[Peace-discuss] [sf-core] Fwd: Save NPR and PBS

Tue Mar 8 15:28:26 CST 2011

 From 
<http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/npr-executive-caught-calling-tea-partiers-racist/?partner=rss&emc=rss>: 

      NPR Executive Caught Calling Tea Partiers ‘Racist’

Ron Schiller, the NPR executive, was caught on tape by a conservative provocateur...

Mr. Schiller, whose job is to solicit non-federal funding for NPR, says it is 
“very clear” that the organization would be “better off in the long-run without 
federal funding”...

On 2/19/11 1:25 PM, C. G. ESTABROOK wrote:
> http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4252
>
> "How to Save Ourselves From the 'Save PBS' Routine" 2/18/11:
>
> ...A rival to Fox News Channel could be launched with the list of conservatives
> who have hosted or produced shows on public television over the years...
>
> ...public TV's habit of survival through capitulation becomes more ingrained...
>
> ...it would only be a matter of time until PBS would need to be saved once again
> — most likely at the cost of yet more concessions to the right...
>
>
> On 2/19/11 9:44 AM, C. G. ESTABROOK wrote:
>> Andrew--
>>
>> It's good that CPB has sometimes contributed to good programming, but that
>> doesn't seem to be an adequate reason to support it when its purpose is to be
>> something like a general pacification program for electronic media. It's surely
>> no accident that DN! takes no CPB money.
>>
>> Of course CPB is hardly the sole reason that formerly alternative stations -
>> WBAI, KPFA, and of course sad WEFT, locally - are so noticeably decadent today.
>> But it's helped: it was obviously the goal of the 'liberal' funders. The
>> successful attempt of the Clintonoids to bring down Pacifica, ur-alternative
>> radio, should have made the liberal media strategy clear. Similarly to other
>> areas with no left alternative, the liberals could relax into the posture that
>> they are the only thing holding off yahoo-commercial right-wing talk radio -
>> just as Obama is the only thing that stands between us and the fell clutches of
>> Sarah Palin. ("Always keep ahold of Nurse / For fear of finding something
>> worse...")
>>
>> Compare the situation with alternative media a generation ago. The attempt to
>> break thorough the carapace of the peculiar American control of the press - see
>> "Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media" (1988) -
>> produced the "underground press" during the American assault on SE Asia, which
>> set new standards of news and cultural reporting. It's hard to imagine its being
>> supported by a "Corporation for Public Journalism" in its heyday, for obvious
>> reasons. (Eventually of course business forces eviscerated it, but that took
>> some time - about a decade.)
>>
>> "The power to tax is the power to destroy" has been an American bromide for two
>> centuries, but it's also obviously true that the power to fund is the power to
>> debilitate, and it's hard to say that hasn't happened in alternative media when
>> community radio stations have become little more than advertising agencies for
>> commercial music producers. It's not just news and public affairs that have been
>> debased in alternative radio, but cultural programming as well. As Brecht
>> pointed out, "For art to be 'unpolitical' means only to ally itself with the
>> 'ruling' group."
>>
>> Money from CPB may occasionally largely by accident accomplish something good,
>> and there is no reason to refuse those moments. But to support it
>> whole-heartedly is to accept alms for oblivion...
>>
>> Much better to spend the energy, e.g., in trying to overcome the effective
>> censorship imposed on Al Jazeera in the US.
>>
>> Regards, Carl
>>
>> On 2/12/11 11:51 AM, "Dr. Andrew Ó Baoill" wrote:
>>> I think it's also important to understand that "defund NPR and PBS" is
>>> shorthand, designed to explain the proposal in terms of 'retail level' brands
>>> the general public will know (and, generally, feel fondly towards). The
>>> actual plan is to zero out funding for CPB, which is the main public entity
>>> that provides funding not just for NPR and PBS, but also for Pacifica and
>>> many community radio stations.
>>>
>>> There's been continual debate over the merits (and impact) of the CPB's
>>> approach to supporting non-commercial broadcasting, but are critics of the
>>> current approach - who, perhaps, want more funding for locally-oriented
>>> programming, or more programming that undertakes critical examination of our
>>> political and economic elites - really better served by shutting down all
>>> federal funding for non-commercial broadcasting? Are we really better served
>>> by a media system in which advertising, wealthy philanthropists, and
>>> individual subscription/donation (largely in that order) are the only sources
>>> of funding for our media system? What's the roadmap for restarting public
>>> funding (and ensuring such funding is 'better' focused than the current
>>> system?
>>>
>>> There are some exceptions out there: Democracy Now! does not receive CPB
>>> funding, though I'm not sure how many of their affiliates get CPB funding
