Do you think NPR has a biased Liberal Agenda?

[H.Bear]

If so, you might find this refreshing:



http://www.npr.org/2013/03/19/174758723/facing-switzerland-gun-culture


What do you think about this story as far as it relates to proposed gun control legislation?

 

[JNieman]

I find them to be very fair and approach topics without bias or preconceived conclusions, which is what journalism should be. They interview some quite liberal people but they also interview some quite conservative people. The numbers of those interviewed may be more in favor of liberal, but these days I wonder if it's a self-fulfilling prophecy that the conservatives think they're liberal, and thus won't attend the shows. I like some of their radio personalities and hate others.

I think most people that call them liberal just don't understand what neutral means, and anything short of blind praise of conservative topics is considered an attack.

 

[tallwalker]

You guys are kidding right?

 

[blanepara9]

I listen to them everyday. The host and callers tend to be liberal leaning yes, but that is the reason I like them. It gets so damn annoying hearing host and callers hating everything liberals do (Hannity, Rush) are hating on everything that Republicans do (MSNBC). NPR tend to be not so obvious in there leanings as other tv or radio programs. Its just that the audience is largely liberal but the news stories dont allways follow along that line. I just cant listen to Diane Rehm's show though, Ive tried but its a hard pill to swallow.

 

[H.Bear]

You guys are kidding right?

Questions have no truth value. Please elaborate.

 

[H.Bear]

I find them to be very fair and approach topics without bias or preconceived conclusions, which is what journalism should be. They interview some quite liberal people but they also interview some quite conservative people. The numbers of those interviewed may be more in favor of liberal, but these days I wonder if it's a self-fulfilling prophecy that the conservatives think they're liberal, and thus won't attend the shows. I like some of their radio personalities and hate others.

I think most people that call them liberal just don't understand what neutral means, and anything short of blind praise of conservative topics is considered an attack.

I agree.

 

[JNieman]

I just cant listen to Diane Rehm's show though, Ive tried but its a hard pill to swallow.

She's the first one that came to mind when I mentioned hosts I hate. I can't stand that old bat.

 

[H.Bear]

HA!

I heard she's actually a man.

 

[bakerman]

I find them refreshing. The screaming from them left and right talkers gets nauseating

 

[themcfarland]

diane is actually very hard interviewer.. She has a disability in which she has throat spasms, she is not really as old as she sounds.. she is a working person like us..

The interviews today, surprised me some, but the damn coroner willing to give up his gun cause he did not was to be part of the problem but the solution made me turn it off, I may not turn it back on.. I have listened to NPR for 20 years for hours at a time, across many hundreds of thousands of miles..

 

[alex]

NPR has been the only radio station that I can tolerate for more than 10 minutes at a time.

 

[tallwalker]

NPR has some top notch programming. No doubt about that part. I think that it does cripple itself by not allowing itself to thrive on it's own in the marketplace like any other media. It is funded in part by government subsides (taxpayer dollars) and thus cannot really be considered in any way "neutral" or "mainstream" in it's policy or slant the way a competing private broadcaster that actually has to compete can. Personally, i think that much of their programming would do far better without the stigma. Private donations would also likely increase as a result. The obvious propaganda would be left behind. Everybody wins. The marketplace has a way of weeding out chaff and letting the wheat flourish. There's a whole lot of chaff from my point of view.

 

[JNieman]

The marketplace is what has given us the /current/ Mainstream media.

How exactly is it you think that's /good/ ?

We don't /need/ more Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, Piers Morgan, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, and the other assholes who just play up emotions, make a career of enraging audiences, playing on fears and angers, and paranoias...

I think it's the ability to be run without some manager looking to maximize ratings/profits/ad-revenue that allows it.

 

[tallwalker]

The marketplace is what has given us the /current/ Mainstream media.

How exactly is it you think that's /good/ ?

We don't /need/ more Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, Piers Morgan, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, and the other assholes who just play up emotions, make a career of enraging audiences, playing on fears and angers, and paranoias...

I think it's the ability to be run without some manager looking to maximize ratings/profits/ad-revenue that allows it.

