National Public Radio Journalist Believes That NPR Listening Demographics Have Changed And...

[michael hagerty]

Fact based reporting is about facts. The moment editorializing begins, it is editorial and no longer fact based reporting. Trying to link a particular set of facts to another unrelated thing is... not fact based reporting. Sorry, but it just isn't. It is editorial. And biased editorial at that. My beliefs about climate change, race, or whatever else do not factor into this at all.

Well, now hang on.

They actually do.

If you see climate change as accepted scientific fact, then it's not political or editorial at all.

Do scientists agree on climate change? - NASA Science

Yes, the vast majority of actively publishing climate scientists – 97 percent – agree that humans are causing global warming and climate change. Most of the

science.nasa.gov

There should be no more controversy over that than "the earth is round" or "gravity works".

Race?

Every American is guaranteed equal rights and protections under law. As I said in my post on page one, if any American has fewer protections or rights than I have, regardless of their race, gender, beliefs, choices or identity, something's wrong. Doesn't matter whether they look, worship, love or think like I do.

Someone else might not feel that way, but that's their problem. Those are the rights guaranteed to every American.

NPR is reporting facts. They're complex facts. They're uncomfortable facts.

But they're facts.

 

[radiofan2023]

This 1000%. Washington is of minimal interest to me. It's not something I need a deep dive into on the daily. If I'm going to take the time to listen to a deep dive, I want to learn about my community and local government. I'm kinda tired of the Washington crap. It's mostly just negative drivel that doesn't have a whole lot of impact on me - certainly not compared to the local level.

Unfortunately, my local NPR affiliate just let go a lot of its local staffers and canned some of the local shows.

I guess you should have listened more

 

[AMRadioGuy]

As someone who actually runs a (tight) board at a member station, I don't know what it is you're hearing, if you're actually listening at all. Especially during Morning Edition, the NPR clock is very tight.

The sound of the flagship network shows has changed pretty dramatically in the last 20 years. I could point you to lively younger voices like Ayesha Rascoe on Weekend Edition Sunday, but you'd have to actually listen and engage with what's really on the air, not with what "a dozen (imaginary?) friends" tell you they think they've heard.

The Venn diagram between "I don't actually listen but I will happily tell you what I think NPR sounds like anyway" and "I will point to the Uri Berliner screed as being gospel truth because it confirms all my priors, but I will ignore what Inskeep and others have to say" is a perfect circle, isn't it?

What I mean by "tight board" is more of a style of programming. Pittsburgh's WESA is my local NPR station. There are many occasions with momentary gaps between a piece ending and a promo starting, that kind of thing. The production is also very minimalist. It's a more relaxed feel. I did not mean what I said as an insult, and perhaps did not word it very well. I just don't particularly enjoy that presentation style and pacing for reporting. I find that style of presentation more fitting to a mom and pop station doing an MOR format in the 60s. Which, for that format, is a very wonderful thing.

As I said above, I have and do actually listen to my NPR affiliate. I don't believe someone needs to be familiar down to splitting hairs with the programming to offer a general impression critique. What you are arguing is that it would be unfair to criticize Fox or CNN or any major news network as a product because they actually have many different offerings and those should be critiqued separately. Ironically, I actually agree with you to an extent.
However, that's not what generally happens when companies or networks are critiqued. At some point, the hammer falls on the umbrella of the company. It wasn't Tucker Carlson's show that got sued alone for the lies they spread about voter fraud. No, it was Fox as a company... Why? So, while NPR does have a lot of offerings, at the end of the day, it's NPR.

That said, I will refrain from further critiques of NPR here until I listen more so I can be more informed about exactly what they offer. Point taken.

As far as your comment about catering to the lowest common denominator... I'm with you there. I'm looking for informative news. I absolutely believe the lowest common denominator is something that exists on both sides of the aisle and is a very real problem that has contributed to the polarization of this country. Going deep is great - so long as it is factually deep. Editorially deep is no longer reporting. It's not news. It's editorial. That's just reality.

 

[michael hagerty]

This 1000%. Washington is of minimal interest to me. It's not something I need a deep dive into on the daily. If I'm going to take the time to listen to a deep dive, I want to learn about my community and local government. I'm kinda tired of the Washington crap. It's mostly just negative drivel that doesn't have a whole lot of impact on me - certainly not compared to the local level.

This is the mindset I've been arguing against since high school.

"Washington crap" determines how much you pay in taxes, whether you, as a younger guy, go to war, whether your mother, sister, wife or daughter can get adequate health care and make her own decisions about her body.

The list goes on, but that's a pretty healthy start.

 

[Weiserguy]

Breaking news, guys...

NPR's 12 Noon ET newscast just announced that Uri Berliner has resigned from NPR.

He'd been suspended the other day for the article he published, and he announced the resignation himself on Twitter. (Yup, I know, and I won't.)

 

[michael hagerty]

However, that's not what generally happens when companies or networks are critiqued. At some point, the hammer falls on the umbrella of the company. It wasn't Tucker Carlson's show that got sued alone for the lies they spread about voter fraud. No, it was Fox as a company... Why?

