[Kzyxtalk] NPR's All Things Considered

[David]

Doug.

 

Please, specifically, tell us what NPR programs you would cut. 

 

David

 

David Steffen

KZYX Business Development

(707) 895-2324 office

(707) 322-9895 cell

(707) 895-2451 fax

 

  _____  

From: kzyxtalk-bounces at lists.mcn.org [mailto:kzyxtalk-bounces at lists.mcn.org]
On Behalf Of doug mckenty
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 11:22 AM
To: kzyxtalk at lists.mcn.org
Subject: Re: [Kzyxtalk] NPR's All Things Considered

 

Tim,

 

I thought the total programming fee of 32k included the 22k for individual
programs plus membership fees like 8k for the NPR membership.  So the total
payout for programming was the 32k number.  Perhaps you are right and they
should be added for a total of 55k.

 

I stopped believing NPR programming after observing their coverage of the
run up to the war in Iraq.  It has become my feeling that they are just
another corporate news source heavily influenced by the corporate/government
complex.  I know many believe it to be an alternative, but I feel they are
one and the same.  Their foreign policy is very one sided, from the point of
view of the American military establishment, with little to no time for
alternative perspectives.  The vast majority of their "experts" come from
establishment think tanks such as Rand, Brookings, and the CFR, all of wich
are funded by corporate or foundation money.  NPR is heavily influenced by
the left/right paradigm which it then reduces to the two party system they
present as functional, with little corruption influencing the game.
Alternative, independant, and third party factions are almost totally
ignored.  

 

NPR does very little investigative journalism of its own, and after years of
paying close attention to alternative news sources, I have found that if an
anti-government or anti-corporate meme starts to gain traction, NPR is
always there to present a very softball view of what are sometimes serious
civil/individual rights abuses.  

 

I am also skeptical of its attitude that it is completely objective.  By
giving equal credence to two points of view I often find that NPR's coverage
manages to give a measure of authenticity to ideas that, on their own, would
be completely ludicrous.

 

The fluff pieces often stuck between NPR's coverage of real news reminds me
of the soma pills taken in A Brave New World.  After an hour of NPR we are
all meant to feel pacified.  There is nothing to worry about.  The USA is
the greatest country in the world.  Its military spreads peace and democracy
and its people enjoy freedom and abundance.  There is nothing to see here,
move along.

 

I just don't trust it.

 

Having said that, I have never advocated ditching it at KZYX.  I know a lot
of people do trust it, and a lot of them are paying members.  I would just
like to see less of it and more Independant and locally produced journalism
and I would like to be able to have this conversation on the air instead of
on this list serve.  I think discussion critical or complimentary of all
news sources should be part of the function of community radio.

 

Doug M.

 



On Tuesday, February 18, 2014, <nsi at mcn.org> wrote:

Thank you, Rick. --beth 


----- Original Message -----

From:

"Mitch Clogg" <mitchc at mcn.org
<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','mitchc at mcn.org');> >

 

To:

<kzyxtalk at lists.mcn.org
<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','kzyxtalk at lists.mcn.org');> >

Cc:

 

Sent:

Tue, 18 Feb 2014 20:38:24 -0800

Subject:

Re: [Kzyxtalk] NPR's All Things Considered



Why are people so reluctant to cop to liking stuff on public radio? NPR,
Public Radio International, Canada radio and a slew of others put superb
stuff in the air. My main station is JPR. It's out of Ashland and beams here
on AM 1300. The signal gets dirty at sundown. I have to drag myself away,
every day.

Mitch Clogg
Mendocino




On 2/18/2014 8:10 PM, Rick wrote:

And now for something completely different:

 

The subject of NPR's "All Things Considered" (ATC) on KZYX is an old, old
worn discussion around here in Ruralland, but I would like to bring it up
for discussion if anyone is interested. Unfortunately, I think Beth is
right; there are probably only about 8 of us on this list and half of them
are just just station lurkers or trolls, but I feel strongly about this
subject 

 

I happen to like ATC. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, not a popular stance, but
there you have it. I like the international coverage and some of the science
stories I find really interesting and entertaining. Can ATC be lame? You bet
it can. Sometimes I just have to cringe at the fluff stories and human
interest filler, but I am willing to put up with the duds to get the
occasional good story and their good stories can be very, very good. 

 

The argument against ATC is not so much how lame it can be, but how much it
costs the station. I believe the bill is about 60k a year, but I could be
wrong. Maybe someone can give an accurate figure. Anyway, the new slot at 6
pm with PRI's "The World" I think is quite good and it complements ATC
perfectly by going into some of the international stories in a deeper way.
The PRI show must be much, much cheaper and even might be free. I don't
know. Anyway, I think it is really good. My only criticism of The World is
that it is heavily weighted towards interviews and talking heads rather than
on the ground stories. 

 

Two reasons for not getting rid of ATC to me would be: The international
reportage, but perhaps more importantly, many of the donors to the station
contribute because of ATC. Cut ATC and lose a lot of listeners as well as a
lot of station revenue. I don't want to see ATC go, but can we afford to
keep it and if we dumped it, would the loss in revenue from loyal donors
negate the savings?

 

Rick

Little River

 

 

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