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Are there any Republicans who like NPR?

ascott

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I'm a registered Republican, but I mostly listen to NPR. Am I twisted, or are there others like me? I absolutely believe they're biased, but I'd much rather listen to something that I disagree with. I do however occasionally yell at my radio.
 
As a registered Republican, I rarely listen to NPR.
I think that they could and should be more center considering how they get paid.

BTW, put that Blog feed in your profile (USER CP > Edit Options) and it will always show your latest blog title. ;)
 
I'm a registered socialist and a Wobblie and I watch Fox News, that my friend is twisted.

Hah, but I do only watch it for a good chuckle.
 
ascott said:
I'm a registered Republican, but I mostly listen to NPR. Am I twisted, or are there others like me? I absolutely believe they're biased, but I'd much rather listen to something that I disagree with. I do however occasionally yell at my radio.

When I'm back home driving and no good music is on the radio (aka all the time), I love NPR. It's just so incredibly soothing...
 
vauge said:
As a registered Republican, I rarely listen to NPR.
I think that they could and should be more center considering how they get paid.

BTW, put that Blog feed in your profile (USER CP > Edit Options) and it will always show your latest blog title. ;)
I believe the majority of their funding is listener supported (I give $120 per year, $10 per month).

What I really enjoy about NPR is that there are virtually no commercials and the pieces they do are far more in depth than commercial radio.

While I agree they lean left, I disagree that they only portray liberal ideas. If you listen to Morning Edition or All Things Considered you would hear all types of opionions expressed fairly, the "opposing" point of view is not discounted or belittled like it is on commerical stations, be it FNC or Air America which are so obviously biased.
 
26 X World Champs said:
I believe the majority of their funding is listener supported (I give $120 per year, $10 per month).

What I really enjoy about NPR is that there are virtually no commercials and the pieces they do are far more in depth than commercial radio.

While I agree they lean left, I disagree that they only portray liberal ideas. If you listen to Morning Edition or All Things Considered you would hear all types of opionions expressed fairly, the "opposing" point of view is not discounted or belittled like it is on commerical stations, be it FNC or Air America which are so obviously biased.

I completely agree. I love the lack of commercials and depth they provide. Having spent time living in the UK, I have a very low tolerance for commericals.
 
I would not listen to that crap if you paid me. It kills me that our tax dollars fund it.
 
tr1414 said:
I would not listen to that crap if you paid me. It kills me that our tax dollars fund it.

I would rather our tax dollars NOT pay for it .. and it be available by subscription. However, I'm not sure what the current % of federal tax dollars going to NPR.
 
ascott said:
I would rather our tax dollars NOT pay for it .. and it be available by subscription. However, I'm not sure what the current % of federal tax dollars going to NPR.


I would wager it's somewhere on the scale of 0.0003% of federal tax dollars.
 
I'm sorry to tell you it's not... where did you pull that number from? Just a guess huh? I could not get through more than 10 min. of that liberal crap.
 
tr1414 said:
I'm sorry to tell you it's not... where did you pull that number from? Just a guess huh? I could not get through more than 10 min. of that liberal crap.

My question was how much of NPR's budget comes from the federal government, not how much of the federal government's money (ours) goes to NPR. tr1414, where do you get your news? Do you rely on any international sources such as BBC? If not, how can you be sure, you're getting a full picture?
 
tr1414 said:
I'm sorry to tell you it's not... where did you pull that number from? Just a guess huh? I could not get through more than 10 min. of that liberal crap.
So you're saying that you've NEVER listened to NPR? Is that correct? FOr if it is correct I do not see how your opinion of it has any validity? Do you also review movies you've never seen? Do you rate books that you've never read?

If you've given NPR a fair listen to, not only once, but periodiically so that you can actually form an opinion based on what you've heard not what you think they would say that would be reasonable. But your post(s) indicate that you have harsh opinions anytime you mention the word Liberal.

Do you think it makes sense to condemn a radio station without listening to it?
 
From Wikipedia (with no verification of its accuracy):
NPR makes some of its funding information public. According to the NPR Ombudsman, currently NPR makes just over half of its money from the fees it charges member stations to receive programming. About 2% of NPR's funding comes from bidding to government grants and programs (chiefly the Corporation for Public Broadcasting); the remainder comes from corporate underwriting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPR

From what I understand, NPR is so heavily dependent upon corporate sponsorship--that would be BIG corporations of course--it no doubt tries very hard not to irritate these sponsors. And as big corporations often tend to be generally anti-small business and pro-big government programs, etc., they tend to vote mostly more liberal and less conservative and this could have some influence on NPR's social and political programming.

I agree with the others that they do feature some superb cultural programming and I do sometimes tune in when there is nothing better on.
 
Hi.:2wave:

I don't think you 're alone. I think the more moderate--or socially liberal Republicans --may be more open to NPR than someone more conservative.

And, it seems they're making rightward stride recently. I've noticed a difference. They used to be such liberal propagandists I couldn't tolerate them. They are developing good "inside Iraq" stories and have at times produced segments that really ballyhoo some of Bush's acheivements, and that don't make it into the MSM.

Plus-- I enjoy Prairie Home Companion and several other of the weekend shows.:smile:
 
Sofia said:
Hi.:2wave:

I don't think you 're alone. I think the more moderate--or socially liberal Republicans --may be more open to NPR than someone more conservative.

And, it seems they're making rightward stride recently. I've noticed a difference. They used to be such liberal propagandists I couldn't tolerate them. They are developing good "inside Iraq" stories and have at times produced segments that really ballyhoo some of Bush's acheivements, and that don't make it into the MSM.

Plus-- I enjoy Prairie Home Companion and several other of the weekend shows.:smile:
Hi Sofia!