Because it wasn't just Tucker's show on FOX that spread the lies.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/17/media/dominion-fox-news-allegations/index.html

 

[michael hagerty]

Breaking news, guys...

NPR's 12 Noon ET newscast just announced that Uri Berliner has resigned from NPR.

He'd been suspended the other day for the article he published, and he announced the resignation himself on Twitter. (Yup, I know, and I won't.)

Inevitable. After Steve Inskeep exposed the errors in Uri's piece, he was toast. The only question now is where he lands, and that's a short list.

 

[Mark Roberts]

Breaking news, guys...

NPR's 12 Noon ET newscast just announced that Uri Berliner has resigned from NPR.

He'd been suspended the other day for the article he published, and he announced the resignation himself on Twitter. (Yup, I know, and I won't.)

Time for The Victim Tour.

 

[Mark Roberts]

Inevitable. After Steve Inskeep exposed the errors in Uri's piece, he was toast. The only question now is where he lands, and that's a short list.

Oh, I think he was toast before. After Inskeep's piece, he became burned toast.

We should've started a pool.

 

[Weiserguy]

"Washington crap" determines how much you pay in taxes, whether you, as a younger guy, go to war, whether your mother, sister, wife or daughter can get adequate health care and make her own decisions about her body.

Following on: since Mr. AMRadioGuy says he's on the young side... I'm 73. I went through high school watching the Vietnam War start to play out. (And that's after watching my president get his head blown off by someone who didn't like his politics.) I knew that either I went to college or would be cannon fodder somewhere in Southeast Asia. I lived through the draft, and the draft lottery. (I was lucky and got a really high number. Some acquaintances that I went to school with, and delivered newspapers with, weren't so lucky.)

Experiences like those force a person to grow up and pay attention to the news. In those days it came on dead tree pulp, or via one of the radio or TV networks from New York City. About the same time (early '70s), NPR launched with a different approach. But they were all trying to do the same, provide readers/listeners/viewers the news of the moment. And if your ass was on the line, you probably appreciated that, and developed the news habit.

I dare say, if *your* ass was on the line, you too would be less tolerant of people who whine about "Washington crap".

 

[Mark Roberts]

This is the mindset I've been arguing against since high school.

"Washington crap" determines how much you pay in taxes, whether you, as a younger guy, go to war, whether your mother, sister, wife or daughter can get adequate health care and make her own decisions about her body.

The list goes on, but that's a pretty healthy start.

It's not just Washington crap, though. What really needs more coverage is state capitol crap, and county crap, and city crap, and school-district crap. Especially needing coverage are the interactions between bureaucrats and unelected special-interest/advocacy groups that seem to drown out the voices of individual voters. (Oakland, California, I'm looking at you!)

This kind of coverage is what newspapers had been particularly good at, but they're now being squeezed. Commercial radio abandoned this sort of thing years ago, except for a few all-news stations. TV stations have had limited time, though some have been able to make better use of their time than others (Denver's KUSA is quite aggressive regarding local government, for example). Some public-interest websites have been able to pick up the slack but their existence seems tenuous. Public radio could help make a difference here. (Colorado Public Radio seems to adopt a more featurish approach, though.)

Coverage doesn't guarantee results, of course, but it's what I learned to call "a necessary but not sufficient condition" in my computer-science education.

 

[TheBigA]

Breaking news, guys...

NPR's 12 Noon ET newscast just announced that Uri Berliner has resigned from NPR

I think it was Paul Simon who said there are 50 ways to leave your lover. Blowing everything up is certainly one way. Earlier in this thread Scott Fybush pondered his end game, and it seemed to me this really was the only one. My sense is he already knew he was resigning. The next step is probably teaching. His position doesn't even exist at most other radio companies. There are journalism think tanks in DC, so that might be another option.

Uri Berliner, NPR editor who criticized the network of liberal bias, says he's resigning

NPR had suspended Berliner after he claimed in an essay that the network had "lost America's trust" pushing progressive views.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Daryl Lynn L.A.]

Uri Berliner just resigned, so this story is over.
As mentioned above , he will probably receive a lucrative offer from a news outlet far more partisan than NPR. No doubt a book deal coming also. And a keynote speaker booking at CPAC. Unfortunately, we may never know which news segments set him off.
Katherine Maher may leave NPR. But the damage has been done. He achieved his objectives.

 

[gr8oldies]

Breaking news, guys...

NPR's 12 Noon ET newscast just announced that Uri Berliner has resigned from NPR.

He'd been suspended the other day for the article he published, and he announced the resignation himself on Twitter. (Yup, I know, and I won't.)

Las Vegas odds as to what right-wing network he ends up on? There will also likely be a book deal.

 

[AMRadioGuy]

This is the mindset I've been arguing against since high school.

"Washington crap" determines how much you pay in taxes, whether you, as a younger guy, go to war, whether your mother, sister, wife or daughter can get adequate health care and make her own decisions about her body.

