NPR, evidently, invited Right-Wing crank David Horowitz spit on Howard Zinn's grave on the air.
As the linked article above indicates, there was no comparable "critical" perspective on William F. Buckley when he died.
Now I'm aware that Republicans have tried to dismantle NPR on many different occasions. I can see why they might be cautious about pissing on, say, William F. Buckley or Jerry Falwell's graves. I get that they may need to cover their bases on those fronts in order to forestall crazed right-wing backlashes. Also, it's likely that most of NPR's listeners already know that Falwell and Buckley were charlatans. There's no pressing need to provoke right-wing opportunists into attacking NPR's right to exist.
But this doesn't justify inviting Horowitz on. Giving that self-agrandizing sleazebag a forum is not necessary. In fact, it's insulting.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Thanks, NPR...
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Calling torture, "torture," and the problem of false balance
If you have a moment in the next couple days, listen to Monday's Radio West (a brilliant interview show produced by Salt Lake City's NPR affiliate), which centers around the recent controversy over the NPR ombudsman's declaration that water boarding cannot be referred to as torture (a characterization accepted by 140 of the world's nations) by NPR reporters, for the sake of supposed objectivity.
The program provides an interesting discussion about journalism, ethics, and the power of language. The best moment comes when guest Bob Garfield, of On the Media, talks about this as an example of the media's insistence on what he calls "false balance," or the idea that anybody who has a different view than the majority, should be represented as a legitimate voice, even if it is completely irrational. Sometimes there are not two legitimate points of view, he argues, sometimes there is the truth and there is a lie. Knowing which is which requires a journalist's judgment and is a sign of good journalism, not of bias.
I truly think this false balance problem is a symptom of the ridiculous clammering about the "liberal media" that has been going on at least since the Reagan era (at least that's what I always hear was the beginning of this claim). Moves like the ombudsman's, especially from such a respected news outlet like NPR, can only be read as desperate attempts to appear nonpartisan or ideologically neutral.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, December 1, 2008
40 Years since Mexico City Massacre
If you get a chance, read or listen to NPR's report on the 1968 Mexico City student massacre, which had its 40 year anniversary this year. Terrifying...
