A brief word on what scam artist and criminal James O'Keefe has accomplished - again.
While the Modern American Right crow like Peter Pan on Crystal Meth - complete with a whine-fest from a disgruntled former employee - one thing should be pointed out:
NPR's Board Of Directors are just as much to blame for what is happening right now.
Actually, the remainder of American media fails in this regard as well.
Are they so weak that they can't stand up to the edits and distortions of O'Keefe and his pimp Andrew Breitbart? Apparently not, as this is not the first time they have enjoyed a certain amount of "success".
Let's not kid ourselves - the Southern Strategy is very much alive in America; and the Tea Baggers are more than willing to swallow it whole and parrot it without fear of reprisal - whether it be in "dog-whistle" fashion or in blatant racism. And from what I have seen here in Western Kentucky, it's becoming more and more apparent and unchallenged.
And speaking about that was, from my perspective, the catalyst that gave CEO Vivian and Ron Schiller the boot. But why?
The reason is that the bulk of America media seem to be more than willing to kowtow to Right Wing attacks, seem to be all to eager to not push the stories that they should.
Of course, this isn't to say that they should adopt the same tactics that their Far Right compatriots do, but that they should report and expose what is there, and do it honestly and openly. In that regard, I would say that there should be more "Maddows" on television every night.
But as far as NPR is concerned, I'm guessing that they pushed out Vivian as more of a procedural move, and Ron was on his way out anyway. But the fact remains that NPR has come off as the weaker one in this story. But they shouldn't have - or is this more of an example of how their reporting has morphed. Dave Neiwert takes on this aspect of the story far better than I could.
There's actually a 2-hour unedited video of the Schiller encounter that I am going to watch and blog about that O'Keefe thinks will absolve him of any wrong-doing - as "context" is something that the Modern American Right are struggling with - but I'm guessing that this has more to do with the fact that their original intent of showing how NPR will accept money from The Muslim Brotherhood failed, and that Schiller voiced his "individual opinion" regarding the Tea Baggers........but more on that later.
Make no mistake, this is not "nu-journalism" as much as it is deception dressed up as reality. But then again, NPR fell for it just like the bulk of the media fell for the ACORN distortions. But there is a downfall to this - it doesn't address the real failures of government funding - which is the alleged point of all this O'Keefe/Breitbart hysteria.
At the end of the day, NPR dropped the ball and made themselves look as foolish as O'Keefe and Breitbart intended them to.
When are people going to realize that scams like this are so transparent?
2 comments:
NPR has had budget cuts year after year and each time their freedom to report news has been curtail. The fact that its a "people funded" radio is laughable at best. The Gov has cut the their tax $ fund all the while placing pressure on the staff to spin the news their way. in other words say nice things and we can give you more if not your on your own. O'Keefe maybe complicit (as with others) however i think this may have extinguishing circumstances.
How is the fact that a majority of NPR funds come from individuals and organizational grants "laughable"? Do you mean that it fails more often than not to report what the people find important?
In terms of governmental funding reductions, I would have to say that those have been enacted primarily because of Right Wing posturing, and the perception that NPR is some bastion of Leftist theology.
And what "extinguishing circumstances" do you speak of?
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