Turning Off
NPR (National Government Radio)
I haven’t
watched the U.S.
network news for years. Occasionally I stumble back across Lester Holt or one
of the other stuffed shirts giving me the totally predictable and realize
nothing has changed. But I’ve listened
to National Public Radio, and its Minnesota
affiliate, MPR. Now I find myself more
and more turning it off. It is really
National Government Radio (“NGR”) but tries to convince some listeners to pay
for it. A very small sliver of listeners actually do. Very clever, that, pretending
to be the ‘people’s station!’ Only 16% of
the money comes from government funds and a smaller amount from listeners. Most of the money is from the ubiquitous foundations,
grants, investments, sponsorships and station programming fees. I.E.
brought to you by businesses – corporate executives of whom also sit on
the Board of Directors. It is not
actually ‘public’ by any estimate.
NGR is the
soothing version of propaganda. It’s
like warm milk, if you like that kind of thing – full of bovine antibiotics and
growth hormones, fed on corn instead of grasses – but hoping you don’t notice. Dulcet tones, reasonable personas, chirpy females, familiar
voices, low-key propaganda. The same
vanilla stable of ‘reporters’ and commentators fill the mics year after
year. I almost can’t tell them
apart.
Scott Simon is a name that comes to mind – Mr. Smooth, a friendly light-weight who proclaimed after 9/11 that even pacifists must support ‘the war on terror.’ Sylvia Poggioli – someone whose mission it was to report everything the Pope did – and not much more. She is a far cry from her anti-fascist father, and that must be what happens when you go to Harvard. Cokie Roberts, a neo-liberal commentator who slides between ABC News, “This Week With George Stephanopoulos” and NPR with ease. She is the daughter of Hale Boggs, a Louisiana Democrat. Shields & Brooks, the non-dynamic duo being paraded as the limits of acceptable opinion on NGR and on TV’s Public Broadcasting System (also known as the “Government Broadcasting System (GBS).” You are allowed two parties and two views, according to NGR. Commentators from every corporate think tank in Washington are a regular feature, from the Brookings Institution on down. As any review of ‘think tanks’ shows, all of them are in the pocket of some powerful business interest. Or well-paid anti-labor professors, giving their deep, quick thoughts on those uppity issues like $15 an hour, paying farm workers overtime or tax laws in Ireland. Then there are the generals...
Scott Simon is a name that comes to mind – Mr. Smooth, a friendly light-weight who proclaimed after 9/11 that even pacifists must support ‘the war on terror.’ Sylvia Poggioli – someone whose mission it was to report everything the Pope did – and not much more. She is a far cry from her anti-fascist father, and that must be what happens when you go to Harvard. Cokie Roberts, a neo-liberal commentator who slides between ABC News, “This Week With George Stephanopoulos” and NPR with ease. She is the daughter of Hale Boggs, a Louisiana Democrat. Shields & Brooks, the non-dynamic duo being paraded as the limits of acceptable opinion on NGR and on TV’s Public Broadcasting System (also known as the “Government Broadcasting System (GBS).” You are allowed two parties and two views, according to NGR. Commentators from every corporate think tank in Washington are a regular feature, from the Brookings Institution on down. As any review of ‘think tanks’ shows, all of them are in the pocket of some powerful business interest. Or well-paid anti-labor professors, giving their deep, quick thoughts on those uppity issues like $15 an hour, paying farm workers overtime or tax laws in Ireland. Then there are the generals...
Whether it
is the need for ‘no fly zones’ in Syria (getting ready for Hillary!), the
evilness of Russia and China, the ‘stupid’ people who voted for Brexit,
avoiding Bernie Sanders, loving Wall Street or just about any government position you can name, you
know where they stand, now and in the future. A practiced and well-modulated fake 'centrism' hides right-wing positions dressed up in comfy sweaters.
NGR was
notorious for its support for the oil wars in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iraq, and still toes every single
government position, in spite of what its own reporters sometimes dig up.
Coverage of any opposition to Israeli invasions of Gaza is limited to short interviews with PLO
figures, or a small ‘personal interest’ story, all to ‘balance’ their real
position. They banned the word ‘torture’
when referring to Bush’s ‘enhanced interrogation’ – something only U.S. networks
did. They advertise themselves as presenting
‘only the facts’ to dupe listeners into a pretense of ‘objectivity,’ but as
anyone who has studied journalism know, no outlet can claim real objectivity,
least of all these pretenders. The
cultural coverage seems to be part of the ‘fluff’ designed to hide their
political positions, even though its middle-brow and vapid content can be
painful on its own. Their early morning
book sessions seem designed to dig up literature that is as entertaining and
marginal as possible.
NGR (and the
GBS) are the prime propaganda vehicles aimed at liberals, according to statistics. After a while, the only way to handle NGR is
with satire. “Mourning Edition” and
“Some Things Considered” are their flagships.
Some of the most dreadful programs now?
Christa Tippit wrecking early Sunday mornings with her ersatz
‘thoughtful’ religiosity, hoping liberals can be lured back into the pews. “The Splendid Table” with Lynne Rosetto
Kasper, an upscale glutton’s guide to cooking and obsessing over food too much;
“The Puzzle Master” with Will Short – needlessly thoughtful NY Times puzzles,
for those of you who don’t live in Manhattan; “The Dinner Party Download,” trivial
shit Millennials can talk about when they have nothing to say at a party. It all screams ‘white middle class’ to the
point of irrelevance.
Shows like
‘On the Media” and “Marketplace” occasionally ask on-point questions, but they
never really nail the cow. The
propaganda view of U.S.
media or capitalism are not mentioned by either – though both hover in the
backgrounds like unmentionable ghosts. Now
that “Car Talk” is gone, and the post-Lutheran Lutheran and creaky singer
Garrison Keillor edging into the night, perhaps we can see NGR for what it
really is - warm, but poisoned, milk. So do this experiment. Every time you hear some right-wing, faux ‘centrist’
commentary on this station, turn the radio off. Wait 5
or 10 minutes, turn it back on again. Pretty soon you won’t be listening much.
Red Frog
August 29,
2016
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