NPR sucks now.

[smartvoter]

15 minutes of news
A seeming eternity of listening to the sounds of a sparrow's wings
15 minutes of news
An inspirational look at mothers and their children
15 minutes of news
And in-depth look at how chemists are working on tomorrow's wood glue
15 minutes of news
Why today's string quartet is playing modern fare

ON EDIT:

Yes, it's still better than the MSM. But the frequency of non-news items is increasing. Perhaps the better way to say it is it sucks compared to the old NPR, which always went down odd paths here and there, but the news was more prominent during the "news" hours.

[SouthernDem2004]

1. Um, that is how it has always been. /nt

[smartvoter]

4. The frequency of non-news items has increased. nt

[SouthernDem2004]

9. Maybe but I have not noticed. /nt

[rurallib]

10. At least since January 2003 when Bob Edwards was 'let go'

[smartvoter]

12. Yes, it is the frequency of non-news items that is different. News

was much more prominent.

[flowomo]

2. I enjoyed those features....

why are they a problem? The thing about the percussive birds was cool.

[smartvoter]

16. Not the segment. The frequency of non-news items.

[flowomo]

17. oh, sorry. I took "sucks" to mean, like, "sucks."

[rurallib]

19. news is now slanted right. Used to be real news.

If you listen closely you can hear republican talking points woven into the news. Also, they now have 'experts' to comment on news who are very frequently from rught wing think tanks. The leanings of their employers are usually not mentioned, just the name of the think tank.(eg 'here to comment on the universal health care bill is Bill Bob of the American Enterprise Institute). As Bill Bob rips universal health care to shreds you are led to think that since this is NPR this commentator must be a lefty or nuetral when they are in fact uber-right.
Also, what's with Juan Williams and Mora Liason working for Fux and pretending to be nuetral????

[prodigal_green]

3. hee hee

sparrow's wings have ALWAYS been in the mix. When I worked in college radio in the late 1980s we did a spoof of NPR where random animal noises were dispersed throughout the show (special thanks to the BBC sound effects library).

[catzies]

5. That sounds great! No wonder I love NPR. That sparrow's wings recording

rocked.

Not trying to be mean, just pointing out everyone's tastes differ.

Chacon a son gout and all that.

[smartvoter]

7. I know. It's not the side steps, but the frequency of them. nt

[DS1]

6. Hey, that's a whole hour of news!

They work magic

[Montauk6]

You probably would've loved Gene Simmons' NPR rant when he was

interviewed in an uncharacteristically heated exchange with Terri Gross. The upshot was that at least he didn't run away like Bill "The Cowardly Liar" O'Reilly.

[smartvoter]

14. I am a lifelong listener. My gripe is that there is an increase in

non-news stuff happening during the news segments.

[Stephanie]

8. Worse is that new anchor

The news reader - Jean? - the one who is so in love with her own voice that she can't be bothered to understand what she is reading.

[Orrex]

11. Friday's All Things Considered

featured a 10 minute spot on flipflops in DC. That's actual flipflops, like the kind you wear on your feet when you're too lazy to put on your sandals.

That's the second complete story I've heard on ATC about flipflop footwear in the past two or three months.

And the ad for this past weekend's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" started off by saying (paraphrase) "John Robert was nominated two weeks ago, and still no one knows anything about him." No one knows anything?!? Bullshit! We know plenty, and none of it flattering, yet this seemingly liberal broadcast chose to stuff its head up its ass and pretend that Roberts is just another guy doing a job.

I know that neither of these programs is NPR, but they're broadcast in my area over the same public station. What a load of crap.

And this is this the kind of "left-leaning" Public Radio that the Right so demonizes? The Right should open its eyes and realize that ATC is one of the most Repub-friendly propaganda outlets in the media.

[etherealtruth]

13. I'd rather listen to that, than the non-news in Aruba ...

... or what ever the current "story-du-jour" in the MSM is.

[smartvoter]

15. Agreed. I still listen and still write checks.

[brak]

18. that is stuff i would not hear anywhere else.

I liked the sparrow segment this morning. The reason they played it is because there is an article either in Nature or Science (i don't remember which) discussing this. They often explain to the lay people in layman's terms things which are published in highly technical journals. I value that information.

[SmokingJacket]

20. It's like Weekend Edition used to be.

I can tolerate the filler on the weekend, even enjoy it in its place -- but it pisses me off to hear these long, long feel-good stories about nothing during prime news hours.