National Public Radio, so left it leans on the ground

[MajGenl.Meade]

https://www.thefp.com/p/npr-editor-how- ... icas-trust

You know the stereotype of the NPR listener: an EV-driving, Wordle-playing, tote bag–carrying coastal elite. It doesn’t precisely describe me, but it’s not far off. I’m Sarah Lawrence–educated, was raised by a lesbian peace activist mother, I drive a Subaru, and Spotify says my listening habits are most similar to people in Berkeley . . . It’s true NPR has always had a liberal bent, but during most of my tenure here, an open-minded, curious culture prevailed. We were nerdy, but not knee-jerk, activist, or scolding.

In recent years, however, that has changed. Today, those who listen to NPR or read its coverage online find something different: the distilled worldview of a very small segment of the U.S. population.

I have long loved NPR in its various forms via local college stations - not just for Click and Clack or WhaddayaKnow? etc but also for balanced news, guests, articles and interesting debate. But lately I'm having more and more difficulty.

It seems I can hardly switch on without some homosexual, identity changing, pronoun challenged person being the main star. Their views, their books, their perspective, how they are right and everyone else is wrong . . . it's an endless drumbeat. So I can turn it off and that's that - no problem. [Yeah, you can dismiss my distaste for this shit however you like. And I do admire how successfully this splinter faction is dictating social change and correct thinking]

But now this chap Uri is turning NPR in for distortion of news (and ignoring the incorrect political line in investigating matters) whether it's Trump (asshole) and Russia, Covid or Hunter. And I'm reconsidering my donation.

[Burning Petard]

The Hunter Biden computer story was very personal to me. The computer guy who had the mysterious hard drive with lots of juicy stuff on it was a very important guy for me. He ran a one man business in a little business neighbor hood that also had the dentist who did a root canal on me that was less painful than a routine cleaning.

But I am talking about the Mac Shop. He had old Apple computers and circuit boards on display as art pieces. He was the go -to guy for the local Apple store. If you had a problem the story could not figure out, they would whisper in your ear "Don't tell anyone I sent you, but there is this place called 'The Mac Shop over in Trolly Square. . . " He was an albino, very near sighted. Always wore a non-military beret. Treat him with respect and he could work miracles. He could not fix an iPhone dropped in the commode, but anything else was possible, usually for 70 dollars, no matter what the problem. My wife hated computers. She was sure they hated her. But she learned to use an early apple notebook so she could do FaceTime with her grandchildren and exchange quilt patterns. She was carefully and patiently trained by the 'blind computer tech' in Wilmington DE. No surprise to apple users around here if Hunter Biden sent his box from California to the Mac Shop. He could solve glitches that stumped Cupertino.

The big deal was that Hunter Biden abandoned his machine. The paperwork for the Mac Shop plainly warned that you had no privacy if you abandoned the equipment. Hunter Biden did just that. I am convinced that if you left your Apple computer at the Mac Shop for a year, even with the best encryption programs used by the most secret buried office of NSA, he could crack it before the machine was barely warmed up. I also trusted him to not look at all my porn as long as I picked up the machine when I said I would and my credit card went through. He did try to give Hunter's to the FBI. Eventually he was hounded out of town by extremist jerks on both side.

Now the old timers at the local Apple Store just smile and say, "I'm sorry. I really wish we could help you, but the Mac Shop is gone now."

Back to the original topic, I try to get my news from the tv coverage from France and Japan. I think ALL the news outlets in the USofA (perhaps with the exception of the Christian Science Monitor, but I have not seen that since my local newstand died a couple of decades ago) have been taken over as part of the entertainment market. I used to read online newspapers from Britain, Switzerland, Israel, Taiwan. They are all behind paywalls now like the 'free' version of Der Spiegel and the Guardian. Bezos has walked away from the Washington Post and it is on its way to becoming a clone of Gannett News.

On the 'Russiagate" scandal in the 2016 election. For me that was using an obsolete paradigm. There was no need for Russia to 'collude' with Trump.
They were on the same page from the beginning. Look at the GOP platform for 2016. Trump told the group writing the platform they could put in anything, as long as they said nothing about Ukraine. Russia had no need to 'coordinate' its interference in the election with Trump's people.

[MajGenl.Meade]

On the 'Russiagate" scandal in the 2016 election. For me that was using an obsolete paradigm. There was no need for Russia to 'collude' with Trump.

Well Snail, that was rather the point. NPR didn't see it that way and they eagerly piled on.

Persistent rumors that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia over the election became the catnip that drove reporting. At NPR, we hitched our wagon to Trump’s most visible antagonist, Representative Adam Schiff . . . (NPR) interviewed Schiff 25 times about Trump and Russia. During many of those conversations, Schiff alluded to purported evidence of collusion. The Schiff talking points became the drumbeat of NPR news reports.

But when the Mueller report found no credible evidence of collusion, NPR’s coverage was notably sparse. Russiagate quietly faded from our programming.