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Friday, October 22, 2010

NPR Claims Their 'News Analyst' Position Requires Objectivity?

Jim Vicevich has further commentary on NPR CEO Vivian Schiller's statement about the speech restrictions expected of their 'News Analysts' to maintain their ethical integrity. Apparently NPR lists Ted Koppel and Cokie Roberts as their only two surviving News Analysts. A quick look at the record shows what we already know - that neither of these two have shown much restraint in offering their opinions, even when supposedly analyzing the news on NPR, let alone at other venues. Here is Koppel maintaining his ethical objectivity:
"We have raced to Afghanistan and Iraq, and more recently to Yemen and Somalia; we have created a swollen national security apparatus; and we are so absorbed in our own fury and so oblivious to our enemy’s intentions that we inflate the building of an Islamic center in Lower Manhattan into a national debate and watch, helpless, while a minister in Florida outrages even our friends in the Islamic world by threatening to burn copies of the Koran."
Vicevich observes:
"In the above case, it does not matter if you agree with or disagree with Koppel. He’s expressing his opinion in an OpEd piece not associated with NPR and he’s an NPR news analyst.

If I must, I’ll continue with Cokie Roberts, a contributing senior news analyst at NPR. Earlier in March this year, she referred to Glenn Beck as a terrorist and traitor and suggested advertisers stop supporting his radio and TV show. I don’t listen or watch Beck, but from what I understand, few are taking Roberts’ suggestion."

That's pretty rich, Jimmy.

He goes on to cite an example of Cokie Roberts displaying her standard NPR objectivitiy:
"We are not denying Beck or anyone else their First Amendment rights. He can say anything he wants. But advertisers don’t have to support his brand of hate mongering, and audiences don’t have to take Fox News seriously if one of its top names has become a “circus clown.”
Ethical standards of professional objectivity of the 'News Analyst' isn't looking to good over there at NPR. Cokie continues:
"Actually, Beck is worse than a clown. He’s more like a terrorist who believes he has discovered the One True Faith, and condemns everyone else as a heretic. And that makes him something else as well — a traitor to the American values he professes so loudly to defend."
Talk radio host Glenn Beck is more like a terrorist? He's a conservative, right? Well, if that passes muster of their objectivity code I don't know what Schiller is talking about with Williams.

Come on. Ethical integrity? Objectivity? This is NPR, for Pete's sake.

31 comments:

  1. "Vicevich opines:"

    In that instance, the correct verb is 'observes.'

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  2. Well, I've been spending only a short time on the Web of late.

    The past two weekends (the first time, she took Monday and Tuesday off work to extend her visit), my one sister came over to help ne rip out and rebuild the framing of one wall of the "sunroom." Because I have a walk-out basement, the wall we needed to rebuild is essentially on the 3rd storey. I still have more work to do, but we got the major stuff done.

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  3. Cathy will be wanting me to post some new pictures of the work.

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  4. Very good.

    Caprica has restarted over at April's 'Discuss' page. It's a bloody mess. That Clarice is a messed up woman, though I would be far more careful about expressing my thoughts about her than brother Obal Ferras. That Barnabas Greeley better keep his head on a swivel. Probably doesn't even realize she wasn't in her car when the bomb planted went off. Sloppy work for an attempt on someone as dangerous as the good Sister. You don't get two tries at something like that.

    I will probably bring the Caprica Thread up to speed here as well.

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  5. Cathy will be wanting me to post some new pictures of the work.

    Yes! Just none of you hanging out from the third floor... Well, actually, since I know you're still alive, those would be OK, I guess. :)

    That Barnabas Greeley better keep his head on a swivel. Probably doesn't even realize she wasn't in her car when the bomb planted went off.

    You need to get caught up!

    I will probably bring the Caprica Thread up to speed here as well.

    What are the rules for cross-posting?

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  6. "That Barnabas Greeley better keep his head on a swivel. Probably doesn't even realize she wasn't in her car when the bomb planted went off."

    As I understand it, he sent the kids to plant bombs in the spaceport precisely because he realized that she wasn't dead.

    "Sloppy work for an attempt on someone as dangerous as the good Sister. You don't get two tries at something like that."

    He took two shots, and failed both times. But she got him ... or, if she didn't, the writers sure want us to believe that she did.

    But, at least Amanda Greystone is not on to Clarise.

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  7. But, at least Amanda Greystone is *NOW* on to Clarise.

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  8. She is? Okay, I just saw the first one of the Second Season, which I guess is listed as Episode 10 of the First Season. Okay...

    I'd love to see Amanda Greystone uncover the deep game Sister Clarice is playing, but frankly I can't see that happening. I will have to catch up with you all.

    Cross posting, or double posting? Heck, yeah! I do that all the time, and still feel like I can look myself in the mirror without any shame. No harm in taking your original thought and leaving it as a comment in more than one place, usually slightly modified for the thread its posted on.

    Sometimes I take comments of mine and expand them into a post. Or I throw up someone's comment and respond. Just think of Roxeanne de Luca and her advice to Dear Abby (well needed advice, I might add).

    No, it's when you do something like copy Ilion's comments and post them as your own that one's credibility might come into question. I did think the Professor copying and pasting large swaths of commentary from his blog and submitting it all as a comment was a tad off. An attempt at audience stealing, I would say. That and all the links back to his own blog was a tad off the mark, but we are forgetful here of such regrettable occurrences, and will not bring them up again.

    Not that any of those various foul sins are likely to happen by your hand anyway.

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  9. "I'd like to see Amanda Greystone become insightful to the deep game Sister Clarice is playing, but frankly I can't see that happening."