The marketplace allows individuals the choice to decide what they "need" for themselves, and ignore others if they wish. Those evil profits are what puts food on most people's tables.

 

[JNieman]

diane is actually very hard interviewer.. She has a disability in which she has throat spasms, she is not really as old as she sounds.. she is a working person like us..

The interviews today, surprised me some, but the damn coroner willing to give up his gun cause he did not was to be part of the problem but the solution made me turn it off, I may not turn it back on.. I have listened to NPR for 20 years for hours at a time, across many hundreds of thousands of miles..

I did not know that about her, but I don't have a problem with her voice. Interesting voices are easier to listen to than fake monotones or obvious character-acting, for me. I just don't like /what/ she says and how she approaches some things. She has had some good interviews, but most I did not appreciate.

 

[JNieman]

The marketplace allows individuals the choice to decide what they "need" for themselves, and ignore others if they wish. Those evil profits are what puts food on most people's tables.

I don't care about the food on tables, I care about the product. Your response didn't really address any points I made.

 

[oleheat]

I listen to NPR when I have trouble sleeping.


It works.

 

[Ellis1958]

If so, you might find this refreshing:

http://www.npr.org/2013/03/19/174758723/facing-switzerland-gun-culture

What do you think about this story as far as it relates to proposed gun control legislation?

To keep the thread on track to what the OP wanted I did as he asked, read the NPR article.

Overall the article was balanced. Even to this right wing individual.

One tell of the lefts agenda is the statement "It's not a private problem when someone in the family is killed, it's a public problem," she says. "The Swiss government has the responsibility to protect people." To this end the Swiss government is being pressured to initiate gun registration. Countered with gun registration is ineffective as criminals won't register their guns.

Trying to compare the Swiss to the USA is a bit difficult. The cultures are different. For example what would you say if here in the USA it was policy for each soldier, after being discharged from service, to bring home his M4? Yeah the full blown select fire short barrel model. From a purely national defense and individual Liberty standpoint I would support it. Would it work in reality here? Not a chance. Not without following the full blown gun registration and tax stamp requirements of the 1934 National Firearms Act. The Swiss don't have such firearm registration model.

Another difference in cultures is the every 5 year government sponsored Schützenfest. Billboards showing sponsors such as beer companies, and McDonalds, along with guns and targets. Shock to us. Normal for them. http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2010/07/02/the-swiss-federal-schutzenfest-shooting-party-2010/

In a nutshell, gun control doesn't do a thing to prevent crime. Prime example is when I visited Belize last year. Individual gun ownership is highly restricted. You have to apply to law enforcement to get a permit and show good cause. The local whispered that if money isn't passed under the table your application will get denied. Once you spent the year of chasing down a permit you can finally get your gun. Handgun, caliber no larger than 9mm, no rifles.

So with guns being so restricted you would think crime (at least crimes committed with guns) would be low. Wrong. Every night I would watch the local news and somebody was getting shot. According to the Department of State, Belize has a homocide rate of 46 per 100,000 people. That is 10 times the USA rate. Most of it is a byproduct of drug and human trafficking. However one dude was shot over an arguement over a bicycle. The bad actors are going to be bad regardless of what laws are passed. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1055.html and http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/table_16_rate_number_of_crimes_per_100000_inhabitants_by_population_group_2011.xls

So where does that bring us? There are 20,000 gun laws on the books already. We, the good people who keep and bear arms responsibly, will feel the brunt of any new legislation. It won't affect the bad guys one bit. We have given up enough already. Not an inch.

 

[JNieman]

It is hard to compare the US to Swiss-land, but gun advocates try to do it all the time. I don't think it's relevant to compare us to any other country - there are too many differences in culture for it to be relevant.

I was happy to see an article approaching it rather neutrally... speaking about how safely and respectfully they adhere to the program, mentioning the reality of the down sides, and mentioning that they do have "their version" of an NRA and how they are approaching it.

To me, the short and long of it is: There's more information in that article on more individual subtopics than gun lobbyists or gun control advocates have ever shown, which was nice.

 

[benorth]

While it is left leaning, I listen to it daily. However, I also listen to some of the more conservative programming as well.