# How can NPR be liberal??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 25, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635 "2005-11-25T00:40:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635/1 "2005-11-25T00:40:47Z")
I heard somebody tell me "Oh you listen to NPR? Its so liberal its sickening. " I mean, I know that many reporters are considered liberal but most editors are considered conservative. If I listen to Fox News or alot of AM Talk Radio, I hear the conservative nature shinning through. However, I must be blind when it comes to NPR. Can someone explain to me how NPR is liberal? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635/2 "2005-11-25T00:52:15Z")
You want to hear liberal, listen to Pacifica Radio. NPR news reportage is genuinely balanced. It has no bias to left or right. Their opinion commentary does give voice to liberal views, among others. Maybe it’s the opinion segments that get the accusation. As though there’s something wrong with that. They also have moderate and conservative opinions aired. On the whole, NPR is the most moderate of all media these days. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635/3 "2005-11-25T00:57:20Z")
ABC Radio here plays various NPR segments. From what I’ve heard I’d certainly label NPR as liberal. Of course, that could well be the basis on which ABC chooses the segments it replays. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635/4 "2005-11-25T01:13:44Z")
NPR tries pretty hard to provide a balance: they have plenty of conservative commentaries. Your frien thinks NPR is liberal because she doesn’t listen and decide for herself; she just takes O’Reilly’s word for it. ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635/5 "2005-11-25T01:26:23Z")
I do like NPR, I do (usually) listen to NPR, and I am arguably more liberal than not on many (NOT all) issues, however, I occasionally turn off NPR because they have WAY too many sympathetic stories about illegal aliens than I can possibly stomach. If it can be said to have a genaral political orientation, I would say that NPR is liberal. Not that there’s USUALLY anything wrong with that. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635/6 "2005-11-25T01:34:10Z")
Conservative AM talk radio tends to be straight opinion shows (e.g. Rush Limbaugh), so spotting “bias” is rather like noticing that Commercials are trying to sell you something. Bias in ostensibly objective programming often consists not so much of what they say, but how they say it – the relative time devoted to different viewpoints, the tone in which stories are reported – and what they don’t say – the stories that aren’t covered, the facts that are omitted. It’s hard to peg it down; it’s often quite subtle. A 16 year old murderer scheduled for execution is called a “child;” a 16 year old wanting an abortion is a “young woman.” The fact that military enlistment rates are down is discussed, with no reference to the fact that reenlistment rates for soldiers who have been deployed are up. The best way for the govenment to approach problem X is discussed, with no thought given to the idea that the addressing problem X is none of the government’s business. that sort of thing. In contra **lissener** , I do listen to NPR regularly, and do find it biased (though less than, say, FOX) ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635/7 "2005-11-25T01:41:45Z")
> [@furt](#): > > . . . A 16 year old murderer scheduled for execution is called a “child;” a 16 year old wanting an abortion is a “young woman.” The fact that military enlistment rates are down is discussed, with no reference to the fact that reenlistment rates for soldiers who have been deployed are up. The best way for the govenment to approach problem X is discussed, with no thought given to the idea that the addressing problem X is none of the government’s business. that sort of thing. . . . All due respect, but you’re making these examples up. An NPR reporter would not “address that problem X is none of the government’s business,” but NPR regularly airs commentary by people who would say exactly such things. If you’re a conservative, any media that is not actively, explicitly endorsing conservative OPINION is viewed as liberal. Any media that presents information without mixing in opinions is labeled liberal. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635/8 "2005-11-25T02:00:34Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > All due respect, but you’re making these examples up. Yes, I was. I was attempting to give the OP of the types of things people object to without spending an hour googling up specific incidents. > [@](#): > > If you’re a conservative, any media that is not actively, explicitly endorsing conservative OPINION is viewed as liberal. Any media that presents information without mixing in opinions is labeled liberal. I’ll just let this bit of broadminded genius stand by itself. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635/9 "2005-11-25T02:05:43Z")
Never once have I heard Neil Connan turning down a guest’s mic because of what he is saying. And I’ve never heard Steve Inskeep or Renee Montagne make huge asumptions based on cherry picked facts and present their opinions as gospel. However, if you listen to Bill O’Reilly for one day, you will hear all that and more. I actually heard him say something like this ( I am paraphrasing, but its pretty close) _If France had stood up to Sadam and said, “Look , either let the inspectors in or we are going with the US,” he woulda backed down in a heartbeat. But since Jacque Chirac didn’t do that, we had to go to war. The whole Iraq problem can be blamed on him. And now God’s punishing him and his country for not doing their duty. Those rioters are doing God’s work and it is all Jacque Chirac’s fault. End of Story_ This wasn’t some editorial, he was preaching this as actual fact. I’ve never heard something like this on NPR. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635/10 "2005-11-25T02:21:28Z")
