You should check out 'All Things RE-Considered' on YouTube (made by Peter Boghossian and Matt Thornton, and others) to see some glaring examples of poor journalism. They're honestly good for a laugh. I also have not listened to NPR for years now. My family grew up listening to it every week. It's rather sad.
It's clear that both the crazy right and the crazy left have given up on analyzing issues individually based on facts and are in herd mentality mode. As a lifelong Democrat who always thought he was mildly liberal I am most disappointed in the wokeness epitomized by the current NPR and my own party. Men can actually become women. Our borders should be open to billions. We discriminate against whites, Asians and men to counter past discrimination against others.
Children should be mutilated in pursuit of the impossible. Crime and homelessness destroy liberal cities because politicians won't say no to destructive behavior. The list goes on and on. Enough.
Thank you! Appreciate this. An episode on 1A was also the last straw for me. On this episode a man identifying as a woman was interviewed. Jen did not question any of his false proclamations. When she read email comments, they were all from people (who sounded like parents) pushing back and asking the questions Jen should have asked. I assumed that the email comments were overwhelmingly (100%?) questioning or they would never have even been chosen. Jen batted the comments aside. She was utterly obsequious to her guest.
I too once listened religiously. I appreciate your attention to the lack of representation from working people, which I suppose reflects the general indifference and often contempt toward people who depend on hourly wages. I stopped around the time of the 2016 election when I realized NPR like ever other mainstream organization was going to suppress Bernie and pretend that Hillary was the only choice. For me, news organizations showed what they were about during that primary fight.
I found your argument very convincing. Turning against npr was gradual for me, too, but you showed the change convincingly. Yes to your Conclusion. It is indeed great and reassuring to hear the alternate points of view in the new blogs & substacks but it would sure be best if we had genuinely unbiased coverage with the broad & widespread reach (and loyalty) the old npr had.
I used to enjoy some parts of NPR. It has indeed shifted farther and farther left in parts.
Most Indian Americans learned about America tuning in to CNN or NPR and pattern matching to arrive at general concepts. Very superficial but who has the time for a deeper less biased dive? Plus, this seemed to be what the educated upper class peers listened to. The ones to aspire to be like as new immigrants.
I listened to NPR over roughly the same period, bowing out a little before you did. Similar thoughts all around.
The minimum wage segment you describe seems a unicorn, since most NPR reporting would have had token business representation at best. In this critique, you also seem to be asking NPR to take a moral stand, which contradicts your preference elsewhere of journalism laying out all viewpoints.
Nevertheless the overall critique hits home. I finally switched it off when I realized every single story had a bent about some protected category group, or similar. It had left the world of fact gathering in favor of a collectivist world view.
My takeaway is that NPR represents the tastes and interests of the upper middle class, leavened by interest in "racialized" people. So, disdain for people who cannot survive on minimum wage is par for the course, in the segment I mentioned and, for example, lack of concern for how illegal immigration affects those same people.
As for taking a moral stand, it is not mutually exclusive to covering all sides of an issue.
You should check out 'All Things RE-Considered' on YouTube (made by Peter Boghossian and Matt Thornton, and others) to see some glaring examples of poor journalism. They're honestly good for a laugh. I also have not listened to NPR for years now. My family grew up listening to it every week. It's rather sad.
I did watch those videos when they first came out. They validated what I had been feeling.
It's clear that both the crazy right and the crazy left have given up on analyzing issues individually based on facts and are in herd mentality mode. As a lifelong Democrat who always thought he was mildly liberal I am most disappointed in the wokeness epitomized by the current NPR and my own party. Men can actually become women. Our borders should be open to billions. We discriminate against whites, Asians and men to counter past discrimination against others.
Children should be mutilated in pursuit of the impossible. Crime and homelessness destroy liberal cities because politicians won't say no to destructive behavior. The list goes on and on. Enough.
Thank you! Appreciate this. An episode on 1A was also the last straw for me. On this episode a man identifying as a woman was interviewed. Jen did not question any of his false proclamations. When she read email comments, they were all from people (who sounded like parents) pushing back and asking the questions Jen should have asked. I assumed that the email comments were overwhelmingly (100%?) questioning or they would never have even been chosen. Jen batted the comments aside. She was utterly obsequious to her guest.
Thank you for sharing this well-written essay. I particularly like how you illustrated your changing perception over time with examples.
I too once listened religiously. I appreciate your attention to the lack of representation from working people, which I suppose reflects the general indifference and often contempt toward people who depend on hourly wages. I stopped around the time of the 2016 election when I realized NPR like ever other mainstream organization was going to suppress Bernie and pretend that Hillary was the only choice. For me, news organizations showed what they were about during that primary fight.
I found your argument very convincing. Turning against npr was gradual for me, too, but you showed the change convincingly. Yes to your Conclusion. It is indeed great and reassuring to hear the alternate points of view in the new blogs & substacks but it would sure be best if we had genuinely unbiased coverage with the broad & widespread reach (and loyalty) the old npr had.
NPR has always been the PMC on the radio.
Just that NPR has only become more smug, condescending and self-satisfied as the PMC has cemented its class hegemony.
Very interesting.
I used to enjoy some parts of NPR. It has indeed shifted farther and farther left in parts.
Most Indian Americans learned about America tuning in to CNN or NPR and pattern matching to arrive at general concepts. Very superficial but who has the time for a deeper less biased dive? Plus, this seemed to be what the educated upper class peers listened to. The ones to aspire to be like as new immigrants.
I stopped because of anti Israel bias. I can’t imagine what they are doing now
What a joy to read your account of an immigrant’s view of NPR. Thank you for giving us your perspective!
I listened to NPR over roughly the same period, bowing out a little before you did. Similar thoughts all around.
The minimum wage segment you describe seems a unicorn, since most NPR reporting would have had token business representation at best. In this critique, you also seem to be asking NPR to take a moral stand, which contradicts your preference elsewhere of journalism laying out all viewpoints.
Nevertheless the overall critique hits home. I finally switched it off when I realized every single story had a bent about some protected category group, or similar. It had left the world of fact gathering in favor of a collectivist world view.
My takeaway is that NPR represents the tastes and interests of the upper middle class, leavened by interest in "racialized" people. So, disdain for people who cannot survive on minimum wage is par for the course, in the segment I mentioned and, for example, lack of concern for how illegal immigration affects those same people.
As for taking a moral stand, it is not mutually exclusive to covering all sides of an issue.