Intro: "The tumultuous managerial shakeup at National Public Radio headquarters for trivial verbal miscues once again has highlighted the ludicrous corporatist right-wing charge that public radio and public TV are replete with left-leaning or leftist programming. Ludicrous, that is, unless this criticism's yardstick is the propaganda regularly exuded by the extreme right-wing Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. These 'capitalists' use the public's airwaves free-of-charge to make big money."
Ralph Nader. (photo: TruthAlliance)
Cut Limbaugh and Hannity
13 April 11
he tumultuous managerial shakeup at National Public Radio headquarters for trivial verbal miscues once again has highlighted the ludicrous corporatist right-wing charge that public radio and public TV are replete with left-leaning or leftist programming.
Ludicrous, that is, unless this criticism's yardstick is the propaganda regularly exuded by the extreme right-wing Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. These "capitalists" use the public's airwaves free-of-charge to make big money.
The truth is that the frightened executives at public TV and radio have long been more hospitable to interviews with right of center or extreme right-wing and corporatist talking heads than liberal or progressive guests.
PBS's Charlie Rose has had war-loving William Kristol on 31 times, Henry Kissinger 55 times, Richard Perle 10 times, the global corporatist cheerleader, Tom Friedman 70 times. Compare that guest list with Rose's interviews of widely published left of center guests - Noam Chomsky two times, William Grieder two times, Jim Hightower two times, Charlie Peters two times, Lewis Lapham three times, Bob Herbert six times, Paul Krugman 21 times, Victor Navasky one time, Mark Green five times and Sy Hersh, once a frequent guest, has not been on since January 2005.
Dr. Sidney Wolfe, the widely-quoted super-accurate drug industry critic, who is often featured on the commercial TV network shows, has never been on Rose's show. Nor has the long-time head of Citizens for Tax Justice and widely respected progressive tax analyst, Robert McIntyre.
Far more corporate executives, not known for their leftist inclinations, appear on Rose's show than do leaders of environmental, consumer, labor and poverty organizations.
In case you are wondering, I've appeared four times, but not since August 2005, and not once on the hostile Terri Gross radio show.
The unabashed progressive Bill Moyer's Show is off the air and has not been replaced. No one can charge PBS's News Hour with Jim Lehrer with anything other than very straightforward news delivery, bland opinion exchanges and a troubling inclination to avoid much reporting that upsets the power structures in Congress, the White House, the Pentagon or Wall Street.
The longest running show on PBS was hard-line conservative William F. Buckley's show - Firing Line - which came on the air in 1966 and ended in 1999.
Sponsorship by large corporations, such as Coca Cola and AT&T, have abounded - a largesse not likely to be continued year after year for a leftist media organization.
None of this deters the Far Right that presently got a majority in the House of Representatives to defund the $422 million annual appropriation to the umbrella entity - Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). About 15% of all revenues for all public broadcasting stations comes from this Congressional contribution.
Though he admits to liking National Public Radio, conservative columnist David Harsanyi, believes there is no "practical argument" left "in the defense of federal funding in an era of nearly unlimited choices."
Really? Do commercial radio stations give you much news between the Niagara of advertisements and music? Even the frenetic news, sports, traffic and weather flashes, garnished by ads, are either redundant or made up of soundbytes (apart from the merely 2 minutes of CBS radio news every half-hour). If you want serious news, features and interviews on the radio, you go to public radio or the few community and Pacifica radio stations.
Harsanyi continues: "Something, though, seems awfully wrong with continuing to force taxpayers who disagree with the mission - even if their perceptions are false - to keep giving."
Public radio's popular Morning Edition and All Things Considered are the most listened to radio shows after Rush Limbaugh's, and any taxpayer can turn them off. Compare the relatively small public radio and TV budget allocations with the tens of billions of dollars each year - not counting the Wall Street bailout - in compelling taxpayers to subsidize, through hundreds of programs, greedy, mismanaged, corrupt or polluting corporations either directly in handouts, giveaways and guarantees or indirectly in tax escapes, bloated contracts and grants. Can the taxpayer turn them off?
Here is a solution that will avoid any need for Congressional contributions to CPB. The people own the public airwaves. They are the landlords. The commercial radio and TV stations are the tenants that pay nothing for their 24 hour use of this public property. You pay more for your auto license than the largest television station in New York pays the Federal Communications Commission for its broadcasting license - which is nothing. It has been that way since the 1927 and 1934 communication laws.
Why not charge these profitable businesses rent for use of the public airwaves and direct some of the ample proceeds to nonprofit public radio and public TV as well as an assortment of audience controlled TV and radio channels that could broadcast what is going on in our country locally, regionally, nationally and internationally? (See: Ralph Nader & Claire Riley, Oh, Say Can You See: A Broadcast Network for the Audience, 5 J.L. & POL. 1, [1988])
Now that would be a worthy program for public broadcasting. Get Limbaugh's and Hannity's companies off welfare. Want to guess what their listeners think about corporate welfare?
|
THE NEW STREAMLINED RSN LOGIN PROCESS: Register once, then login and you are ready to comment. All you need is a Username and a Password of your choosing and you are free to comment whenever you like! Welcome to the Reader Supported News community. |
 20 May 2012
|
 20 May 2012
|
 22 May 2012
|
 21 May 2012
|
 21 May 2012
|
 21 May 2012
|
 21 May 2012
|
 20 May 2012
|
 20 May 2012
|
Comments
We are concerned about a recent drift towards vitriol in the RSN Reader comments section. There is a fine line between moderation and censorship. No one likes a harsh or confrontational forum atmosphere. At the same time everyone wants to be able to express themselves freely. We'll start by encouraging good judgment. If that doesn't work we'll have to ramp up the moderation.