> [@furt](#): > > Yes, I was. I was attempting to give the OP of the types of things people object to without spending an hour googling up specific incidents. > [@(hypothetical) furt](#): > > . . . An axe murderer is called “hero,” a Christian is called a “psychopath.” The fact that VP Cheney lies a lot is discussed, with no reference to the fact that he thinks about kittens a lot. The best way for the government to put conservatives in concentration camps is discussed, with no thought given to the idea that providing housing for individuals is not the government’s business. that sort of thing. . . . The problem with making shit up in a discussion like this, furt, is that it has to do only with your own biases and opinions, and has absolutely nothing to do with the discussion at hand. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635/11 "2005-11-25T02:28:15Z")
> [@Surbey](#): > > Can someone explain to me how NPR is liberal? NPR is liberal if you lie about it. [Report Faults Ex-CPB Chair Tomlinson on Ethics](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5013575) > [@](#): > > Former Corporation for Public Broadcasting chairman Kenneth Tomlinson violated his office’s code of ethics as he sought to bring political change to the organization, according to the agency’s internal investigation. > > Inspector General Kenneth Konz’s report confirms that Tomlinson applied a political test in pushing for the hiring of a new president and chief executive to lead the CPB. Tomlinson vigorously promoted Patricia Harrison, a former co-chair of the Republican National Committee, for the dual posts earlier this year. The full, Republican-dominated CPB board successfully demanded a formal search –- but ended up picking Harrison anyway [Kenneth Tomlinson Quits Public Broadcasting Board](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/03/AR2005110302235.html) > [@](#): > > Despite his departure, the CPB remains firmly controlled by conservatives. Tomlinson’s successor as chairman, Cheryl F. Halpern, is a longtime contributor to Republicans, including President Bush and Sen. Trent Lott (Miss.). Its vice chairman, Gay Hart Gaines, another Republican contributor, was a founder and former chairman of GOPAC, a powerful GOP fundraising group. [The Karl and Ken Show](http://mediachannel.org/blog/node/1749) > [@](#): > > In recent weeks, State Department investigators seized records and e-mail from the Broadcasting Board of Governors – the State Department’s foreign propaganda agency. Tomlinson served as chair of both the BBG and CPB… > What the Rove-Tomlinson correspondence says remains to be seen – at least by those outside the heavily partisan corridors of the CPB. The content of their e-mails could become public when the IG sends the final report to members of Congress mid-November. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635/12 "2005-11-25T02:35:28Z")
Telling a lie does not make you liberal. Lots of people lie. They may have bad reporting ( and to what degree, I’m not sure) but that doesn’t make them liberal ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635/13 "2005-11-25T02:39:35Z")
> [@Surbey](#): > > Never once have I heard Neil Connan turning down a guest’s mic because of what he is saying. And I’ve never heard Steve Inskeep or Renee Montagne make huge asumptions based on cherry picked facts and present their opinions as gospel. > > However, if you listen to Bill O’Reilly for one day, you will hear all that and more. > > I actually heard him say something like this ( I am paraphrasing, but its pretty close) > _If France had stood up to Sadam and said, “Look , either let the inspectors in or we are going with the US,” he woulda backed down in a heartbeat. But since Jacque Chirac didn’t do that, we had to go to war. The whole Iraq problem can be blamed on him. And now God’s punishing him and his country for not doing their duty. Those rioters are doing God’s work and it is all Jacque Chirac’s fault. End of Story_ > > This wasn’t some editorial, he was preaching this as actual fact. > > I’ve never heard something like this on NPR. Of course it was an editorial. O’Reilly is a commentator in print, on TV and on the radio. He does not pretend to be a straight news reporter, and comparing his show to a news program isn’t warranted. Not that I’m a fan of his exactly, but really, it is an apples and oranges comparison. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635/14 "2005-11-25T03:06:38Z")
NPR offers in-depth commentary and thoughtful analyses, at least as much so as one is going to find in the current media environment. They will try to look at an issue from more than one angle, and they take the time to explain the facts. In the current political environment, this makes them look liberal. It’s the sort of nuanced analysis decried as “wishy-washy” by many modern conservatives; the world is black and white to them, and it’s the liberals who dig around in the shades of gray. Of course, not all conservatives are like this, and the ones at this board are not almost by definition, but one only has to look at the Bush vs. Kerry election to see that the modern Republican party is not inclined toward the sort of nuance that requires a ten-minute news story to explain, and the Democrats are. (In fact, many people believe this is what’s killing us.) ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635/15 "2005-11-25T03:13:28Z")
