Is it just me...or is NPR starting to really suck?

[fujiyama]

NPR is starting to suck more and more. It's like radio CNN. Too many corporate sponsors (I think I heard Cargill and various energy companies advertising the other day)...And then on that show at 8 pm eastern (I don't really know the name of the guy...he sorta has a canadian accent), but they had some discussion over the Iraq war and civilian casualties and really the conversation was so pointless. The war's morality and necessity wasn't even discussed. The guests were idiots and basically all agreed that "it's difficult to keep track". The only disagreemetn was whether it was important...then again I was half paying attention by then cuz the program sucked so much.

Then another day the host (substituting that other guy) was basically saying at begining that Kerry had no plan over Iraq, bla blah blah.

The station sucks. I have no other access to liberal/left leaning news on the radio that I know of out here in MI. Any suggestions? Air America isn't out here. I need something for my commute.

[LittleApple81]

1. You can stream Air America on the web.

http://www.airamericaradio.com/
That is what I do.

[xchrom]

2. it's been sucking so long

it's become professional at it.

[shockingelk]

3. We in MN had Katherine

Al's Katherine was on MPR before she left for ... greener pastures?

I like NPR. They seldom kowtow to the GOP lie machine.

[Hotdiggitydog]

5. I like it too...

NPR could truthfully use the "Fair and Balanced" moniker.

[Nomad559]

4. I need something for my commute

You can get Air America on XM Satellite Radio, channel 167.

Coming soon on Sirius Satellite Radio.

[indigo32]

6. I like them, though they are far from perfect

Do they miss the ball sometimes. Yes. But they make more of an effort than alot of news sources do, to get into the nuances of a story, and I personally don't want to be told what to feel about an issue unless it's an obvious editorial. They also aren't entertainment trying to pretend to be news. I love Air America. But sometimes I just want the news. Then I go to NPR. I don't know, maybe I'm just biased having grown up on MPR, it's home for me. But personally I think they cover more stories and in greater depth than CNN, MSNBC, or FOX ever will, without the tabloidism (for the most part).

As for the increasing sponsers, well thats a funding fact of life. They get VERY little from the Government at this point.

[western mass]

7. NPR President Kevin Klose, former Director of US propaganda

http://www.npr.org/about/people/bios/kklose.html

Kevin Klose is President and Chief Executive Officer for NPR.

Klose served successively as Director of U.S. International Broadcasting, overseeing the U.S. Government's global radio and television news services (1997-98); and President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), broadcasting to Central Europe and the former Soviet Union (1994-97). Klose first joined RFE/RL in 1992 as Director of Radio Liberty, broadcasting to the former Soviet Union in its national languages.
----------------------------------------

The head of NPR is the former director of U.S. government propaganda. NPR a bastion of the left... pu-lease. NPR is conservative wisdom made palatable for liberals. Gay/arts-friendly human interest stuff, right-wing-friendly political/economic reporting.

[DoYouEverWonder]

8. You mean National Propaganda Radio

Just because they say things in a refined voice with sugar coating doesn't mean that it's not propaganda.

It's really ashame. They are but a shadow of they're former selves. The big change started back when the repugs in Congress tried to cut off all of their funding in the late 90's. In order to survive, they started to try to be less liberal, and more fair & balanced. Now they gone so far in the other direction, that they've sold their souls in the process.

So it goes...

[Junkdrawer]

12. Kind of sad, ain't it? Like watching your grandmother become an alcoholic

after a long productive life.

[doni_georgia]

9. NPR is most balanced news progamming available

I love Air America, but it's not news - it's commentary. NPR is the best source of news as far as I am concerned because their news is very unbiased. Can't speak for all the programs available besides the news - they are different in each market.

[western mass]

10. NPR, the middle-to-conservative news source of choice

I listen to it all the time, if only because it's closer to "moderate" than any of the right-wing mainstream media and it's convenient.

NPR alone will leave you pretty ignorant. Plenty of supplements:

http://www.democracynow.org/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/

[tilsammans]

16. I wish . . .

Air America would provide more extensive news coverage, in addition to its commentary.

[lostnfound]

17. How can their news be unbiased when the source of their information..

frequently comes from Pentagon press releases?

Honestly I would have thought so too, but when the chips are down -- particularly foreign policy issues -- such as the US trying to topple Venezuela's government or the Haiti coup or the early days of the Iraq war -- close scrutiny will show that there are some areas that NPR never touches.

Starting with this concept:
The intentions of the US government are often far different than their stated goals.

Would they ever give Chomsky airtime?

What can't be learned from NPR is the depth of perspective or political thought on the other side of the curtain: 1) US government goals abroad are consistently to protect the interests of the elite; and 2) US corporations have very deep and broad control of our political process.

DemocracyNow! is great news and it is NEWS not commentary. It has a bias in its selection of newsworthiness, but the baseline of their show has integrated facts 1 & 2 above; and thus is much more valuable for seeing the world around us without corporate filters.

When I listen to NPR now it is mostly to understand what the educated mainstream in this country is getting exposed to. On international as well as domestic government issues, a year of listening to DemocracyNow/FreeSpeechRadioNews/Flashpoints consistently gave me many facts that were presented on NPR only months after the fact, if ever.

[0007]

11. It 'tis changing for sure

[Toucano]

13. As a long-time supporter and defender

I will confess that those Wal-Mart sponsorships (which include their lying propoganda tag line about supporting communities) are really starting to piss me off!

With the recess appointments Bush made to the Board, I suspect NPR could be unrecognizable by the fall.

[porkrind]

14. It bugs me that they have pledge drives

with the pretext that they are non-commercial and rely on donations to operate. This supposedly makes them more pure in the sense that they are not beholden to corporate advertising dollars, so that their news and programs won't be tainted with corporate bias.

The problem is that they have constant "Messages from proud sponsors," which are just really regular commercials. I like NPR for the non-political non-news shows, but NPR is NOT public radio. It's regular commercial radio. Their news is dull and sleepy, giving us the same old glossy corporate news lies as ABC or NBC. Sometimes, it's outright apologetic to the * administration.

It would be nice to have a real non-profit non-commercial public radio.

NPR is not as "pure" as they would like us to think.

[rock]

15. No, it's not just you

It has been sucking for some time now.

[DrBB]

18. I think that was "The Connection"

Dick Gordon is Canadian, but he has become a "soft" Bush booster. He's very proud of having gone to Iraq after the "liberation" and done a series of programs from there. All about how ordinary people are grateful for the takedown of Saddam. As well they should be. But it seems to have turned Gordon into an even more deluded version of Tom Friedman. I've sent him a couple of letters asking whether, when Chalabi is installed as "democratic-minded strongman," he will have the courage to admit that this whole enterprise is a cynical and corrupt failure.

Final straw for me was his program after Bush's press conference, last week. He had two analysts, carefully representing Both Views of Bush's performance. "Both" here meaning "He was incisive, inspiring, wonderful" (Commentator A), and "I agree!" (Commentator B).

[kodi]

19. we are no longer the customers for npr, now the sponsors are

and npr is looking after its customers.