:wcm Keep coming back!
 
I have essentailly come to the conclusion that no matter what news source I watch or listen to there is always going to be a bias leaning one way or the other. Humans are inherently flawed, thus, bias will be prevalent in every medium.

I'm not a conservative, but I'm also not a liberal either but the way I see it, I will watch Fox News and CNN. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.
 
26XWorld-- Thank you for the nice greeting!!

SixString-- I agree with you. If a person is delivering, writing, editing...the news it will have some type and degree of bias. I came to the conclusion a few years ago that if I wanted a good idea of what was actually going on in the world, I needed to have several sources from different angles. I use CNN, Fox, BBC, MSNBC, Newsweek, Slate, NPR... I hope it provides me with a good balance. :mrgreen:
 
I should have mentioned that I watch more than just CNN and Fox News. I just decided to pick out to media sources that conservatives and liberals repsectively love to rail against.
 
As a registered Democrat, I certainly listen to NPR and certainly don't like everything they say. NPR seems to put a more neutral bias on the news than others. Yet now and then they say something nice about Bush and Cheney and I puke. I don't care for some of the dribble that comes from AirAmeica, and they are almost godlike. lol:beam:

I stopped listening to constant barage of lies and deception from fox, cnn, and msnbc. they are the propaganda machines for our present fascist anti-american government :doh :2razz:
 
AlbqOwl said:
From Wikipedia (with no verification of its accuracy):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPR

From what I understand, NPR is so heavily dependent upon corporate sponsorship--that would be BIG corporations of course--it no doubt tries very hard not to irritate these sponsors. And as big corporations often tend to be generally anti-small business and pro-big government programs, etc., they tend to vote mostly more liberal and less conservative and this could have some influence on NPR's social and political programming.

I agree with the others that they do feature some superb cultural programming and I do sometimes tune in when there is nothing better on.

What are you saying? Are you arguing that big corporatons have a liberal bias, and because of big business's massive impact on NPR's funding, NPR has a liberal bias.

You're making an impossible to back up argument there. Hell, I'm a conservative, and I wouldn't even try to claim that big business is liberal...
 
RightatNYU writes
What are you saying? Are you arguing that big corporatons have a liberal bias, and because of big business's massive impact on NPR's funding, NPR has a liberal bias.

You're making an impossible to back up argument there. Hell, I'm a conservative, and I wouldn't even try to claim that big business is liberal...

I don't think a close look would find my argument impossible to back up at all.

I'm saying that big corporations are far more likely to support big government programs and mandates than is small business likely to do that, and big government programs and mandates are far more likely to be left-of-center initiatives than they are likely to be right of center initiatives.

Why?

Because big government programs generally cut the little guy out of the loop when it comes to making bids or winning contracts. Also big corporations by virtue of their unions and most serious competition are already offering their employees more perks and benefits than small business can usually manage to do. Result: every government mandate on business is far less likely to hurt big business than it is likely to hurt small business, and every small business that has to cut back improves the big business bottom line. This is why so many big corporate gurus are more likely to support Democrat candidates more than they support Republican candidates, etc.

Consequently, political and social reporting and commentary that tilts left of center is far less likely to bother big business than it bugs small business and thus it is largely big corporation contributions that keeps NPR afloat.

It isn't that big business is liberal per se--big business can be entirely apolitical and still favor a party out of expediency. Nor is it that NPR caters to big business--its like a chicken and egg thing in which you can't say which preceded the other. It does explain, however, why NPR can tilt left of center both politically and socially and still rake in the contributions from big business.

Just my opinion of course.
 
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AlbqOwl said:
It does explain, however, why NPR can tilt left of center both politically and socially and still rake in the contributions from big business.

Just my opinion of course.
I disagree. NPR does not produce it's programming based on who contributed whatever to them. They are independent thinkers, and they have the ability to produce stories that are far more informative, far more in depth, and for the most part fair and balanced.

Does that mean that some of their reporters or pieces lean left? Yes, some do. Fewer probably lean right. However, when producing social consciousness pieces the odds are that it will be more to the left since social consciousness and liberal thinking are much more aligned than conservative think and social issues.

To condemn NPR for their so-called political leanings is so narrow minded, IMHO. They have so many incredible shows and reports that are really excellent pieces of journalism, and no other radio network ever produces the quality and depth of reporting that NPR does.

For example, one of my favorite shows is "This American Life." It has amazing reporting and the type of programming that makes NPR unique and special.

Here's a complete list of all the programming NPR offers. I defy anyone to listen to their shows and tell me that NPR is swayed by private funding.

http://www.npr.org/programs/

You can even listen to any of the programs any time, or whatever is on now 24/7 thru the Internet.
 
26 X World Champs said:
I disagree. NPR does not produce it's programming based on who contributed whatever to them. They are independent thinkers, and they have the ability to produce stories that are far more informative, far more in depth, and for the most part fair and balanced.

You can even listen to any of the programs any time, or whatever is on now 24/7 thru the Internet.

Even if anyone disagree's with NPR's programming. Often many of the stations also syndicate BBC World News. That is certainly worth listening to.
 
26X writes
I disagree. NPR does not produce it's programming based on who contributed whatever to them. They are independent thinkers, and they have the ability to produce stories that are far more informative, far more in depth, and for the most part fair and balanced.

I think a careful reading of my post does not say that NPR produces its programming based on who contributed whatever to them. I may have stated it badly, but what I meant to say is that NPR does tilt left of center and they are free to do so because of who their essential contributors are. I also previously applauded NPR for some of its programming.

Acknowledging the realities of their funding and who provides it, and acknowledging their political leanings does not necessarily negate the quality of their programming.

If you believe they do not tilt left of center politically, I will concede that we disagree on that point.
 
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