[Peace-discuss] Defund 'National Propaganda Radio'

[C. G. Estabrook]

Begin forwarded message:

> Unable to Get Simeone Fired, NPR Drops "World of Opera"
> By David Swanson
> http://warisacrime.org/content/unable-get-simeone-fired-npr-drops-world-opera
> Yesterday, NPR's PR flack was haranguing me on the phone about how  
> NPR had nothing to do with getting Lisa Simeone fired from an  
> independent program called Soundprint.  This was despite NPR having  
> gone public with its concerns over Simeone's "unethical"  
> participation in democracy, and Soundprint's referencing of NPR's  
> "ethics" rules in firing Simeone.  It was also despite NPR's clear  
> intention to get Simeone removed from our airwaves.
>
> I have no evidence that NPR contacted Soundprint, but "World of  
> Opera" is a different story.  Today I read that NPR has dropped  
> distribution of "World of Opera," a program produced by WDAV which  
> contracts with Simeone to host it.  NPR's original frantic email and  
> blog post had read:
>
> "We're in conversations with WDAV about how they intend to handle  
> this. We of course take this issue very seriously." (The issue of  
> participating in a democratic society and not backing a corporate  
> agenda like bigshot NPR hosts who opinionate on Fox, in op-eds, and  
> at big business speaking events for big bucks.)
>
> Lisa was told to be on a phone call with NPR and WDAV Thursday  
> morning, but NPR canceled the call without telling her, as she  
> waited by the phone.  NPR's Anna Christopher Bross tells me that NPR  
> spoke with WDAV about how to handle Simeone.  She says they went  
> through many possible scenarios, and that NPR has been completely  
> transparent.  I asked her what any of the scenarios were, and she  
> refused to say.  I asked if one of them was the only one anyone has  
> discussed, namely firing Simeone, and she wouldn't say.  But the  
> announcement by WDAV was "Ms. Simeone remains the host of World of  
> Opera."  The decision was not to fire her. NPR announced "Classical  
> public radio station WDAV says Lisa Simeone will continue to host  
> World of Opera." The decision was not to discontinue her.
>
> Now, unable to get Simeone fired, a decision which NPR would have  
> carefully blamed entirely on WDAV, our public radio thugs have taken  
> the only approach left to them if people who condescend to  
> supporting the political efforts of the poor are to be kept out of  
> public sight: NPR has dropped the program.
>
> Clearly Soundprint deserves its full share of condemnation in all of  
> this, and WDAV merits strong support.  WDAV will be distributing  
> "World of Opera" on its own and should have our backing.  But NPR  
> has lowered itself to the bottom rung of our communications system.   
> Mara Liaason can opinionate on Fox News while providing an objective  
> god's-eye view on NPR.  Scott Simon can publish opinion columns in  
> corporate newspapers while reporting the facts.  Cokie Roberts can  
> take corporate speaking fees that could cover most people's  
> mortgages without being perceived as in any way tarnished. But Lisa  
> Simeone cannot introduce operas while having taken the unforgivable  
> step of supporting a nonviolent movement on behalf of the lower 99%  
> of us.  Despicable.
>
>
> -- 
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> David Swanson is the author of "War Is A Lie"
>
> JOIN HIM IN DC OCTOBER 6TH AT http://october2011.org
>
> http://rootsaction.org
>
> http://warisacrime.org
>
> http://davidswanson.org
>
> http://facebook.com/pages/David-Swanson/297768373319
>
> http://twitter.com/davidcnswanson
>
> _______________________________________________

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