>>> that is then available to fund their support for DN! (and, of course, the
>>> Pacifica Foundation, DN!'s largest funder, receives CPB funding).
>>>
>>> Andrew
>>>
>>> On 2011 Feabh 12, at 11:42, Mike Lehman wrote:
>>>
>>>> While I really can't dispute the criticisms of NPR (and PBS) and am
>>>> regularly disappointed by them, I think it's wholly counterproductive to
>>>> presume that the elimination of either would benefit those seeking
>>>> alternatives to the present system.
>>>>
>>>> Society needs more spaces where something other than FAUX News and
>>>> Corporate News Network prevail. It may not be a perfect space, and
>>>> certainly never enough to justifiably satisfy some critics, but eliminating
>>>> "public" broadcasting would serve FAUX and CNN, rather than weaken the
>>>> system that make the broader conversations our society needs so difficult.
>>>> Neither CNN or FAUX is subject to public pressure, while "public"
>>>> broadcasting is, however much it still falls short of what would be ideal.
>>>>
>>>> I can see people saying they won't lift a finger to help PBS and NPR. But
>>>> urging others to join the Republicans in helping eliminate one of the few
>>>> spaces left where a progressive argument at least gets aired from time to
>>>> time isn't something I consider to be an effective strategy to building
>>>> alternative media spaces that challenge the status quo.
>>>>
>>>> The masses of teeming apathy have to have someplace comfortable to start a
>>>> journey to alternative ways of looking at the world and our society.
>>>> Slamming the gate to the path to move from the garden of evil into the
>>>> garden of justice and peace is not going to cause more than a very few to
>>>> look to jump over the fence instead.
>>>>
>>>> And I doubt if either is going away, even if the Repugnicans/Tea Party get
>>>> their fantasy of eliminating both. They'll just become more dependent on
>>>> corporate cash -- and that will make all the things they are criticized for
>>>> worse.
>>>>
>>>> Far better to waste such physic and political energy on better alternatives
>>>> so that once people are roused from their sleep, they have a place to grab
>>>> a cup of coffee to steel their nerves to go beyond the conflicted American
>>>> dreamscape that PBS and NPR offer. Revolution is what we build, not what we
>>>> help reactionaries tear down. Mike Lehman
>>>>
>>>> On 2/11/2011 10:11 PM, David Johnson wrote:
>>>>> I have had no use for NPR ( National Public Radio ) and PBS TV for quite
>>>>> some time.
>>>>>
>>>>> Cases in point....
>>>>>
>>>>> The propoganda campaign they aired when Reagan died a few years ago (
>>>>> may his soul rot in hell ) that presented Reagan as an idolized icon,
>>>>> with NO counter view of Reagan and his disasterous foreign ( can you say
>>>>> " war crimes " ) policy and his disasterous neo-liberal /
>>>>> neo-conservative domestic policies.
>>>>>
>>>>> Then there was the coverage of the People's Historian Howard Zinn when
>>>>> he died a little over a year ago. The ONLY view about Howard Zinn
>>>>> presented on NPR was the trash job on Zinn done by David Howoritz.
>>>>>
>>>>> NPR is nothing but FOX " news " for the intelligencia.
>>>>>
>>>>> The reason of course for NPR's de-evolution is the ever increasing
>>>>> reliance over the years on corporate funding.
>>>>>
>>>>> I could care less if NPR goes off the air. It would be one less corporate
>>>>> news outlet. What suprises me is the large number of seemingly well
>>>>> educated and supposedly " compasionate and progressive " people who still
>>>>> listen to NPR's corpoarte trash and consider it an " opposition " and "
>>>>> objective " news source.
>>>>>
>>>>> David J.
>>>>>
>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "C. G. ESTABROOK"<cge at shout.net> To:
>>>>> "Belden Fields"<a-fields at uiuc.edu> Cc: "Walter
>>>>> Feinberg"<wfeinber at illinois.edu>; "Fred Coombs Fred Coombs"
>>>>> <coombs at rainbowtel.net>; "SFcore"<sf-core at yahoogroups.com>;
>>>>> <sadougla at illinois.edu> Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 9:01 PM Subject:
>>>>> Re: [sf-core] Fwd: Save NPR and PBS
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> National Propaganda Radio? Why?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> NPR reports on Obama's war in the Mideast probably don't differ
>>>>>> formally from official Russian accounts during their invasion of
>>>>>> Afghanistan. They would have discussed how can we get victory, how can
>>>>>> we destroy the terrorists, will this tactic work, will that tactic
>>>>>> work, we're losing too many soldiers and so on. We assume that no one
>>>>>> in the official Russian media asked, Do we have a right to invade
>>>>>> another country? And of course NPR doesn't do that either.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But NPR has far less excuse. With media under totalitarian control, if
>>>>>> you said the wrong thing you'd go off to the gulag. Here it's just
>>>>>> willing subordination to power. The result is no main-stream journalism
>>>>>> - even (particularly?) NPR - that goes beyond the college newspaper
