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apl4eris
~ Abstract Brain ~
USA
4800 Posts |
 Posted - 05/03/2004 : 08:02:04
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Bob Edwards, 24-year-long news anchor for NPR Morning Edition, has been "removed", to "meet customer needs".
I finally got around to voicing my disgust with the last bastion of (primarily) publicly-funded media. NPR is the most level-headed of any of the readily-available news media. If anyone here ever listens to NPR, or has heard and appreciated Bob Edwards (the anchor of Morning Edition since 1979: http://www.npr.org/about/specials/bedwards/), please sign the petition to bring him back.
I had noticed a strange change in NPR in the last 2 and a half years, but ever since NPR got a $200 million donation from the widow of the founder of McDonald's, I have worried about the direction and motivations of NPR. Not surprisingly, now there is a lot of coverage of topics that for *some reason* include nice PR for the franchise.
You will probably see my comments on the petition list. I am number 24,917.
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?nprbob&1
Thank you!!
I like people who glue macaroni on to a piece of cardboard and paint it gold. That's what I aspire to basically. - Tom Waits |
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Adnan_le_Terrible
* Dog in the Sand *
France
1973 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2004 : 08:28:24
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I wish I could support you, but I don't know anything about this Edwards.
I didn't know there were any publicly funded media in the USA.
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apl4eris
~ Abstract Brain ~
USA
4800 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2004 : 08:49:11
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Hey thank you, Adnan.
Yes, the US has national public radio, NPR ((http://www.npr.org/) and PRI (Public Radio International http://www.pri.org/PublicSite/home.html), and local public radio stations that carry NPR for the national and international news, and some of their other programming. There are also local (state or city) and national public TV stations.
Due to a lack of support, they have all been falling prey to corporate interests. Commercials (ads) have crept into a once commercial-free media source.
I think you would really appreciate NPR. If you want check it out, or hear it through a good local public radio station like WBEZ in Chicago (originator of one of the best radio programs ever - "This American Life" http://www.thislife.org/), you can listen to them streaming via the internet at:
http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/
http://www.npr.org/audiohelp/progstream.html
I like people who glue macaroni on to a piece of cardboard and paint it gold. That's what I aspire to basically. - Tom Waits |
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Adnan_le_Terrible
* Dog in the Sand *
France
1973 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2004 : 08:50:55
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thx
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floop
= Wannabe Volunteer =
Mexico
15297 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2004 : 09:40:43
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i think the fact that NPR accepts nefarious donation money is a separate issue from whether or not replacing Bob Edwards is a good idea.
i like Bob Edwards, but i think change is good too. if it's good. we'll have to see.. |
Edited by - floop on 05/03/2004 09:50:53 |
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apl4eris
~ Abstract Brain ~
USA
4800 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2004 : 10:00:43
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I don't see it as so different, floop. The same management is making both questionable decisions.
Their disrespectful forced removal of Edwards (which was against public outcry) was a corporate maneuver to bridge to a younger audience, which is from a similar mindset that allows donations to translate into embedded commercials.
This is almost a microcosm of the issue of our current democracy, where it could be argued that the voice of individuals is getting overwhelmed by corporations acting as super-individuals. NPR management's behavior shows an across-the-board lack of understanding of the public's wishes. They are acting like a cynical Cable News Network.
As I write this, there is yet another piece of commentary about programming on NBC (ie. commercial for "Friends", and other shows) on NPR. This has become an almost daily offering. Their recent partnership with Slate.com has something to do with it, I imagine. I wonder if in-depth reporting of the military-industrial complex (read: GE) will be the next to fall by the wayside.
I like people who glue macaroni on to a piece of cardboard and paint it gold. That's what I aspire to basically. - Tom Waits |
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ObfuscateByWill
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1887 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2004 : 10:31:04
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NPR is the only station I listen to. (WHRV 89.5 / Norfolk, VA)
I think the way Edwards is being ousted seems unfair, but I'm not going to listen to NPR any less because of it.
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I'm looking forward to hearing how Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne handle things.
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Folks, donate a few bucks to your local station if you like the programming.
*I used to be into sadism, necrophilia, and bestiality, but I gave them all up when I realized I was flogging a dead horse. |
Edited by - ObfuscateByWill on 05/03/2004 10:38:58 |
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SpudBoy
= Cult of Ray =
Equatorial Guinea
649 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2004 : 19:06:20
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The whole structure is teetering on the edge. These fuckers wouldn't know ethics if it ate their baby. Signature 25,067. Bastards.
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prozacrat
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1186 Posts |
Posted - 05/04/2004 : 02:00:52
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I was listening to it this morning before I went to sleep. "Where's Bob Edwards?" I said. It really caught me off guard.
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Petition for Bob Edwards, NPR Morning Edition
