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Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

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Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#341

Post by Boogie_Man »

mcphage wrote: post #309
Boogie_Man wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want to be "that guy", but I often find myself as the "intolerable lib" in some situations and the "intolerable con" in others, so here we go: There is a degree of quasi-political messaging in PBS children's shows. I can say this because I've watched more hours than I'd like of several of them, but I'd like to focus on on Molly Of Denali. It's a good children's show about an inuit girl who lives in Alaska and…

> When I say it's political, I mean that it makes points without nuance on historical and current issues which range from widely accepted and important ideas [...] to what I would consider less widely agreed upon and important ideas Another example of this: when Mr. Rogers invited an African American neighbor to share his pool. It certainly wasn't widely agreed upon at the time.

I understand and sympathize with the desire to directly equate every current social issue no matter how small with a social issue from the past as part of a larger "chain of social progress" because I think it originates with the desire to correct past injustices and treat everyone with respect and decency.

I disagree that this is a useful or accurate way to engage in discussion about an entirely different and specific subject in an entirely different context. The only way they are related is with this "chain of social progress" framework, and even within that framework, they are not the same issue.

I perceive it to be a dismissive approach which shuts down conversation, and I think it's clear when viewed plainly in the opposite direction: "If you have concerns with any of the political messaging in children's shows, you would not allow a person of a different race into your swimming pool", or in a slightly different way, "If you have concerns about this you are explicitly the "bad guy"".

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#342

Post by aspenmayer »

dh2022 wrote: post #318
leviathant wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. If that's what you took from my post, I've miscommunicated. NPR has turned rightward. The entertainment shows are, without a doubt, liberal, on the American political spectrum. There are countless discussions and papers about the role empathy plays in successful entertainment. The editorial content has turned rightward - and the leadership has turned rightward. This has been ongoing for at least two decades, prob…

NPR was not rightward this past election, for sure. I don’t think NPR missed to report a single Kamala endorsement last fall.

I thought they meant NPR was generally neoliberal left of center, and their coverage has perhaps moved toward the center post-Obama while still being left of it.

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#343

Post by moralestapia »

pfortuny wrote: post #120
munchler wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ideally, it would be entirely non-commercial, funded by direct donations from the public.

That is not what "public" means in ordinary language. Public is intended to mean "supported by taxes". Support by donations is always dependent on the largest donor.

>Public is intended to mean "supported by taxes".

For you, probably, for me it means "from/for the people".

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#344

Post by jcoby »

atonse wrote: post #100
not2b wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rural stations relied heavily on CPB funding; urban stations get most of their funding from donations or corporate underwriting. So big city public TV and radio will survive, but those in less populated areas might go under unless some other source of funding is found.

I agree overall that this is not a good thing for also furthering a knowledge gap between rural and urban areas. But in the age of internet streaming, wouldn't rural areas still have access to stream public radio? Genuinely asking. I tried looking for sources on station audience sizes, alternatives they might have, etc. But it was difficult to find.

> But in the age of internet streaming, wouldn't rural areas still have access to stream public radio?

Sometimes streaming isn't an option. When Helene hit WNC we lost power, cell, internet, and water all at the same time. The local NPR stations were the only ones broadcasting updates on a regular cadence so we could learn what in the world was going on. And we're not far from downtown Asheville.

Some extremely rural areas only have spotty internet or no internet or cell at all and public radio is the only thing they have.

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#345

Post by autoexec »

bell-cot wrote: post #134
monero-xmr wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes it is so obviously misleading and incorrect that only the mainstream media could have perpetuated this unquestioned for decades. The federal money goes to member stations which then hands it right over to NPR to pay for programming, I believe it’s $500 per hour. It’s 1 layer of indirection but no one seemed to mention this in all of the reporting

> ...hands it right over to NPR to pay for programming, I believe it’s $500 per hour... So - does that mean a member station could just cut back on their NPR-sourced programming, then fill the air time by playing more Frank Sinatra, and broadcasting local HS football games, and such?

I suspect that many will be forced to close entirely now. Others may not longer be able to afford pay for NPR shows at all (they'd have to pay for both membership and individual shows), while others will have to fill their airtime with things besides news and other NPR programs

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#347

Post by thevillagechief »

nemomarx wrote: post #50
thevillagechief wrote: post #13

Woah! This stuff is unwinding faster than my priors. I'm going to have to re-evaluate everything I thought true about the US. I just always assumed "strong institutions" meant something here. That it was all a house built on sand is disconcerting.

Large groups voting for "tear it all down, we don't trust institutions" wasn't a sign for you back in 2016? what were your priors before this year?

My point here is that "strong institutions" were supposed to stem this tide. Of course, I should have thought through who made up these institutions. In some ways institutions kind of held up pretty well 2016-2020. Which is why I was a little less worried. But looks like that was a dry run. The efficiency with which this is happening now is shocking. Honestly, I'm kind of impressed. If we applied this much efficiency constructively in the US, we'd probably see post-war prosperity levels. I imagine even NASA would approach the 1960s productivity.

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#348

Post by legitster »

lenkite wrote: post #323
nabwodahs wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you cite specific examples of this "bias?"

> Can you cite specific examples of this "bias?" Read https://www.thefp.com/p/npr-editor-how-npr-lost-americas-tru... by NPR veteran that shows how NPR developed a left wing bias over time. Also at https://archive.is/H7QNM https://washingtonstand.com/news/npr-has-zero-republicans-87... NPR Has Zero Republicans, 87 Democrats on Editorial Staff

If you are going to reference Uri's interview, you should also reference the response from his former colleagues:

https://steveinskeep.substack.com/p/how-my-npr-colleague-fai...

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#349

Post by cogman10 »

heavyset_go wrote: post #172
atonse wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree overall that this is not a good thing for also furthering a knowledge gap between rural and urban areas. But in the age of internet streaming, wouldn't rural areas still have access to stream public radio? Genuinely asking. I tried looking for sources on station audience sizes, alternatives they might have, etc. But it was difficult to find.

Local reporting is basically dead outside of metro areas. Sure, you can stream, but the content will be focused on another locale or won't address local issues.

It's pretty dead even in metro areas.

My local NPR broadcasts rarely actually cover anything that's happening in like city or county politics. Heck, even talking about state politics is pretty rare.

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#350

Post by atonse »

buerkle wrote: post #237
setsewerd wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I've been bummed by how far NPR has swerved leftward, especially since 2016. Even ten years ago I liked tuning in because it was quality journalism that still made an honest effort to cover multiple sides of an issue, even if the topics they chose were primarily "liberal" topics. But yeah, now they seem just as tribal as Fox.

Not every side deserves to be covered for each story. This is the problem with major media today, they give equal opportunity to people that have no idea what they are talking about. It's like one side says 2+2=4, the other 2+2=5, and media gives them equal air time.

Can you point me to a good source that actually gives equal opportunity to multiple sides of a story? Because I rarely see that (regardless of which side), the whole reason why I subscribe to things like ground.news.
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