The list goes on, but that's a pretty healthy start.

Okay - thank you for calling me out here because you are absolutely correct. There are a lot of very important things that happen in Washington and voting in national elections is extremely important.

I was referencing the drama that comes out of Washington that often detracts the focus off of these important aspects. There is a lot of it and it often gets sensationalized because that's what draws in the eyeballs. Even so, it is still very important to pay attention to Washington - again, thank you for calling me out here.

It's not just Washington crap, though. What really needs more coverage is state capitol crap, and county crap, and city crap, and school-district crap. Especially needing coverage are the interactions between bureaucrats and unelected special-interest/advocacy groups that seem to drown out the voices of individual voters. (Oakland, California, I'm looking at you!)

This kind of coverage is what newspapers had been particularly good at, but they're now being squeezed. Commercial radio abandoned this sort of thing years ago, except for a few all-news stations. TV stations have had limited time, though some have been able to make better use of their time than others (Denver's KUSA is quite aggressive regarding local government, for example). Some public-interest websites have been able to pick up the slack but their existence seems tenuous. Public radio could help make a difference here. (Colorado Public Radio seems to adopt a more featurish approach, though.)

Coverage doesn't guarantee results, of course, but it's what I learned to call "a necessary but not sufficient condition" in my computer-science education.

I agree with this completely, Mark. The coverage you speak of has become and is becoming a real void in our nation and it is absolutely a dangerous void at that. This is part of what I was trying to articulate, but I did so very poorly. There are a lot of outlets focusing on Washington. And that is important. But once you get out of Washington, coverage of a lot of important issues, races, boards, etc. are not very well covered anymore. Local coverage is nonexistent in many places now and without it, the healthy journalistic checks that used to exist in those places are pretty much gone. That's not good.


I s'ppose I came out firing a bit too hard and I apologize, guys. I didn't mean to but reflecting I certainly did and also did not articulate things very well. Thank you for calling me out.

 

[AMRadioGuy]

Following on: since Mr. AMRadioGuy says he's on the young side... I'm 73. I went through high school watching the Vietnam War start to play out. (And that's after watching my president get his head blown off by someone who didn't like his politics.) I knew that either I went to college or would be cannon fodder somewhere in Southeast Asia. I lived through the draft, and the draft lottery. (I was lucky and got a really high number. Some acquaintances that I went to school with, and delivered newspapers with, weren't so lucky.)

Experiences like those force a person to grow up and pay attention to the news. In those days it came on dead tree pulp, or via one of the radio or TV networks from New York City. About the same time (early '70s), NPR launched with a different approach. But they were all trying to do the same, provide readers/listeners/viewers the news of the moment. And if your ass was on the line, you probably appreciated that, and developed the news habit.

I dare say, if *your* ass was on the line, you too would be less tolerant of people who whine about "Washington crap".

Very, very fair, Weiserguy. As a student of history, especially the 1960s, you make a very compelling point. Good coverage of what's going on in the world (be that Washington or local) is very important to a functioning democracy.

 

[TheBigA]

Las Vegas odds as to what right-wing network he ends up on? There will also likely be a book deal.

Book? Yes. But if he was truthful in what he wrote, he won't be going to any other news organization, because they all do what he was criticizing. He likes to criticize, and so he becomes a critic.

 

[michael hagerty]

Okay - thank you for calling me out here because you are absolutely correct. There are a lot of very important things that happen in Washington and voting in national elections is extremely important.

I was referencing the drama that comes out of Washington that often detracts the focus off of these important aspects. There is a lot of it and it often gets sensationalized because that's what draws in the eyeballs. Even so, it is still very important to pay attention to Washington - again, thank you for calling me out here.

And this is the participatory part of democracy. Take note of the clowns and the people who are making drama but not good policy. If they're on your next ballot, vote against them.

They want you to burn out, give up and not notice.

 

[AMRadioGuy]

I guess you should have listened more

My understanding is that the cost of local programming went up significantly so they had to let staffers go. This was also not long after they became a union shop. I'm not sure if those are related but my guess is that it became too expensive for them to continue employing the staffers under the new contract. Everything has become more expensive these past couple of years (and I'd guess giving might be down because more families are squeezed), so I'm sure an increase in personnel expenses was not an easy thing for them to foot at that juncture.

And to be clear, I'm *not* applauding that at all. It is very unfortunate that they were let go. As has been articulated above, local reporting in general is vanishing and that's a very real problem.

 

[AMRadioGuy]

And this is the participatory part of democracy. Take note of the clowns and the people who are making drama but not good policy. If they're on your next ballot, vote against them.

They want you to burn out, give up and not notice.

Also a very good point, Michael. The people making drama and not good policy are just being a big distraction - something not beneficial for democracy at all.

I appreciate your responses. They have been very well thought out and have given me a lot to think about. Again, I apologize for coming out swinging the way I did - kind of like the clowns making drama in Washington...