From AP: Ted Koppel Joining NPR

[Radio_Lady]

Ted Koppel Joining NPR
By FRAZIER MOORE, AP Television Writer
2 hours ago

Ted Koppel prepares for the taping of his last ...
NEW YORK - 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 give something back."

Koppel's deal is for one year.

"Ted and NPR are a natural fit, with curiosity about the world and commitment to getting to the heart of the story," said Jay Kernis, NPR senior vice president for programming. "The role of news analyst has been a tradition on NPR newsmagazines and there is no one better qualified to uphold and grow that tradition than Ted."

NPR, with 815 public radio outlets, draws almost 26 million listeners to the nearly 150 hours of programming it produces and distributes weekly.

(More at link:)

http://www.comcast.net/entertainment/index.jsp?cat=ENTERTAINMENT&fn=/2006/01/12/302485.html

[yodermon]

1. enh, they deserve each other. n/t

[Radio_Lady]

9. You don't care for public radio? Explain your comment, if you would.

[yodermon]

15. NPR has been drifting to the right.

More by what they fail to report than what they actually report. And a lot of bush/rightwing apologia goes unchallenged.

See this FAIR article from 2004:

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1180

That NPR harbors a liberal bias is an article of faith among many conservatives.... <snip> Despite the commonness of such claims, little evidence has ever been presented for a left bias at NPR , and FAIR’s latest study gives it no support. Looking at partisan sources—including government officials, party officials, campaign workers and consultants—Republicans outnumbered Democrats by more than 3 to 2 (61 percent to 38 percent). A majority of Republican sources when the GOP controls the White House and Congress may not be surprising, but Republicans held a similar though slightly smaller edge (57 percent to 42 percent) in 1993, when Clinton was president and Democrats controlled both houses of Congress. And a lively race for the Democratic presidential nomination was beginning to heat up at the time of the 2003 study.

Partisans from outside the two major parties were almost nowhere to be seen, with the exception of four Libertarian Party representatives who appeared in a single story (Morning Edition , 6/26/03).

Republicans not only had a substantial partisan edge, individual Republicans were NPR’s most popular sources overall, taking the top seven spots in frequency of appearance. George Bush led all sources for the month with 36 appearances, followed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (8) and Sen. Pat Roberts (6). Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Secretary of State Colin Powell, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer and Iraq proconsul Paul Bremer all tied with five appearances each.

Senators Edward Kennedy, Jay Rockefeller and Max Baucus were the most frequently heard Democrats, each appearing four times. No nongovernmental source appeared more than three times. With the exception of Secretary of State Powell, all of the top 10 most frequently appearing sources were white male government officials.

Other recent FAIR articles on NPR: http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=13&as_field_all=1&as_keywords=npr&x=11&y=11&as_order_by=order_date&as_order_by_direction=DESC

Note also that I'm speaking of NPR news shows only. Other Public Radio is fantastic (prarie home companion, this american life, fresh air, etc.)

[Radio_Lady]

16. When I volunteered for the Audience Services department, I had to

keep record from the public on what "side" they thought NPR was on.

It was always pretty well split -- about 50% of the people reported we were too left wing.
About 50% of the people reported we were too right wing.

I don't know how to tally the comments you make. When state funding evaporated here in Oregon, the station picked up many local contributors and sponsors. The ratings for both the TV and FM radio station are excellent.

I'm not an employee, just a volunteer. I don't think there are any Republicans in the lunch room. The station has a union, but I have no idea how effective they are. Some members have grumbled about changes in health coverage, the station did let about 15% of its personnel go a year or two ago.

[Exiled in America]

25. Basically means you're doing a good job.

(nt)

[Exiled in America]

26. people have been claiming that for as long as the right's said its left

[mitchum]

29. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has been leading the fight...

against low power transmission for over two decades now.
I think of them as the DLC of "progressive" radio

[PretzelWarrior]

2. exxxxcellent. nice move for both. looking forward to his Discovery

Channel show as well.

[LisaM]

3. I think he'll be a good fit

He can help plug the hole that was left when they fired Bob Edwards.

[depakid]

4. "Ted and NPR are a natural fit,"

That much I agree with.

NPR today is nothing more than an extension of the rest of the right wing media.

[Orsino]

5. Soon will be, anyway.

They still enjoy relative independence, but the Repubs are working on that.

[Radio_Lady]

6. Old broadcasters never die, they just go to NPR...

or PBS. Look, Ted has a lot to offer and I'm glad for him. I guess I was speaking about Bill Moyers (who doesn't host NOW anymore). Then, there's Jim Lehrer and Charlie Rose. (It must have been 1981 when I was a guest on Charlie's show -- as founder and first president of the group Mothers Without Custody.) I still watch Charlie Rose some nights, but he's on at 12 Midnight here and I don't usually stay up that late.

I volunteer for the NPR-PBS outlet in Portland, Oregon. As a non-employee, I have a lot of fun reviewing books and movies and just BSing with anybody I want to for 50 minutes a week.

On edit: Looks like he'll be on the radio side. I always forget that NPR means National Public RADIO (not TV). Sorry I misspoke a bit above. I thought he would do something for the television business.

OT: Anyone heard anything about Aaron Brown resurfacing any place?

See you at the DU,

Radio_Lady

[medeak]

8. agree

and good for you..my kid lives in Portland. can he be an intern? ;-)

[Radio_Lady]

11. Have him call Oregon Public Broadcasting directly --

and ask for the Volunteer Department -- I think the basic number is 503-244-9900. He can tell them he wants to know more about volunteering or interning at "Golden Hours" -- they are always looking for people to spend some time. "Golden Hours" is broadcasting an Internet audio service which is also heard on a sub-channel of KOPB-TV.

