Free Republic

It's pretty unremarkable to describe the Obama White House's growing enemies list -- the insurance companies, Chamber of Commerce, Fox News -- as "Nixonian." But there's one place where, if you venture such an opinion, you'd better be prepared to apologize -- quickly and profusely. On National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation" Wednesday, NPR political editor Ken Rudin said the White House campaign against Fox News is a bad idea. "It's not only aggressive, it's almost Nixonesque," Rudin said. "I mean, you think of what Nixon and Agnew did with their enemies list and their attacks on the media;...

Despite his having been feted in liberal bastions such as Columbia University and the UN -- over the objections of American conservatives -- when it comes time to analogize today's Iranian Presidential Elections, NPR's reporters claim that the "conservative" voting blocs supporting hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are akin to Republican Evangelicals.

The eight a.m. NPR news update today included word of the fatal shooting of one soldier and the wounding of another outside an army recruiting station in Arkansas. The news reader, Nora Raum, outlined the incident and stated that the shooting appeared to have "religious motivations." She did not name the suspect, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, or tell NPR listeners what those religious motivations might be. In other words, it could have been a radical Unitarian who gunned down the soldiers, or possibly a violent Presbyterian. Why the shyness? Why not tell people what is actually happening in the world? We...

A shocking decision has been handed down by the National Public Radio board. In 1985, National Public Radio (NPR) adopted a policy stating that member stations had to provide "nonsectarian, non-political, noncommercial" educational programming. But in February 2009, the wording was changed to say: "NPR Member Stations shall provide ONLY [emphasis added] nonsectarian, non-political, noncommercial educational content on all broadcast channel(s) and related media distribution platforms such as member partners that use the NPR member brands." The rule, which takes effect May 1, means that any NPR stations carrying religious programming must cease and desist that programming as of that...

Not profitable radioBy J.J. Jacksonweb posted January 19, 2009So it finally has come down to the brass tacks; the government asking itself for a bailout.  There is nowhere else to run.  There is nowhere else to hide.  We are stuck staring the truth straight in the face as the news is that National Public Radio, a government sponsored entity which does not make enough money to stay afloat without millions of tax payer dollars, is asking for a bailout (i.e. more taxpayer money) in order to fund all sorts of pet projects and big dreams.  PBS is also sticking their...

Those Soft-Voiced Anchors at NPR Make the Big Bucks By Tim Graham | December 12, 2008 - 12:01 Josh Gerstein, a former reporter for ABC News and the New York Sun, blogged about how National Public Radio -- now laying off 64 employees and shutting down two programs -- has some perhaps surprising salary figures for a somewhat public media outlet: NPR reported its five highest paid employees were: 1. Managing Editor Barbara Rehm, $383,139 2. All Things Considered host Robert Siegel [pictured], $350,288 3. Morning Edition host Renee Montagne, $332,160 4. Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep, $331,242 5. NPR...

Wednesday, Dec 10 NPR Layoffs Looming? Related: "NPR's Trimmed Sails and the Future: The Staff Announcement" Related: "NPR Layoffs: The Press Release" More from Paul Farhi... Lots of folks at NPR are nervous today, as the rumor mill speaks of layoffs. One engineer in NY has already been laid off, we hear. >UPDATE: Also, an editor/producer and a reporter in L.A. >UPDATE: 34 people laid off in the News division alone...Linda Wertheimer and Noah Adams among them (update: They're safe). On-Air Fund Raising & Promotion is getting cuts An engineering supervisor is gone, too. >UPDATE: They've been calling people in...

NPR.org, October 22, 2008 · The ferociously conservative Christian right may be an unfashionable bunch this political season, but when it comes to the notion of a need for change, there are no truer or more fervently motivated believers. In fact, the recently founded Patrick Henry College is churning out these family-values crusaders in force.Inspired by journalist Hanna Rosin's 2005 New Yorker article about Purcellville, Va.'s so-called "Harvard For Homeschoolers" (subsequently expanded in the book God's Harvard), photographer Jona Frank put aside her own lefty leanings and set out — with Right: Portraits from the Evangelical Ivy League — to...

In the final lap of the U.S. presidential race some believe Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) attacks against Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) character have gone too far and, for some, are even racist. McCain was sharply criticized after the debate between the two candidates at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., for referring to Obama as "that one" — a reference that many interpreted as racially loaded. Our weekly Political Chat takes on this issue as well as apparent attempts by the McCain campaign to de-Americanize Obama. McCain surrogates have taken to drawing attention to Obama's middle name, Hussein – a tactic...