NPR has been my primary news source for the last 20 years, and I’m politically conservative (in an atheistic libertairian sort of way), so maybe my opinion counts for something here. Ten years ago or more, I noticed that their coverage had a leftward bias - not in the opinion pieces, but simply in how they chose to cover the news stories. Reporters would discuss how people slipped through the cracks in the social safety net, but never even hint about how some people think that maybe it’s not the government’s responsibility in the first place to provide a comfortable living for everyone. However, about ten or more years ago, the notion of “liberal bias” got a lot more attention nationally, and I my impression of NPR’s bias pretty much stopped. I think that they’ve been paying a lot more attention to being balanced for the last ten years or more, and are now very even-handed. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635/16 "2005-11-25T03:58:57Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > > [@(hypothetical) furt](#): > > > > . . . In the interests of not getting into huge wrangles over who said what or who misquoted whom, let’s reserve the quote tags for those occasions on which actual posters or sources are being accurately quoted. Thank you. [/Moderator Mode] ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635/17 "2005-11-25T05:12:51Z")
I suppose that NPR does not usually debate whether or not the government should assist its people. (Unless you listen to Justice Talking. They debate all kinds of things like this. Justice Talking is also on NPR 😃 ) Sometimes, the stories just assume thats what needs to be done. But I know that whenever they have a democratic _you insert the title_ they usually try to have a republican _you insert the title_ I know that when they had John Kerry on NPR they tried to get Bush on as well. ---
**Author:** ![Sweet\_Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@Sweet\_Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweet_Mercury)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635/18 "2005-11-25T10:01:37Z")
> [@Surbey](#): > > I heard somebody tell me "Oh you listen to NPR? Its so liberal its sickening. " > I mean, I know that many reporters are considered liberal but most editors are considered conservative. > > If I listen to Fox News or alot of AM Talk Radio, I hear the conservative nature shinning through. However, I must be blind when it comes to NPR. > > Can someone explain to me how NPR is liberal? I think there is entirely too much emphasis put on this type of crap. “Your news source is Liberal, so it can’t be trusted!” “Yeah? Well yours is Conservative! It can’t be trusted!!” Facts don’t lean left, right, up, or down—only spin can do that. It’s best to seperate the facts from the opinion (and for fuck’s sake, stop accusing people of bias for _op-ed_ pieces!!!) then verify and corroberate the facts to the best of your ability. Professional opinions should be respected, especially ones that are way out of your league of understanding. That being said, I have to admit that Fox news seems guiltier of this “bias” than others, but it is important to point out why. The network’s highest rated programs (and if fo whatever reason not highest rated, they are certainly the most talked about) are the pundit shows like Bill O’Rielly and Hannity & Colmes. This stuff simply is not news, and it is an outright lie for those people specifically to carry the “Fain & Balanced” banner around at all times. The accusations of bias come more as a result of these imbeciles than anything else. All of that mess clears up when you realize that this is op-ed stuff, not the “objective journalism” it all claims to be. It would be the same as someone accusing Bill Mahr or Michael Moore of “liberal bias.” The only answer someone on the left could say is, “No shit.” Sadly and often enough, both “sides” generally fail to realize this, and put all too much faith in their activists opinions. Still, I have found that in most of the actual on-the-ground reporting for any news organization, the only real bias is towards hype, fear-mongering, and sensationalism. I just watch CNN generally because I find their TV personalities much more agreeable. ---
**Author:** ![Sweet\_Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@Sweet\_Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweet_Mercury)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635/19 "2005-11-25T10:08:57Z")
> [@Surbey](#): > > Telling a lie does not make you liberal. Lots of people lie. They may have bad reporting ( and to what degree, I’m not sure) but that doesn’t make them liberal I think you are misunderstanding him. I believe he is saying that in order to say that NPR is liberal, you have to be lying. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635/20 "2005-11-25T10:39:17Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > NPR tries pretty hard to provide a balance: they have plenty of conservative commentaries. > > Your frien thinks NPR is liberal because she doesn’t listen and decide for herself; she just takes O’Reilly’s word for it. And I guess we have to take your word that you know that the OP’s friend “doesn’t listen and decide for herself; she just takes O’Reilly’s word for it.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-npr-be-liberal/332635.md?page=2)