They also may have other positions for students if he needs credit for school. (Sorry, but my 50-minute show is self-contained -- I produce and host, and record it at the ungodly hour of 8 AM on Fridays. I don't have a need for an intern.)

For your information, "Golden Hours" is a 24/7 English-language audio broadcasting service. It is heard locally in Oregon and southern Washington through the auspices of KOPB-TV (Channel 10) as an SAP (Secondary Audio Programming) feature by way of the listener's TV set. Our primary available audience is estimated at 80,000 to 100,000 persons in both Oregon and southern Washington.

"Golden Hours" is also streamed on the Internet. To hear sample programming on the Internet, go to: http://www.opb.org/programs/streams

In the SECOND PARAGRAPH, choose from among several media players. This will connect you to the Internet stream of "Golden Hours."

You may also view the full "Golden Hours" program schedule at: http://www.omnimedianetworks.org/textschedule.htm

In peace,

Radio_Lady in Oregon

[OldLeftieLawyer]

23. Their independence is already gone

The appointees made by Fuckface are all rightwingnuts, loyal to The Family And The Message, and they've already turned NPR into a rightwing mouthpiece.

[Orsino]

33. Not yet.

I still hear NPR willing to ask some of the hard questions, lending credence to some lefty views. To that extent, NPR is still preferable to any of the major networks, and is no mere neocon PR agency.

My impression, though, is that the distinction is fast disappearing.

[Radio_Lady]

17. Here's a recent study by a UCLA professor on media bias:

From: http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/page.asp?RelNum=6664

Media Bias Is Real, Finds UCLA Political Scientist

Date: December 14, 2005

While the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal is conservative, the newspaper's news pages are liberal, even more liberal than The New York Times. The Drudge Report may have a right-wing reputation, but it leans left. Coverage by public television and radio is conservative compared to the rest of the mainstream media. Meanwhile, almost all major media outlets tilt to the left.

These are just a few of the surprising findings from a UCLA-led study, which is believed to be the first successful attempt at objectively quantifying bias in a range of media outlets and ranking them accordingly.

"I suspected that many media outlets would tilt to the left because surveys have shown that reporters tend to vote more Democrat than Republican," said Tim Groseclose, a UCLA political scientist and the study's lead author. "But I was surprised at just how pronounced the distinctions are."

"Overall, the major media outlets are quite moderate compared to members of Congress, but even so, there is a quantifiable and significant bias in that nearly all of them lean to the left," said co‑author Jeffrey Milyo, University of Missouri economist and public policy scholar.

The results appear in the latest issue of the Quarterly Journal of Economics, which will become available in mid-December.

[depakid]

18. That study's a joke

I already looked at it. The methodology and the metrics are flawed.

Give me a nice grant, and I'll come up with pretty well any conclusion you want- and I'll have some math and models to back it up.

[AX10]

20. See my post below.

.

[AX10]

19. I am mistaken. Now I see, UCLA is a crap box school in the league of...

Bob Jones University. I want to see the exact details as to how the media alledgedly, "leans left". How the HELL can they say that Drudge "leans left". He's a right wing as they get.
Also, look at who the media portrays members of the Democratic party. They are constantly belittled from the media by talking points from the Right Wing echo chamber.

[Lorien]

22. Rot

my next door neighbors are reporters for PBS, and I've met many of their co-workers. They ARE all liberals, but the manager of the PBS station down here is a hardcore Right Wing neo-con. The reporters complain that they are kept on a tight leash, and only are allowed to report "portions" of a story. Being informed DOES make one liberal, but that doesn't mean that liberal issues are being heard in the MSM.

[mitchum]

30. Exactly! I always use the analogy of the old Ford Motor plants...

The vast majority of the assembly line workers wre pro-union Democrats, but that sure as hell didn't mean that the Fords and other executives were. I don't remember the company ever unveiling the "Comrade" model

[stepnw1f]

7. Another RW Hack

Sorry, but I don't get your optimism.

[PretzelWarrior]

10. He's not a right wing hack. He'll be better on these shows

he was clearly being muted by the management the past few years. I remember his shows even as recently as 99 were great. He went downhill terrifically when ABC and company were angling for FCC revision on media ownership and it never got better.

[Radio_Lady]

12. I agree totally, Pretzel.

Hopefully, he will thrive in the new work environments. As long as he's a healthy 65 year old, why shouldn't he continue on?

[AX10]

21. I hope so. Since 2000, he has been plain crappy.

NightLine used to be a good show about 10 years ago. We'll see what happens.

[mitchum]

31. He'll just be muted by his new management

[Submariner]

13. Oh goody!

I can't wait to hear more of his bullshit about how Clinton would have invaded Iraq after 911. Ted, take your airhead daughter off CNN and go live on an island somewhere. Don't further spoli NPR.

[Radio_Lady]

14. Not going to bite at that one, Submariner.

Have a good day in Massachusetts, our former home state.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

24. how long til he books kissinger

and sticks his head up henry's ass, only this time on the taxpayer dole?

[Hardrada]

28. Good point!

TK was always one of the Establishment. People who do NOT have OUR best interests at heart. And God help the civilians of any nations we get pissed at.

[leesa]

27. Who cares? Another GOP whore.

[msgadget]

32. Thanks for that update

on Koppel's next move. I don't always like him or his conclusions but he sometimes covers things no one else is. Maybe his name will help with fundraising and public radio can continue to strive to serve the public without undue influence. I was a bit taken aback when Wal Mart became a sponsor but I still hear reporting about the negative activities at Wal Mart so... The only time I had any doubt about NPR was immediately following the '04 election when public concerns were not seriously addressed for a few days. I remain a fan.