As some of you may know, a man named Jim David Adkisson, an unemployed truck driver went berserk and shot up a Unitarian Universalist church in Knoxville Tennessee. He murdered 2 people and injured about 5 others while they were performing a musical called Little orphan Annie. Adkisson claimed he did it because he was angered by liberalism and in particular, homosexuality. According to a sworn affidavit by one of the officers; "During the interview Adkisson stated that he had targeted the church because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were...

~snipMICHAEL CAREY: The other part of the soap opera.RAY SUAREZ: Well, that seems to have been what smoked out the Bristol Palin story, the attempt to put the first story to rest that came. Tell us more about the first one, which I guess was highlighted on the Daily Kos website.MICHAEL CAREY: Yeah, that's been -- that story has been around for quite a while. I first heard it when a lawyer who I like very much and is a very smart guy presented this to me as the absolute truth.RAY SUAREZ: That is, that Governor Palin was not pregnant?MICHAEL...

Straight from the Horse's mouth: NPR's admission of unfairness -  says media does NOT have to be fair!   August 5, 2008: First, the infamous "fair" NPR had a person a self proclaimed "expert" in energy.., in order to sweeten-up Obama's argument and politics, claimed the usual nonsense that "nothing would effect the prices of oil" stating it over and over again, without any iota of evidence or logic of course, the "expert" even mentioned that "people are talking about inflating tires", What a BS! as if no one knows that it was ONLY Barack Obama that flipped and spoke rubbish, What a cheap attempt...

It’s a familiar dance: for eight straight years, the Bush administration has proposed deep cuts in federal funds for public broadcasting, and seven times so far, Congress has restored them. But the magnitude of the proposed cuts put forth this week — Patricia Harrison, president of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, called them “draconian” — still sent public broadcasters scrambling. click link for full story

He is 91 and still cranks out his National Public Radio commentaries on an IBM typewriter. He eschews the Internet, openly disdains some bloggers and dismisses the whole "citizen journalism" idea. But don't accuse Daniel Schorr, a disciple of Edward R. Murrow and dean of NPR pundits, of being hopelessly out of touch. If anything, Schorr has been prescient when it comes to news analysis. His new book, "Come to Think of It" ($24.95, Viking, 382 pages), a collection of Schorr's radio commentaries from the past 17 years, shows that he often has been ahead of the cultural and political...

Radio Network Wanted To Choose Its Interviewer The White House reached out to National Public Radio over the weekend, offering analyst Juan Williams a presidential interview to mark yesterday's 50th anniversary of school desegregation in Little Rock. But NPR turned down the interview, and Williams's talk with Bush wound up in a very different media venue: Fox News. Williams said yesterday he was "stunned" by NPR's decision. "It makes no sense to me. President Bush has never given an interview in which he focused on race. . . . I was stunned by the decision to turn their backs on...

Morning Edition, July 3, 2007 · President Bush's decision to commute I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's prison sentence proves that "this administration is corrupt to the core," said Ambassador Joseph Wilson, the former diplomat whose wife was at the center of the CIA leak investigation that sparked the Libby case. In denouncing the Bush administration, Wilson told NPR, "I would only hope that Americans now realize, with this subversion of our system of justice and the rule of law in this country, just exactly how corrupt they are." After Wilson wrote skeptically about U.S. claims that Iraq was shopping for enriched...

A shortage of money is prompting Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, to close next year. The Board of Directors hopes to reopen four years later, but many fear it will not happen. A former faculty member of the liberal arts college reflects on what the closure means for the community and this work-study approach to higher education.

Apple's iPod has played a major role in the death of one Chicago radio station. WBEZ, Chicago's National Public Radio (NPR) member station and one of the oldest public radio outlets in the U.S. has elected to scrap scheduled music programming, which was mostly jazz, in favor of a 24-hour news and public affairs format, according to Reuters. A major contributing factor proved to be the growing popularity of Apple's iPod, as the portable device generated a culture of listeners who dictate their own musical selections. Loyal jazz fans are crying out in response to the change, while WBEZ and...

Mary Cheney was just on NPR's Diane Rehm Show, promoting her new book "Now It's My Turn". She spanked Diane and the standard lib callers pretty darned good. Sounded like they just can't possibly fathom a conservative Republican gay person. She set them straight about her parent's investments going into a nonrevocable trust that goes to charity, about the 2004 election being about trust and national security and not about Republican misrepresentation, about her being a person speaking her own mind and not a glbt shrill, and other good stuff. She told a number of callers they were just wrong...

