[Peace-discuss] National Propaganda Radio

[C. G. Estabrook]

[Many people who consider themselves liberals take NPR seriously. They 
shouldn't.  --CGE]

	NPR Finds Right-Wing Crank to Spit on Howard Zinn's Grave
	David Horowitz in ATC obituary with substance-free attack

When progressive historian Howard Zinn died on January 27, NPR's All Things 
Considered (1/28/10) marked his passing with something you don't often see in an 
obituary: a rebuttal.

After quoting Noam Chomsky and Julian Bond, NPR's Allison Keyes turned to 
far-right activist David Horowitz to symbolically spit on Zinn's grave. "There 
is absolutely nothing in Howard Zinn's intellectual output that is worthy of any 
kind of respect," Horowitz declared. "Zinn represents a fringe mentality which 
has unfortunately seduced millions of people at this point in time. So he did 
certainly alter the  consciousness of millions of younger people for the worse."

Horowitz's substance-free attack contributed nothing to an understanding of 
Zinn's life or work, other than conveying that he's disliked by cranky 
right-wingers.  (Horowitz has been best known in recent years for his 
race-baiting and Muslim-bashing--Extra!, 5-6/02; FAIR report, 10/1/08.)  He 
seems to have been included merely to demonstrate that NPR will not allow praise 
for a leftist to go unaccompanied by conservative contempt.

Needless to say, it is not the case that NPR has a consistent principle that all 
its obituaries be thus "balanced." Take its coverage of the death of William F. 
Buckley, a figure as admired by the right as much as Zinn was on the left.  Upon 
his death in February 2008, NPR aired six segments commemorating him, none of 
which included a non-admiring guest.  In two segments, All Things Considered 
(2/27/08) presented the remembrances of Rich Lowry (Buckley's successor at 
National Review), his son Christopher and his biographer Sam Tanenhaus.

One of the All Things Considered segments did include a soundbite of Noam 
Chomsky debating with Buckley: "No, I don't believe that.... In fact I think 
that..." But what Chomsky did not believe was unclear, let alone what he 
actually thought.

Talk of the Nation (2/27/08) featured admirer William Kristol, while Day by Day 
(2/27/08) had an extended interview with protegee David Brooks. Morning Edition 
(2/28/08) just quoted Buckley himself.

The celebration of Buckley culminated with Weekend Edition host Scott Simon 
(2/29/08), who turned the cause of death into a eulogy:  "Emphysema, such an 
unseemly thing for a man who was so often a breath of fresh air."

In fact, there was much to criticize about Buckley, who was a supporter of, 
among other things, white supremacism in the U.S. South and South Africa, 
McCarthyism, nuclear war against China and the tattooing of AIDS patients' 
buttocks (Extra!, 5-6/08). Reporting his death, however, NPR didn't think it was 
worth bringing on a critic who would take a negative view. Why the same outlet 
took a different approach when the subject was an intellectual on the left 
rather than the right is perhaps something the NPR ombud could answer.

	###

-- 
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.