Did NPR kill Air America?

[brenthutch 444]

Can the abysmal track record and general failure of left wing talk radio be attributed the presence of NPR?

[ryoder 1,590]

I blame Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[brenthutch 444]

NPR is definitely left wing. Have you ever listened to Democracy Now or Fresh Air? BTW I love Terry Gross, she sounds like Jessica Rabbit looks.

[gowlerk 2,277]

brenthutch

NPR is definitely left wing. Have you ever listened to Democracy Now or Fresh Air? BTW I love Terry Gross, she sounds like Jessica Rabbit looks.

Everyone who is not right wing would sound left wing to you. Have you ever seen what Terry Gross looks like? Democracy now is not an NPR production. Although you may hear it on your local public station that carries NPR programing.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[brenthutch 444]

Definitely not like Jessica Rabbit

Can you cite anything on the radio that is more left wing than Democracy Now?

"Last week, NPR's own official ombudsman, Jeffrey Dvorkin, admitted a liberal bias in NPR's talk programming. The daily program "Fresh Air with Terry Gross" - a 60-minute talk show about the arts, literature, and also politics - airs on 378 public-radio stations across the fruited plain. Gross recently became a hot topic on journalism Web sites for first having a friendly, giggly interview with "satirist" Al Franken"

[gowlerk 2,277]

Here is a listing of NPR programs. Note, Democracy Now is not among them.

http://www.npr.org/programs/

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[brenthutch 444]

NPR calls itself left wing. To put it in a way you might understand, NPR IDENTIFIES as left wing/progressive.

[gowlerk 2,277]

brenthutch

NPR calls itself left wing.

Nu-ugh it don't. I listen to NPR every day. I will agree that trained journalists everywhere, including NPR, are likely to be more progressive than society in general. But NPR makes an effort to present different viewpoints on issues. And it certainly does not call itself left wing. They take pledges from anyone! You have a tote bag from your local station don't you?

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[brenthutch 444]

What part of, "Last week, NPR's own official ombudsman, Jeffrey Dvorkin, admitted a liberal bias in NPR's talk programming" don't you understand?

[normiss 897]

They do not.
A survey conducted in 2005 found that NPR was the most trusted news source in the United States.
According to 2015 figures, 87% of the NPR terrestrial public radio audience and 67% of the NPR podcast audience is white, pretty evenly split between male and female listeners as well.
It's funny that in fact, they have been labeled both right wing as well as liberal. To the point they were called out for NOT calling out the torture during the Bush admin. Which is odd as that seems right wing attitude.
Also of note, given that NPR started in the 70's and Air America didn't start until early 2000's...appears they are entirely unrelated and had very little in common regarding their listening audience.

You really have problems with factual truth about everything you come here to bitch about.

[gowlerk 2,277]

brenthutch

What part of, "Last week, NPR's own official ombudsman, Jeffrey Dvorkin, admitted a liberal bias in NPR's talk programming" don't you understand?

I'll agree that people like Diane Rheem, and now Joshua Johnson, along with a few of the more local talk show hosts are on the progressive side. But NPR also has a hard news function. With flagship shows like Morning Edition and All Things Considered. These are the heart of the network and are the best and most evenly produced news shows I've heard on any network. They are at least on par with the BBC, and far superior to the CBC.

The fact that they have an ombudsman who is willing to tell the truth about the talk show hosts speaks volumes. The talk shows are in fact produced by the various local stations. But one or two of them are considered network shows because many stations pick them up. And they are carried on the Sirius channel.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[mistercwood 287]

brenthutch

What part of, "Last week, NPR's own official ombudsman, Jeffrey Dvorkin, admitted a liberal bias in NPR's talk programming" don't you understand?

"Dvorkin ruled: "Unfortunately, the [O'Reilly] interview only served to confirm the belief, held by some, in NPR's liberal media bias....by coming across as a pro-Franken partisan rather than a neutral and curious journalist, Gross did almost nothing that might have allowed the interview to develop."

Dvorkin didn't exactly say what you're implying he said.

