another nastygram to NPR...

[Triana]

...they sent me another envelope and letter asking for money, and I sent them this back in their envelope (again):
_ _ _ _ _

I regret to inform you that I will not continue supporting or contributing to NPR.

Each morning - and particularly at this critical time in our nation's history, I turn on NPR to hear the likes of Cokie Roberts uttering the most right-wing, inaccurate, misrepresentations of John Kerry and the Democratic Party. There is rarely anyone there to counter what she - or the other speakers NPR so often has on - with the OTHER side
of the story (that is the Democratic side) or to correct her inaccuracies (shall I call them outright lies? A spade is a spade isn't it?).

If I wanted to listen to more 'news' the likes of Fox, or Rush Limbaugh, I can get that without paying for it. I don't listen to Fox or Limbaugh. I don't watch TV or listen to most radio because our media is so utterly dominated by the conservative viewpoint and so utterly spun to the right there is no point, if one is to stay
completely informed, in watching or listening to them.

Sadly, NPR has become just another right-wing radio station/'news' program. And, if I wanted that type of 'news' (one-sided), I'd get it there - and I would not have to pay for it.

The problem is, I expect news, not spin. Spin is everywhere these days and it's a cheap commodity. Why should I pay NPR for more of it? I don't pay anyone else for it, and I don't want to watch or listen to it.

I'm sorry, you've lost a contributor. Stick to the facts and have people on who state facts based on reality, not their opinion (did I say Cokie Roberts already?). I suggest you get rid of Cokie Roberts, and replace her with someone a bit more balanced who has some clues (read: facts), and get the Democratic side of issues on the air to counter the bevy of conservative and Republican speakers you seem to have so much of these days, and maybe I'll come back.

Meanwhile, I don't think so. I'm voting Democratic with not only my ballot, but also with my dollars. I don't want to listen to more right-wing spin and this country can't afford more of it. NPR has become part of the problem, rather than part of the solution. Just like George Bush.

Best Regards,

A Former Contributor and Listener

[senseandsensibility]

1. Great letter!

I wrote a similar one three years ago. NPR has sucked for a long time, and you're right: Cokie Roberts is awful.

[gmoney]

2. Well spoken...

they have to kiss up to the Republicans to keep their Federal Funding.

I'm as concerned about how all their sponsors are now WalMart and huge big money corporations instead of foundations

[captainjack]

3. nice!

but i'd have added how you(if you do) prefer programs like NOW and NOVA and such. NPR is an incredibly valuable resource and yes, parts of it have gone bad, but we want the rest of it!! don't give up hope on all of NPR but rather encourage them to go back to their roots.

it's what i did and will do whenever i give them $$. i love Nova and NOW and this old house and new yankee workshop and bbq u w/ steve raichlen and scientific american frontiers and news hour w/jim lehrer and charlie rose way too much not to fork over some dough!!!

[Maat]

4. Nice!

If we keep up the correspondence/e-mailing (as to the media), then maybe management will get the picture that we do not like the slant.

[AP]

6. Management won't change its strategy. They need to change management

However, I think a great strategy is to complain to your local NPR affiliate and discourage them from buying NPR's programming. That would cut NPR off at its knees.

It would also decentralize control of the media message.

[Triana]

7. this was a letter to the local affiliate...

...I removed the name for security reasons. ;)

They are the ones always pandering for $$ and the past 2-3 times I've responded with such a letter, in their contribution envelope.

I guess if enough people do this, they might get a clue but I think you're right - NPR management pool needs some chlorine...

:evilgrin:

[AP]

5. You're thinking about PBS. NPR is a different entity and I'm not sure

whether they get very much money at all from the CPB, which I think is the major funder of PBS.

[Cocoa]

8. careful...

they're going to think you don't like Cokie Roberts. :-)

[Supersedeas]

9. Cokie and Mor-a Lie-than-sound make NPR inaudible

[Triana]

12. GOOD - I can't stand that beyotch (n/t)

[LuminousX]

10. I, too, cancelled my NPR donation last week

I donated $20 a month and after one particularly awful morning on NPR I wrote a note to WBEZ, not exactly nasty but pointed none-the-less:

Hello, I've been a member of WBEZ for several years, but would like to cease donations to WBEZ due to the definite turn to the Corporate conservatism I've noted in NPRs news coverage. Apparently, NPR believes like Bush that the economy is doing just wonderfully under Bush's guidance. Well, it isn't and the consequences of that belief is the $20 a month I willingly paid to WBEZ for NPR coverage is probably better off supporting Salon.com, Buzzflash.com, and other news sources that 'get it.'

I was upset when I read FAIR's report and I have grown completely disinterested in NPRs awful coverage of this election. If NPR wants Bush to win, so be it, but because of Bush, I don't have the money to support NPR. I guess it is time to hit up more corporations for donations - I'm sure corporations love NPRs pro-Bush coverage.

Please let me know the process I need to go through to cancel my month-to-month donations.

Thank you,

[Kolesar]

11. I told them I was moving and not giving them my new address

However it is not worth moving just to make a point.

[Triana]

13. I hope they get a lot of this...

...but I still agree with the previous poster too, that NPR management needs a roto-rooter treatment. I've been so utterly disgusted with them for months - and Cokie Robert's rabid, foaming at the mouth diatribes just put me over it. I can't stand that brain-dead rottweiler.

[AP]

14. I suspect NPR is partly responsible for creating the "security mom"

by the way.

[Triana]

15. prop-o-ganda

...or extremely stupid women (or both). I know not of one woman who would vote for Mr. Mysogenist just to feel nationally 'secure' - most I know are more concerned about job security and their kids' and family's security than 'national security'.

Of course there are always the brain-dead ones (did I say Cokie Roberts yet?)