"There’s only so many times you can press the outrage button and expect to get the same result."
🤣
I used to like NPR when I lived in Knoxville around 2000. But this thing that is wearing its skin these days is nothing like what it used to be, and hasn't been behaving like a state broadcaster for a long time. Besides, regime media is so against what the US stands for, the moment they decided to back one specific political camp they moved out of the place where this funding was reasonable. Still, wanna bet the blue team will restore this given half a chance...? They won't be in total disarray forever.
Incidentally, the BBC has likewise taken much the same path as NPR/PBS in terms of aligning with the US blue team's values and political ideology. That's interesting to me, and it's not the result of funding lines (although the US government has bizarrely sent money to Auntie Beeb via USAID, may it stay dead). It's a sign of a much bigger problem that I'm trying to trace right now in my political philosophy.
The Beeb, like NPR/PBS has great stuff, too! But at the end of the day, it's regime media. I remember when I lived in the UK having to pay the TV tax, which they billed straight to our home. So frustrating for a broke student at uni.
Aye, the TV license has always been a major sticking point. For me, my position has always been 'since I paid your license, why do I have to pay again to get to the media I already paid for...'? I have found that quite infuriating. Is it a national broadcaster or a media corporation? It chooses to its own benefit in every ambiguity.
But the BBC isn't regime media in the usual sense, in that its staff are loyal to an extra-national ideology that largely pits them *against* the UK government. I really struggle to find an equivalent anywhere else in the world, although NPR/PBS parallels it to some extent.
LOL, the only time I ever listened was way back when I was in that less-than-$5,000 cohort!
Thinking about those days—a college student driving around listening to All Things Considered, A Prairie Home Companion, Click and Clack, etc.—a thought has occurred to me…
Okay, so we all know why big chain restaurants succeed: familiarity. Whether you're in Mamaroneck, NY, or Missoula, MT, you know what you are getting if you go to Applebees or Buffalo Wild Wings or whatever. It's reliably the same everywhere. And people like that. Familiarity pushes certain comfort buttons.
I just realized that familiarity was what kept me tuning in to NPR when I was younger. Subconsciously, I knew that whether I was in CT, MA, or MT, I could cut on the radio, look around the FM dial somewhere in the 80s, and find something with which I was familiar. That probably kept me doing it for a little while even after I started having misgivings about the bias.
So that is another advantage that they have that they would not otherwise have. Without the government's help, would NPR be on 900 stations across the country? Would they all be down in the same FM range? Seems unlikely…
I can see your point here, and I've been on the fence about this. I don't pay as much attention to NPR these days but I do still turn to it for the what I think is some of the last good journalism out there left.
Let's not forget the Workshop had a 35 million dollar deal with HBO and the millions made from merchandise.
Well, exactly. Product licensing alone can keep them in the black.
Always like your perspective on these issues. It really makes a person wonder how the hell we get to this point.
Thank you... It's good to see you weighing in. It's been a while! Glad to know you're getting value, brother.
"There’s only so many times you can press the outrage button and expect to get the same result."
🤣
I used to like NPR when I lived in Knoxville around 2000. But this thing that is wearing its skin these days is nothing like what it used to be, and hasn't been behaving like a state broadcaster for a long time. Besides, regime media is so against what the US stands for, the moment they decided to back one specific political camp they moved out of the place where this funding was reasonable. Still, wanna bet the blue team will restore this given half a chance...? They won't be in total disarray forever.
Incidentally, the BBC has likewise taken much the same path as NPR/PBS in terms of aligning with the US blue team's values and political ideology. That's interesting to me, and it's not the result of funding lines (although the US government has bizarrely sent money to Auntie Beeb via USAID, may it stay dead). It's a sign of a much bigger problem that I'm trying to trace right now in my political philosophy.
For now, at least, enjoy your victory Max! 🙂
Chris.
The Beeb, like NPR/PBS has great stuff, too! But at the end of the day, it's regime media. I remember when I lived in the UK having to pay the TV tax, which they billed straight to our home. So frustrating for a broke student at uni.
Aye, the TV license has always been a major sticking point. For me, my position has always been 'since I paid your license, why do I have to pay again to get to the media I already paid for...'? I have found that quite infuriating. Is it a national broadcaster or a media corporation? It chooses to its own benefit in every ambiguity.
But the BBC isn't regime media in the usual sense, in that its staff are loyal to an extra-national ideology that largely pits them *against* the UK government. I really struggle to find an equivalent anywhere else in the world, although NPR/PBS parallels it to some extent.
LOL, the only time I ever listened was way back when I was in that less-than-$5,000 cohort!
Thinking about those days—a college student driving around listening to All Things Considered, A Prairie Home Companion, Click and Clack, etc.—a thought has occurred to me…
Okay, so we all know why big chain restaurants succeed: familiarity. Whether you're in Mamaroneck, NY, or Missoula, MT, you know what you are getting if you go to Applebees or Buffalo Wild Wings or whatever. It's reliably the same everywhere. And people like that. Familiarity pushes certain comfort buttons.
I just realized that familiarity was what kept me tuning in to NPR when I was younger. Subconsciously, I knew that whether I was in CT, MA, or MT, I could cut on the radio, look around the FM dial somewhere in the 80s, and find something with which I was familiar. That probably kept me doing it for a little while even after I started having misgivings about the bias.
So that is another advantage that they have that they would not otherwise have. Without the government's help, would NPR be on 900 stations across the country? Would they all be down in the same FM range? Seems unlikely…
I can see your point here, and I've been on the fence about this. I don't pay as much attention to NPR these days but I do still turn to it for the what I think is some of the last good journalism out there left.