An involvement, a conflict, a police action, frickin’ World War III-- call it what you want, important events are happening right now.
NPR is running some fellate-a-grandmother feature piece about goddamn Big Boy’s restaurants or Los Angeles building conservation; I can’t make myself listen carefully enough to ascertain or care.
NPR: things of greater import are happening this moment in the world. I appreciate the need for diversity of programming, but let’s not broadcast the aural diarrhea right now, okay? Save it for Sunday at midnight.
People are dying all over Afghanistan: unfriendly political groups, terribly oppressed communities, and American soldiers(!), but you you are talking with some queefmonger about protesting a fucking wrecking ball ripping down vintage-retro-who-cares McDonalds! I don’t care if he’s on every page of the New Yorker magazine, this IS NOT IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW. IS ANYONE EDITING YOUR CONTENT? ARE YOU PUTTING PEOPLE ON THE HORN BY DRAWING NUMBERS FROM A HAT? I swear to God.
Don’t believe me? Turn it on. Listen to this shit.
[Stonecutters]
We do!
We do!
We do! [/Stonecutters]
In their defense, NPR does devote a lot of time each day to coverage of the events in Afghanistan. I actually like it when they take a break from the horror to do a human interest piece.
Actually, to attenuate just a bit my previous comments:
it could be a decision made at my local station, in which case I really can’t blame the entire system. I don’t know how their programming works exactly.
There’s only so much news. There are only so many press reports in a day, and not all of those provide any information. What the fuck do you want, 24/7 repetition? No thanks, I’ve had plenty of that:
“For those of you just joining us, there is still no news from the Afghanistan conflict. With me is Dweezil MacPeebles, Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Eastern Makalaka State College to talk about this lack of news . . .”
If that’s what you want all day long, pally, you’re shit out of luck. 'Cos most people ain’t gonna listen to that for long.
So it’s a fluff piece. So fucking what? They’ve always run fluff pieces, and ya know what? Everyone else does too. Fuck, it’s not like they won’t interrupt whatever they’re running if news breaks.
Yes, things are happenning. Yes, the media will cover things happenning. And yes, American soldiers are risking their lives. You’re welcome to put your life on hold for it, but I’m not going to.
I would just like to contribute to the consensus of calm and respectful disagreement with the OP by pointing out that it’s not anatomically possible to fellate a grandmother.
NPR is not itself a radio station or network. They just produce programming that is bought by your local affiliate. Such as, Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Their newscasts have covered the “war” very nicely I think.
I don’t care. Cover the bombings all you want. Report on every rumor of war that comes down the pike. Report on every poor soul that staggers across the Pakistani border. Repeat the whole thing every quarter hour on the hour. Overwhelm me with reportage on America Strikes Back or America’s War on Terrorism or what ever some TV network’s ad agency chooses to call it this week. But do NOT under any circumstances deprive me of my annual dose of Mother What’s-her-name’s cranberry relish receipt.
Am I the only one who doesn’t want to hear about the Afghanistan invasion 24/7? I’ve given up watching the morning news because they just don’t freaking shut up about how the military killing some retreating soldiers or that they’ve captured the village of Ghandamashinagadormishtupakshamolinorghanistakifar which had a population of eleven and a half.
Wow! I grew up with Big Boy restaurants. The first restaurant was in Glendale, California (my home town) I think on Colorado Blvd or Brand Blvd. One of those streets, anyway. Hey - maybe it was Glendale Blvd! Anyway… Our old family friend Billy (now deceased) almost worked at the First Big Boy Restaurant Ever (in Glendale) when he first moved to L.A., way back before WW II!
When I went vegetarian, I used to order Big Boys (to go) without the meat, and add a veggie burger to it when I got home. Yummmm!!! I was crestfallen when the changed the Big Boy in Sunland-Tujuna to Coco’s restaurant. It just never was the same. Damn. At least there are Big Boys in Glendale, and (last I checked) at the Eagle Rock Mall.
I wish I’d heard the radio program about Big Boy on NPR. I wonder - when will it repeat?
Uh - what? That wasn’t the point of the rant? Oh…never mind…
During the Gulf War, they didn’t cover the war.
At all.
Said it was “overcovered”.
So, they did , among other things, an interview with a shepherd.
Yes, that’s right. A shepherd.
I guess soldiers don’t have families that worry about them.
I guess an alternative point of view wouldn’t help anybody understand a complex geo-political situation.
I guess they’re a bunch of burned-out ex-hippies who still don’t quite “get it”–leaders, not soldiers start wars. So don’t show contempt for the poor slobs that have to fight them by ignoring the “grunts” & their families.
After the Gulf War, my local NPR station was so snowed under by complaints about NPR News, that they have dropped it altogether, & now get their news from other sources.
Funny, Palve, but weren’t you ranting about just the oppositehere and here? Which is it?
Oh and Bosda, when did WMOT kill NPR? Last time I heard 'em (a year or so ago) they still had it on (they did, however pull Fresh Air when WPLN picked it up)?
For the record, it’s Mother Stamberg’s cranberry relish recipe, and I may try that this year.
One of the things I love about NPR is that they do devote a considerable amount of time to the story behind the news. Any news droid can read off statistics or make general announcements, but NPR takes a look at the people who made the news, or who are involved in it in some way. Their philosophy seems to be that everyone has a story to tell; it’s just that some relate to current events better than others.
I also like how they take an event and look at it in different ways. For example, when the anthrax scare first broke out, they did a “Science Friday” episode on the science behind the disease, and had guests who actually know something about it.
The money I spend each year at Pledge Time is well worth it, methinks.
I hate NPR’s left-wing, anti-American bias. But, I keep joining and I keep listening. Suzanne Stamberg is a national treasure! Many others are also wonderful, including Teri Gross.
When G_d looked down upon the Earth after he created Rupert Murdoch, he saw that the Earth lacked balance, so he created NPR. He then added Gross/Stamberg et al so that even a sinner could justify listening.
For the love of Pete, what is going on here. Any rational being who compares NPR’s news service with the news we get from network TV and from commercial radio, and even from the chain news papers will conclude that NPR is giving us balanced, authoritative, complete and timely information. The complaint of several on this thread is that NPR is not engaged in the standard terrorize and titillate game and is not inclined to accept press releases at face value. As for a claim that NPR has an Anti-American and leftist bias, I can only think that I am hearing the dying echo of one of the departed Newt’s less honorable war cries. If you have access to one of the great news papers (and I don’t) NPR is without question the most reliable news sources you have.
I am pleased that my 500th post is in the Pit and is for an honorable purpose. Pledge to your local NPR station, and pay the damned pledge.
NPR got new respect from me on 9/11. We were cut off from any TV coverage, so across the office we tuned radios and realplayers into whatever we could get. I stuck with NPR on the radio (BBC on my computer) while my colleagues went with other stations.
At first, as more news came in and rumors were flying, I found myself annoyed that I never got to be the one running out of my office with a breaking news story. Except… after a few hours of this, I found out that everything my colleagues were “reporting” from their feeds was turning out to be complete B.S (like a bombing at the Capital, 11 planes hijacked, we’ve lost more people in one day than in the entire Vietnam war, etc.). NPR wasn’t reporting the wild rumors until they got some confirmation. Other news sources were apparently just passing it on in the clamor to be first.
So… I’m patient with NPR now. Sometimes thay have some quirky reporting, but I feel better informed.