Guilt by Association: The NPR-FOX Connection NPR.org, May 15, 2006 · Nothing riles some public-radio listeners like NPR journalists appearing on FOX News television programs. Two prominent NPR correspondents, Mara Liasson and Juan Williams are regular panelists on FOX. What bothers those NPR listeners who complain to me is that the cable television network openly espouses conservative opinions as expressed by outspoken hosts. The FOX slogan, "fair and balanced" is deemed by many of the complainants as ironic, to say the least. That's because NPR makes every effort to remain nonpartisan, and FOX, it appears, does not. (no bias here,...

The Wall Street Journal’s Sarah McBride wrote an article in today’s edition addressing the increasing number of network news “stars” leaving television to become a part of National Public Radio: “Network news is increasingly generating prospects for NPR in part because some broadcast journalists think the networks are veering away from serious, in-depth reports. Many television journalists say they are fed up with the move toward consumer-friendly news-you-can-use and away from weightier subjects like foreign affairs and government. And many also see news of any sort as an increasingly low priority for their employers. For example, ‘Nightline’ came close to...

Ted Koppel, who ended a quarter-century run on ABC News' "Nightline" in November, will join NPR. NPR announced Thursday that, starting in June, Koppel will provide commentary about 50 times a year to its programs "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered" as well as "Day to Day," its new midday newsmagazine. He also will serve as an analyst during breaking news and special events and contribute to the NPR Web site and the network's podcasts. "I have been an unabashed fan of NPR for many years and have stolen untold excellent ideas from its programming," Koppel said. "It's time to...

I work in Washington, DC. I normally use the Metro system to get around town. Since I needed to get "downtown" from the Capitol Hill area in the late morning, and the Metro trains run less-frequently during the late morning (and I needed to run this errand in about an hour), I decided to take a cab. The cab driver had NPR on the radio. I think before this day, I have heard NPR on one or two other occasions in my life, and I don't recall the content. This time however, I was amazed how much left-wing content was...

Part of New Orleans's southern charm comes from its green canopy of live oak trees. Many of those trees have been standing in water for more than a week, depriving their roots of oxygen. (this is lead-in. Audio .wav file of the report at NPR site)

Morning Edition, August 15, 2005 · The 1972 documentary Winter Soldier was made by a group of filmmakers to chronicle the Winter Soldier Investigation of 1971, in which Vietnam veterans testified to war crimes and atrocities they witnessed or participated in. More than 30 years later, the documentary is being re-released. John Kalish reports.

What can we do about the hostile takeover of the Public Broadcasting System and National Public Radio by the right wing? That they have taken over is beyond dispute. Ken Tomlinson is chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and he has succeeded in placing former Republican National Committee co-chairwoman and fellow neocon Patricia Harrison into the position of president and CEO of CPB. While we were focused on draconian budget cuts proposed by a House committee, Tomlinson and Harrison were doing their inside magic. Literally millions of Americans sent e-mails to Congress demanding that the 25 percent cut in...

NPR listeners (and some non-listeners) have made up their minds. They are convinced that NPR is biased... but there is no consensus as to what that bias is. Kenneth Tomlinson, the chair of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), has raised the issue of bias at NPR. Tomlinson has also expressed specific concerns about NPR's coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. To address these and other issues, CPB, which funds a portion of public broadcasting, has appointed two ombudsmen -- one for the left and one for the right. A point of clarification: I am neither one of those two ombudsmen....

I would like to find and join an organized response to stop the taxpayer funded leftwing PBS TV programming. I have searched on Google and found articles by Bozell and others but no groups actively seeking stop PBS bias. In my opinion, the programming at PBS seems quite biased to the left. Why should my taxes be spent on programming which is actively promoting the views which I am opposed to? I think PBS fairly represent all views or stay with apolitical programming. I found and signed the online petition website below but it is not what I am seeking....

Face it: critics of public broadcasting are right. NPR and PBS lean to the left, unless the standard of comparison is Democracy Now! or FSTV. But whether or not you agree with my assessment, wouldn't the question of partisanship be moot if public broadcasting weren't publicly funded? After all, if NPR is perceived by some people as being politically slanted, then it is politically slanted. Obviously, if public broadcasting were supported by private funds, the question of slant would not be an issue—especially since programmers could be as slanted as they liked without running afoul of rights to free speech....

