NPR Bans Employees From Jon Stewart's & Stephen Colbert's Rallies

[a kennedy]

?????? Did NPR say there was no participation in glenn beck's rally either???


NPR has reminded its employees that they are not allowed to participate in the upcoming rallies led by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

"NPR journalists may not participate in marches and rallies involving causes or issues that NPR covers, nor should they sign petitions or otherwise lend their name to such causes, or contribute money to them," Senior Vice President for News, Ellen Weiss, wrote in a memo Wednesday morning. "This restriction applies to the upcoming John Stewart and Stephen Colbert rallies."

NPR CEO Vivian Schiller forwarded the memo, sent initially to news staff, to the entire organization, telling employees that the note applied to "digital, programming/AIR, legal and communications" employees in addition to the news staff.

"However, no matter where you work at NPR you should be very mindful that you represent the organization and its news coverage in the eyes of your friends, neighbors and others," Schiller continued. "So please think twice about the message you may be sending about our objectivity before you attend a rally or post a bumper sticker or yard sign. We are all NPR."

Stewart and Colbert will host dueling rallies in Washington, DC on October 30. Stewart's "Rally to Restore Sanity" will go against Colbert's "March to Keep Fear Alive." The Huffington Post is sponsoring buses from New York to DC for the rallies.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/13/npr-bans-employees-from-j_n_761528.html

[rocktivity]

1. Are they sending reporters to COVER the rallies

or is this their excuse for not doing so?

:shrug:
rocktivity

[county worker]

2. This is so much bull shit. I was listening to NPR last week and one of it's sponsors was an

organization who's purpose was to cut government spending. I don't recall the web site listed but I thought this must be some political group sponsoring NPR. During the primaries I heard adds on local NPR for cutting government employee salaries and pensions.

I have never heard an add for unions or pro entitlement spending.

[NashVegas]

6. There Are Certain Things You Have To Accept If You Want to Work In Media

Chief among them is that you don't participate in your competitors' events. You may attend them, but you don't get to be part of the show, yourself.

[Tesha]

9. The Public Notice; they've paid for lots and lots of ads, err, "Endorsement Messages".

http://www.thepublicnotice.org/

Tesha

[county worker]

10. This is from their web site:

“Overspending isn’t helping the economy and it isn’t creating jobs. In reality, we’ve been burying the American people under a mountain of debt for the last decade.


“The good news for the U.S. is that we still have time to cut spending to avert disaster. However, this requires an amount of political courage currently lacking in Washington. A fiscal crisis could happen here; thinking it won’t has been the mentality of far too many nations…just before they tumble off the brink.”


Economists I listen to say we are not stimulating the economy enough and that we need a second stimulus and that the first one saved or created jobs.
I don't thing this group is non partisan. We spend too much on the military I think but I never here anyone call for cutting that!

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. Prpobably didn't have to worry about them going to the Beck rally

but it sounds like this is standard NPR policy - no attending events that NPR news will be covering.

And there's likely a shitload of NPR folk who would choose to go to these rallies.

[Supersedeas]

7. i wouldn't be so sure

[Warpy]

4. What their employees do on their own time is none of NPRs business

I can see forbidding employees in identifying uniforms from doing things the company doesn't approve of, but this is beyond the pale.

I'll bet you anything they didn't make the same pronouncement about Beck's Whitestock rally.

Management has overstepped its bounds and needs to be slapped down.

[Mendocino]

5. What's next?

Does Garrison Keillor have to have a Michelle Bachman tribute every week?

[WinkyDink]

8. Whoa. Talk about Freedom of Assembly. Not.