ETA: It's a bit disappointing you didn't provide a source for your quote, and I had to go look it up. Is that because you knew it was cherry picked?

Second Edit: The source, in case anyone's interested: https://www.mrc.org/bozells-column/npr-admits-liberal-bias. Interesting choice when criticising an outlet's bias, no?

You are playing chicken with a planet - you can't dodge and planets don't blink. Act accordingly.

[brenthutch 444]

I listen to NPR, I like NPR. I am not bitching about anything. I am wondering if NPR crowds out for profit left wing radio, or if the notion of a successful private enterprise is such an anathema to the left that they never stood a chance.

[brenthutch 444]

gowlerk

***What part of, "Last week, NPR's own official ombudsman, Jeffrey Dvorkin, admitted a liberal bias in NPR's talk programming" don't you understand?

I'll agree that people like Diane Rheem, and now Joshua Johnson, along with a few of the more local talk show hosts are on the progressive side. But NPR also has a hard news function. With flagship shows like Morning Edition and All Things Considered. These are the heart of the network and are the best and most evenly produced news shows I've heard on any network. They are at least on par with the BBC, and far superior to the CBC.

The same could be said about FOX news.

[wmw999 2,589]

By saying that "liberal bias" is the same as "left wing" you're implying that there are no degrees of liberalism. That's stupid. If there are degrees of conservatism (is Ted Cruz more conservative that Susan Collins?), maybe there are degrees of liberalism as well.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[gowlerk 2,277]

brenthutch

I listen to NPR, I like NPR. I am not bitching about anything. I am wondering if NPR crowds out for profit left wing radio, or if the notion of a successful private enterprise is such an anathema to the left that they never stood a chance.

My personal belief is that left wing people just don't respond the same way as right wing people do to overbearing blowhards. There is no market on the left for that sort of programing. Leftists are just too laid back in general to care that much. That's why so many of them were too lazy to vote. A dose of Trump may change that a bit, but only temporarily.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[wmw999 2,589]

Personally, I think that left-leaning people don't need as much rowdy affirmation, so they don't seek out the kinds of echo chambers that conservatives seem to.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[gowlerk 2,277]

Quote

The same could be said about FOX news.

I'm not aware of anyone who would put FOX news in the same category as NPR. Just look up NPR's list of foreign correspondents and compare them to FOX's. NPR is what the major networks used to be before cable news.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[brenthutch 444]

wmw999

Personally, I think that left-leaning people don't need as much rowdy affirmation, so they don't seek out the kinds of echo chambers that conservatives seem to.

Wendy P.

No, if you want to be slathered in issues of LGTBQA, climate change, identity politics and redistributive economics, we have our forum with NPR. My question is: if NPR goes away, will a for profit outlet take its place?

[normiss 897]

Odd that you would blame what you consider to be "the left" as the cause of failure of a radio syndication.
It appeared to me the cause was rooted in the flat out theft of funds by the executives, leading to distrust by investors and advertisers. Trust and assets never returned even after the sale.
Seems the left leaning hosts that were good on-air personalities had little trouble succeeding though.

[brenthutch 444]

normiss

Odd that you would blame what you consider to be "the left" as the cause of failure of a radio syndication.
It appeared to me the cause was rooted in the flat out theft of funds by the executives, leading to distrust by investors and advertisers. Trust and assets never returned even after the sale.

So you agree with the notion "the notion of a successful private enterprise is such an anathema to the left that they never stood a chance."

According to you, left wing radio is beset by executive malfeasance while right wing radio is the paragon of morality?

[normiss 897]

Quietly adding you to the rushmc file of waste of time.
The crap that you come up with is quite simply delusional.
Have a good evening.

[brenthutch 444]

If you can't hang with the big dogs, stay on the porch. Sweet dreams, snowflake.

[normiss 897]

Says the guy who can't have a discussion without a PA to those he disagrees with.
Peace out.

[brenthutch 444]

Says this guy

"Quietly adding you to the rushmc file of waste of time.
The crap that you come up with is quite simply delusional."