....

for social programing, shows carried frequently by NPR such as This American Life, one of the best shows on the radio, can't be beat. All Things Considered, Fresh Aire, This American Life, Car Talk, and the Michael Feldman show are the reasons I listen to my local NPR station - this is quality entertainment that is sometimes insightful, but that's all it is, and all it ever should have been.

The only people who are disappointed are the people who expected something different in the first place.

[jdsmith]

30. How about "On Point"?

It's now playing around here in Southeastern Kentucky. Last night I listened to a discussion about Michael Moore, one that allowed equal representation from both sides (represented by Jim Hightower and somebody from National Review Online who argued that Moore's "lies" hurt the left's cause). Call-ins, however, suggested that most listeners, or at least most audience participants, are progressive.

[Selwynn]

36. I don't get On Point, but I do get Tavis Smiley! Great show.

[NeonLX]

23. What scares me is...

...how many "liberals" accept everything NPR says as Gospel. Several people I work with are full-fledged NPR listeners & supporters. I've watched as their views have moved slowly to the right of the political spectrum over the years. I'm pretty much where I've always been politically but they're viewing me more and more as some sort of lefty "nut". They bend over backwards so as to NOT appear "liberal" on issues because that would be "unfair" to the "political discourse".

It's scary & probably much more insidious than the in-your-face righttards like Hannity or Limbaugh...

[cheezus]

27. All I see is people whining that it's not liberal enough

because, being PUBLIC radio, it must only have an ultra liberal stance on anything. any attempt at being balanced means they're right wing whores.

[sendero]

42. They are worse than whores...

... in that they get to keep their "liberal" tag while veering further and further to the right. They are not remotely balanced.

They are like whores in a nun's habit.

[bullimiami]

31. It must have been Bushco

Pressure or infiltration. The reichwing controls the money.
I dont remember NPR offending my intelligence before the last year or 2.
I have a very hard time listening now.

Its like Hannity and Patsy all of the time.

[misanthrope]

32. What color is the sky in your world?...

...If you think NPR is a conservative institution, you're living in an alternate reality.

I'm in Mobile, Alabama. This town is arguably one of the most conservative in the nation. Back when Dixiecrats were still standing in schoolhouse doorways, they still weren't conservative enough for voters here. The single daily newspaper (owned by a media giant on the Eastern Seaboard) has an editorial page filled with columns from William Safire, Thomas Sowell, John Leo, their like brethren, and the paper's own editorial staff who make sure to include at least one daily pro-Bush diatribe of their own making. The paper also has a track record of publicly endorsing the most conservative candidates possible in every election going back over the last century.

I work in public radio here, at an NPR station. The Mobile populace HATES NPR. We receive daily calls filled with invective about the "liberal programming" and reaction is so vehement, we dare not run any NPR programming other than hourly news and Morning Edition. It has been this way for our two decades of existence and shows no sign of abating. The only way we have been able to stay afloat has been to focus almost unrelentingly on the classical music these dowagers and "silk stocking"ed listeners conspicuously consume.

I read not only our local paper, but the NY Times on a daily basis. I also glean news from the Net and give a cursory listen to both local and network television news. Comparatively, NPR still comes out ahead of the game.

Actually, the way both the right and left harp on NPR is pretty damn good proof they are doing something right. Adhering to journalistic ethics always results in pissing EVERYONE off.

[gottaB]

35. When did the NYT jump the shark?

I'm too cranky for a serious argument (need a nap), but imo NYT prints too many lies.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

40. The NYT is not that bad! I still read them and they are not being....

whores these days. Still, I hope that John Kerry DECOMISSIONS NPR.

I don't want my tax dollars to pay for State Propaganda!

[gottaB]

48. I used to think they were the best

But now I trust them less than Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, BBC and Christian Science Monitor.

[Stephanie]

51. David Brooks

That was the end of the Times for me. When will they fire him? When will they fire Judith Miller? Both of them lie more than Jason Blair ever did.

[sendero]

45. Horsepuckey.

I'm in Dallas, and I'm talking SPECIFICALLY about Morning Edition and All Things Considered.

First off, the freeps call anything without a Hitler mustache "liberal". The fact that you get complaints from them means JACK SHIT to me.

I was a loyal supporter of our local station from 1985 until 2002. In the runup to the war, the blatant bias in their commentary and the points of view they chose to air and to not air left all pretense of fairness and balance out the window.

They would run a puff interview piece with Colin Powell, in which the most ludicrous and untrue (we knew it then, everybody knows it now) assertions were made; and there was not a single word of questioning, rebuttal, counterpoint, NOTHING. This happened over and over and over.

I realize that since you work at a station, your livelihood depends on donations. That must suck for you. Yes, there are still many good programs, Diane Rehm, Terry Gross, Ira Glass, Daniel Schorr and a few others. But NPR has followed the model of most newspapers in the country - make the news hard right and put the left stuff over in the "entertainment" section where it can be dismissed.

I am not some rabid leftist, I'm probably more moderate than the average DUer on most issues. But I know propaganda when I hear it, from the left and the right, and NPR is largely progaganda - though I still listen from time to time and I will admit they've gotten a bit better over the last couple of months - they have a long way to go before I send them my money again.

[mitchum]

44. When they started focusing on boomer lifestyle features...

Odd that Joe Queenan never mentioned NPR in his indictment of his fellow boomers' exhibitionist navel-gazing ("Balsamic Dreams") I guess Joe wanted that "Fresh Air" interview.

[robbedvoter]

46. Right after the coup. The W adoration was pouring out non-stop

and thicker yet after 911. On our local WNYC station, the formerly good Brian Lehrer had PNAC-ers posing as champions of democracy and human rights - complete with "human rights activist" gushing about them. That's when I knew.
They were always bashing Dems - mostly at elections time though.