WASHINGTON -- In 1967 Lyndon Johnson added yet another piece to the jigsaw puzzle of national perfection: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting was born. Public television was a dubious idea even when concocted as a filigree on the Great Society. Why should government subsidize the production and distribution of entertainment and, even worse, journalism? Even if there were -- has there ever been? -- a shortage of either in America, is it government's duty to address all cultural shortages? Today, with iPod earphone cords dangling from millions of heads and movies flooding into homes where they jostle for plasma screen...

WASHINGTON -- In 1967 Lyndon Johnson added yet another piece to the jigsaw puzzle of national perfection: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting was born. Public television was a dubious idea even when concocted as a filigree on the Great Society. Why should government subsidize the production and distribution of entertainment and, even worse, journalism? Even if there were -- has there ever been? -- a shortage of either in America, is it government's duty to address all cultural shortages? Today, with iPod earphone cords dangling from millions of heads and movies flooding into homes where they jostle for plasma screen...

Subject: Save public broadcasting On NPR's Morning Edition, Nina Totenberg said that if the Supreme Court supports Congress, it will, in effect, be the end of the National Public Radio (NPR), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) & the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). PBS, NPR and the arts are facing major cutbacks in funding. In spite of the efforts of each station to reduce spending costs and streamline their services, some government officials believe that the funding currently going to these programs is too large a portion of funding for something which is seen as not worthwhile. This is message...

Most Americans, regardless of their position on the war in Iraq, don't object to the expression "Support Our Troops," but earlier this week one National Public Radio commentator asserted that in at least one context, that phrase is "glib," "self-righteous," "partisan," and "vaguely...Ann Coulterish." He also declared darkly that "analyzing its rhetoric" may constitute "treason." [Tom Johnson, who monitors NPR for the MRC, filed this item for CyberAlert.] This past Monday on All Things Considered, Bob Sommer, whose son recently completed a year's service in Iraq, began his segment: "You would think that the sight of a yellow-ribbon magnet on...

  NPR Badgers Lynne Cheney on DaughterIt didn't get much attention - probably because National Public Radio has so few listeners - but the taxpayer-funded network's Terry Gross recently tried to pull a John Kerry on second lady Lynne Cheney, by repeatedly hectoring her about her gay daughter Mary during a Feb. 9 interview. After saying she knew Mrs. Cheney didn't want to discuss her daughter's private life, Gross proceeded to do just that, peppering the second lady with one question after another about the proposed constitutional gay marriage amendment and its impact on parents of gay children.  ...

All Things Considered, February 9, 2005 · A reporter for the conservative news site TalonNews.com resigns. The reporter, who went by the pseudonym Jeff Gannon, drew critical attention at President Bush's Jan. 26 press conference when he referred in question to Democrats "who seem to have divorced themselves from reality" on the issue of retooling Social Security. Liberal bloggers have disclosed that Gannon, who has little previous journalism experience, was easily granted a coveted White House press pass -- even though he did not work for a traditional or established news organization. He also routinely asked "softball" questions at press...

The lanquid voices of NPR's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED were celebrating the defeat of longtime conservative Republican Phil Crane. This information was mentioned twice during a twenty minute span of covering the outcome of the election. While many of us would consider that anyone who had served over three decades in the House had served long enough we would have to make an exception for Phil Crane who has been one of the greats of conservative activism. He is also a very nice fellow, a handsome man, has a great sense of humor, and goes the extra mile to make us...

FRANK RIZZO used to say, "Never write a letter, and never throw one away." He was not a man of the voice mail or e-mail era, but the Rizzo Rule is still good. It was violated big-time last week when a twentysomething woman left this message at the office of a conservative Web site: "Hi, my name is Rachel, and my telephone number is ----. I wanted to tell you that you're evil, horrible people. You're awful people. You represent horrible ideas. God hates you and he wants to kill your children. You should all burn in hell. Bye." Rachel...

What is the difference between aborting a baby and euthanizing it? Nothing except the timing of the killing. In the Netherlands, a country that never hesitates to unfold the logic of liberalism to its farthest points, doctors have devised a program to euthanize babies deemed defective. They euthanized four babies last year, according to press reports earlier in the week. Now they are calling upon the Dutch government to pursue a more ambitious program that would let doctors euthanize undesirables with "no free will," meaning minors. C.S. Lewis wrote that evil is done "in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices,...

A voice-mail message left last week at the Virginia office of Laptoplobbyist.com, a conservative Internet site, went like this: "Hi, my name is Rachel, and my telephone number is... I wanted to tell you that you're evil, horrible people. You're awful people. You represent horrible ideas. God hates you and he wants to kill your children. You should all burn in hell. Bye." Rachel is Rachel Buchman, 25, a regular reader of Laptoplobbyist's e-mail newsletter - and a reporter with public radio station WHYY-FM (90.9) for about three years. And she left her office number at WHYY in the message...