    The bald-headed cop (who is himself sleazy enough to plant and/or hide evidence), the one who convinced Amanda in the first place that Zoe was complicit in the MagLev train bombing, was able to convince her, with the additional knowledge she herself had of Clarise, that Clarise is a "monotheist" and that it was she who got the kids involved in the STO.

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  10. Ilion, I was going to watch it.

    Thanks for the heads up though.

    : )

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  11. "No, it's when you do something like copy Ilion's comments and post them as your own that one's credibility might come into question."

    Surely no one has ever done that? (I mean, using my comment(s).)

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  12. Oh! Sorry.

    I forget that many (most?) people have this thing about not wanting to know plot-elements ahead of time.

    And somehow, they manage to watch a show or movie a second or twentieth time.

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  13. Yeah, well ...

    ... you got me there.

    : )

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  14. "Surely no one has ever done that?"

    Not that I've seen...

    .. but you never know.

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  15. The bald-headed cop (who is himself sleazy enough to plant and/or hide evidence)

    Uh-oh. I'm losing track of stuff from last Spring. Was he not a clean cop?

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  16. I forget that many (most?) people have this thing about not wanting to know plot-elements ahead of time.

    In this instance, the correct word is "most."

    :)

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  17. "Was he not a clean cop?"

    I don't recall the details (it had something to do with institutional CYA over Zoe's boyfriend), but no, he's not clean.

    "In this instance, the correct word is "most.""

    Cathy,
    Tell your husband that he ought to spank you for being such a naughty girl!

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  18. [watching episode 12 now]

    I *knew* he was going to do that!

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  19. I came here to read about Ted Koppel.
    Boy was I surprised.

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  20. Cross-posted at April's

    Lacy is still alive in the V-world as far as we know. She stopped going when Zoebot was in the crash. Two points–I would think that the Cylon would be designed to survive an old car crash and one would think that Lacy would be checking the V-world anyway–just to be sure. I guess she had other things on her mind with her Barnabas/STO cell.

    Does anyone believe that Barnabas is dead? Leave him handcuffed to a vice with all kinds of tools and powertools in sight and give him five minutes. Doesn’t Barnabas self-abuse with barbwire just for the heck of it? If he didn’t undo the handcuffs, I expect to see his hand and his arm agree to an amicable separation before a hasty departure.

    I expected Zoevatar and Tamaratar to have de-resed that audience just on principle, when they finally joined forces. Pimply-faced guys are “into” catfights solely because clothing may become dislodged/ripped/moved during the struggle. But these clowns have been raping/killing/torturing for fun, so they need more. That may be true with our “yutes” who are playing those ultra-violent video games as well. A few generations ago, I saw that Grand Theft Auto was awarding a point or two for mowing down “ho’s” with the cars. And the graphics attempted to show what would happen
    with gushing blood, severed limbs, etc. Training for a generation of serial killers. And I suspect that they go further with each generation.

    Yes, that scene when Amanda meets Clarice’s “Big Love” household was something else. What a warm welcome! Clarice has been deficient in her marital duties with all her wives and husbands during Amanda’s rehab and it shows. Right now Amanda is “the other woman” so I don’t know how easily she’ll win allies. Sister Clarice is a tough act to follow. Of course Amanda could find the child/children that belong to the disaffected lass on the couch and take her away from Clarice’s nut house to her luxury home. Serge and a clutter-free existence might do the trick.

    Yeah, Durham is my “religious” “role model.” Left-leaning folks always believe that they are in tune with what the other side (us) is thinking/doing. But they when we are singing “Holy God We Praise Thy Name” they are humming/screaming “Paparazzi.”

    Now this may make more sense if you read Cathy's
    comments at April's. And Ilion can solve the code problem there, like he did in the past if we ask him nicely enough. Google Chrome opens it nicely, but IE doesn't.

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  21. I can't get into the other thread over at April's. Bummer.

    Google Chrome requires 10.5 or greater to support it and I am stuck at 4.0 or some such. I just don't have enough zip.

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  22. Here's a new show on Hulu that seems good The Event -- if you want to watch it, you'll want to get hopping (before the first episode rolls off).

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  23. Oh, Ilion, I'm already hooked, and I don't think I'd even heard about it before this morning. I figured I'd see how that first episode looked -- and immediately had to watch the second! Only the unavoidability of real life forces me to defer #3.

    SO DON'T TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS! :)

    It is confusing, but not hopelessly so. More tantalizing, I think. And I very much appreciate their labeling of flash-back scenes -- downright civilized.

    I think everybody should watch the first episode -- Hulu says it expires in "1 day" -- 'cause I think it would be pretty hard to catch up without it if you decide you're interested. Even if you could, you'd miss the fun of it.

    AND, there seems to me to be an identifiable good guy or two. It's nice, having someone to root for. (Don't know yet what to make of some political characterizations.)

    Oh, man... Vis going to be back eventually, too.

    You guys have definitely had an influence on me -- good or bad, I can't tell yet... ;)

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  24. Jim, I can cross-post what I've got so far, but I might be farther along on catching up than you are. There, duly warned!

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  25. "Oh, Ilion, I'm already hooked ..."

    Bwaaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha

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  26. Jim,

    I can cross-post what I've got so far... --

    as soon as I get my own computer back. Sigh.

    Ilion,

    ;P

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  27. Yeah, would you?

    I'm trying to reorder things around here, but the Caprica 1.5 is where it's all going down!

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  28. I refuse to watch The Event. This is definitely a left-wing project at NBC and you can be sure the US will wind up looking bad. Secondly, it ain't going to be around for long. Thirdly, I stopped watching the first episode when they kept skipping in time---[thirty seconds of plot-->fifteen minutes earlier-->one day earlier--->two days earlier]. For Pete's sake!!! Pick a time and start telling your story!
    Did they hire writers with some kind of attention deficit disorder on steroids?

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