General guidelines: Avoid personal attacks on other forum members; Avoid remarks that are ethnically derogatory; Do not advocate violence, or any illegal activity.
Remember that making the world better begins with responsible action.
- The RSN Team
Now if only we had a candidate!
We must issue position papers, on the economy, our media analysis, our international analysis. As long as NPR only reaches out to the Heritage Foundation for Analysis our voices there and our few other media voices, We need a national Progressive Convention. Why wait?
Because our funds go into one large pot that our elected representative knowing the will of his constituents allocates.
The only way we get to choose what is funded or not is either through protest or by election & recall process.
I think Buckley also wanted the more complete debate, with views like theirs heard. To not do so would be like having a trial with only one side presenting its view of the case. And, in cases like this, Nader is right on target, with a few simple counterpoints that, to me, completely change the balance of all the high dollar snow jobs produced by people like those that took over my old party.
http://www.politicalcompass.org/uselection2008
My argument, unfortunately, has always been that the "centrists" or moderates don't follow politics closely enough to even comprehend or define themselves politically. They are, essentially, without a core belief system-thus easy prey for the right wing. They will slide conservative when pressed about who they will vote for. So it does not matter if they may tally out as liberal on a few issues. Corporate media continues to define the term "liberal" for those of the distracted center. And the definition is largely perceived as negative.
I think the President went a long way into correcting the image of the liberal mindset, but we all, most of all the man at the bully pulpit, need to keep up the pushback.
I guess we need a bunch of loud mouth left of center countering lies with truth
If after they are elected they fall to corruption of money they are recalled. In fact the recall petitions should be ready before they are elected.
What about Jason Kafouri? Would he run? I would vote for him!
I know you're getting up in years, but I bet a younger Progressive could give f***ing Obama a run for his money. I'd hate to see what would happen after he was elected, probably get blown away. But it might get everyone fired up finally!
I have found that I am listening less and less to local station KQED. It has begun to seem like a right wing apologist. It simply doesn't cover many of the international situations I'm interested in. I've noticed that it's possible to find the far right covered in the news, but not even the center left has a presence.
The major media powerhouses seem to view news as soundbites. I heard about the Wisconsin union demonstrations on Pacifica 2 days before I could even find any mention on the standard TV news outlets. I never watch regular television news anymore.
I always regarded the Pacifica Network stations as radical left, but now I find myself listening to find out what's happening on the stories that are not presented on the other stations
I've recently heard several people ask the question I've been asking myself, "Am I really moving so far left, or is the country moving so far to the right that it only seems that way?"
Al Jazeera is worth checking out, too.
Broadcasters, like all businesses follow the money.
I'm not as cynical as Henry Adams, but I do think we are shooting ourselves in the foot with this lopsided debate.
I lived there 20+ years ago the candidates all got equal time (not soundbytes) and nobody paid. (we could require our networks to provide this free airtime for qualified candidates --qualified NOT by money raised, but by volunteer grass roots campaigning --getting voters to sign up behind candidates, and restore truly democratic choice. I think the media in France at the time belonged to the government and my impression then was that the government belonged to the voters, who knew they could organize and always had a selection of a dozen presidential candidates and the selection (narrowing the field to two)was not controlled by the corporate system.
I hope France is still that way and has not been corporatized also.
Let's hope that Mr. Obama follows through with his stated intentions on the budget (in yesterday's speech) and doesn't follow the speech with cave-ins. If he is pereceived as a fighter (and he has to be, in this case, as the Republicas are hopelessly rigid, selfish, and unccaptable), I think the Democrats have a good chance of really slamming the G.O.P. in the upcoming elections. He needs to take them and their corporatist hacks like Ryan on and abandon this nonsense about bipartisanship. They aren't worth compromising with.
Why is it that the best ideas are regarded as "extreme" in this world?
for heaven's sake. Couldn't you think of a single name of someone with two X chromosomes?
Can I stop paying for wars then?
Arika
Sorry Mr. Nader but it's that sort of logic that is the reason no one likes to listen to liberal radio and why it's an utter failure.
Also, although I think I understand the theological implications of the term, please explain what you mean by "...SO CALLED FREE SPIRITS..."
I fought for this country in another war with no meaning or worth to it for the general populace.. Spent too long in Vietnam and know bullets don't zig zag in midair as the Warren Commission pawned off on septic tank brains like yours. I'd call some one to clean out all that elephant crap from between your ears. And who were you with and where did you fight so valiantly? Ft. Dick? Cpl. Pierson 101st Airborne, Vietnam and you make me sick... print this RSN. Send these guys some money too. All those magazines and papers they get their news from cost money ya know, or do what they do. Read a lot. RVERAL, stay in your RV.. Keep America Beautiful Pissed of Vet. garyray
admirers asked him to come speak locally.
Elrushbo told the poor soul on the radio
that his speaking fee was $50,000.
With that kind of money, he can afford
to smoke those big cigars while some
people have trouble buying food and
diapers.
Your Ego (correctly capitalized when referring to yours) made all of this possible--Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Iraq, 9/11, etc., etc., etc. And gave birth to this national eruption of distrust and hatred.
http://www.sharethisurlaboutglennbeck.com/2012/03/beck-and-side-kicks-smeared-fluke-1st.html
http://www.sharethisurlaboutglennbeck.com/2012/03/beck-and-side-kicks-smeared-fluke-1st.html
RSS feed for comments to this post.