>>>>>> cheering for the home team.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Chris Hedges prefaces his important new book, "The Death of the
>>>>>> Liberal Class," with a passage from Orwell's suppressed introduction to
>>>>>> Animal Farm:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "At any given moment there is an orthodoxy, a body of ideas which it
>>>>>> is assumed that all right-thinking people will accept without question.
>>>>>> It is not exactly forbidden to say this, that or the other, but it is
>>>>>> 'not done' to say it, just as in mid-Victorian times it was 'not done'
>>>>>> to mention trousers in the presence of a lady. Anyone who challenges
>>>>>> the prevailing orthodoxy finds himself silenced with surprising
>>>>>> effectiveness. A genuinely unfashionable opinion is almost never given
>>>>>> a fair hearing, either in the popular press or in the highbrow
>>>>>> periodicals" - and, he might have added, on highbrow radio.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> During the presidential campaign Obama said that the spectrum of
>>>>>> discussion in the United States extends between two crazy extremes,
>>>>>> Rush Limbaugh and NPR. The truth, he said, is in the middle and that is
>>>>>> where he is going to be - in the middle, between the crazies.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Obama has a way of telling the truth about his right-wing politics,
>>>>>> certain that no one will hear him. NPR certainly won't tell.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 2/11/11 7:55 PM, Belden Fields wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Begin forwarded message:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> From: Daniel Mintz, MoveOn.org Political Action
>>>>>>>> <moveon-help at list.moveon.org<mailto:moveon-help at list.moveon.org>>
>>>>>>>> Subject: Save NPR and PBS To: "Rev. Troy A.
>>>>>>>> Burks"<burkstroy at yahoo.com<mailto:burkstroy at yahoo.com>> Date:
>>>>>>>> Friday, February 11, 2011, 7:07 PM
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> <http://pol.moveon.org/nprpbs/?id=26078-17377114-0nf7g3x&t=1>"Congress
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>> must protect NPR and PBS and guarantee them permanent funding, free
>>>>>>>> from political meddling."
>>>>>>>> <http://pol.moveon.org/nprpbs/?id=26078-17377114-0nf7g3x&t=1>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Sign the petition
>>>>>>>> <http://pol.moveon.org/nprpbs/?id=26078-17377114-0nf7g3x&t=2>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Dear MoveOn member,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I guess we shouldn't be surprised.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> With Republicans back in charge of the House of Representatives,
>>>>>>>> *funding for NPR and PBS is in grave danger.* Again.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The Republicans just released their budget proposal, and it
>>>>>>>> *zeroes out funding for both NPR and PBS*—the worst proposal in
>>>>>>>> more than a decade.^1
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> They probably think that no one will notice these cuts in the
>>>>>>>> midst of so many others. But the millions of listeners and viewers
>>>>>>>> who rely on public broadcasting for "Sesame Street," "All Things
>>>>>>>> Considered," and independent journalism will notice.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> We need to tell Republicans that cutting off funding was
>>>>>>>> unacceptable last time they were in charge, and it's unacceptable
>>>>>>>> now.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Add your name to the petition to save NPR and PBS
>>>>>>>> <http://pol.moveon.org/nprpbs/?id=26078-17377114-0nf7g3x&t=3>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The petition says: "/Congress must protect NPR and PBS and
>>>>>>>> guarantee them permanent funding, free from political meddling./"
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Thanks for all you do.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> –Daniel, Amy, Michael, Wes, and the rest of the team
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> 1. "Beyond Reason on the Budget," /The New York Times/, February
>>>>>>>> 10, 2011 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/opinion/11fri1.html
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 5 million
>>>>>>>> members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And
>>>>>>>> our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip
>>>>>>>> in here
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> <https://pol.moveon.org/donate/email.html?id=26078-17377114-0nf7g3x&t=5>.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>>> PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/.
>>>>>>>> Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This
>>>>>>>> email was sent to Rev. Troy A. Burks on February 11, 2011. To
>>>>>>>> change your email address or update your contact info, click here
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>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------
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