While doing some painting today, I wanted to listen to some talk radio. Unfortunately, Sunday is not a good day for talk radio. The only thing I found on was . . . . . KPFK -- public radio. I listened to "Counterspin" and "Spotlight Africa." I was in the vomitorium. I hadn't listened for awhile. These people are nuts. I wanted to throw my radio. The anti-American and anti-conservative and anti-Bush crap that they are putting out on the air is overwhelming and sickening. Because I believe in free speech, I don't advocate that we shut them up. But...

Keelihor's program on NPR, Prairie Home Companion, is often clever and amusing. But, he has been a scumbag Kerry advocate for some time now. He, like so many of the ultra-left wingers believe that snide and clever glibness is all that is required to have leftie "feelings" wim.He just read a piece he claimed was by Thomas Jefferson in which Jefferson indicates that the influence of witches will pass, suggesting I guess, that the control of Republican good guys will also pass. There also was some pointed comments about born again Christians and the negative influences of religion. As I...

Longtime National Public Radio legal-affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg put on her campaign reporter's hat last week, filing profiles of vice president Dick Cheney and Democratic VP nominee John Edwards for NPR's Morning Edition.Totenberg's liberal leanings are well known to NPR listeners, viewers of the political chat show Inside Washington, and, for that matter, readers of the MRC's publications, so no one in any of those groups should be surprised that she treated Edwards more favorably than she treated Cheney. [Tom Johnson, who monitors NPR for the MRC, filed this item by CyberAlert.] The Edwards piece, which aired last Monday, September...

"I forwarded your note to the executive producer for her response. That is the standard procedure when I receive a complaint. For the record, your taxes do not pay for NPR. NPR is a private not-for-profit corporation. Regards, Jeffrey Dvorkin"

This was posted by palmer in the wee hours, it needs a dash of sunlight. "I listened to NPR Radio this morning and discovered... bias! The host Renee Montagne talked with John Ridley about his quest to be a "swing voter" in the fall election. He has moved from LA to Milwaukee where he will vote. He will be interviewed from now until the election as he sarcastically bashes both Kerry and Bush with, IMO, a strong emphasis on bashing Bush. This morning for example the only "good" thing he had to say about Bush was that Bush cut his...

I listened to NPR Radio this morning and discovered... bias! The host Renee Montagne talked with John Ridley about his quest to be a "swing voter" in the fall election. He has moved from LA to Milwaukee where he will vote. He will be interviewed from now until the election as he sarcastically bashes both Kerry and Bush with, IMO, a strong emphasis on bashing Bush. This morning for example the only "good" thing he had to say about Bush was that Bush cut his taxes and "how could he be against that?". Maybe I'm being oversensitive, but it sounded...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 - With a newly robust endowment burning holes in its not-for-profit pockets, National Public Radio is in the midst of a major expansion. But NPR's ambition has stirred anxiety within the public radio system over how to preserve the character and financial viability of local stations in the ever larger shadow of the national production service they created more than 30 years ago as a modest support operation. NPR, a member organization governed in part by local stations, is pumping $15 million into its news division over the next three years, using interest from a recent bequest...

I made the mistake of listening to NPR "Weekend Edition" this morning. What was I thinking? They had an interview about whether the the Swift Boat Veterans were telling the truth. Who did they choose to interview? The Editor of the Los Angeles Times! Yeah, he's objective.

Wednesday, August 11, 2004 NPR: Human Plant Life Is Sacred Here's a fitting juxtaposition of two stories NPR has run (so far) this week on "Morning Edition". The first, which ran on Monday, about "stem cell research", trumpeted science the technology industry's latest triumph: feeding embryonic stem cells with human placenta cells (instead of the industry standard of mouse skin cells). From such grisly irony new lines of stem cells have been produced, but, alas, these new lines will never receive federal funding (until Kerry is elected) because Bush decided on his own that killing human beings for personal...

Reviewing the Gulf of Tonkin Forty years ago, President Lyndon Johnson asked Congress to grant him power to use force in Vietnam. The events that led to the Gulf of Tonkin resolution have long been the subject of debate and controversy. NPR's Bruce Auster reports.

I wrote a brief amazon.com review of Garrison Keillor's "Homegrown Democrat," one of the most vile, bigoted tracts published by a major publisher this year. Apparently the lefties have been voting against my review in droves! Please stop by and vote for it. Muchos Gracias!