It's public radio. Your parents listen to it.
June 5, 2010 8:47 AM   Subscribe

 
It's a fucking tote.
posted by pracowity at 8:53 AM on June 5, 2010


Carl Castle, what a gem!!
posted by wheelieman at 8:58 AM on June 5, 2010


thank god for folksonomy...
posted by infini at 9:00 AM on June 5, 2010


Slashdot's reaction to the tote:

No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.
posted by djgh at 9:07 AM on June 5, 2010 [5 favorites]


I love you, Peter Sagal.
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 9:11 AM on June 5, 2010 [2 favorites]


I love seeing what these people look like.
posted by Pecinpah at 9:13 AM on June 5, 2010 [5 favorites]


This was pretty cool, but I'll reserve the ♥ for when they drop Mara Liasson (Karl Rove's right hand woman) and Barbara Bradley Hagerty (the religion correspondent that thinks she's qualified to cover evolution stories). Oh and that morning guy, I can't remember his name, that did a "story" about Gillette when the ∞-bladed razor came out. And how could I forget Anne Garrels?!

I guess after they get rid of pretty much everyone except Robert Segal and Nina Totenberg.
posted by DU at 9:25 AM on June 5, 2010 [5 favorites]


Yes, let's silence the journalists we don't like.
posted by oddman at 9:27 AM on June 5, 2010 [4 favorites]


Can we silence the journalists with incredibly annoying voices?
posted by The Whelk at 9:29 AM on June 5, 2010 [1 favorite]


I wasn't suggesting killing them. Just dropping them from a station that purports to a) tell the truth (bye, Liasson and Hagerty!) b) that people need to hear (bye, Morning Dude!) c) while keeping some principles such as basic human rights (seeya, Garrels!).
posted by DU at 9:30 AM on June 5, 2010 [7 favorites]


so let me restate that in less aggro terms - you want to align the content of the station with the values of the brand that the station espouses, ja?
posted by infini at 9:32 AM on June 5, 2010 [1 favorite]


Awesome.
posted by ColdChef at 9:39 AM on June 5, 2010


Is this something I need radio and an internet connection to...
posted by furtive at 9:50 AM on June 5, 2010


Aw, it's cute! Between this and that music video dealie from a few weeks ago, it's pretty obvious that they're all good sports.

Also: In my house, it's Nina TOTENBAG.
posted by sadiehawkinstein at 9:59 AM on June 5, 2010


As one of those obnoxious social media strategists everyone hates, NPR does it right. Don't takeyourself so #^#% seriously, big companies.
posted by softlord at 10:03 AM on June 5, 2010


i love npr so much i want to marry it
posted by angrycat at 10:18 AM on June 5, 2010 [1 favorite]


i love npr so much i want to marry it

Too late. It's mine. I've already had all its babies.
posted by The Potate at 10:35 AM on June 5, 2010


No Pentagon Rebuking
posted by L'OM at 10:40 AM on June 5, 2010


The CEO is a big much! She NPRness like she was talking about something else that sounds similar. I wouldn't want to work for her directly.
posted by Xurando at 10:45 AM on June 5, 2010


I couldn't agree more or less.
posted by found missing at 10:52 AM on June 5, 2010


Cute, but the jokes are old. Autotune the news is so last year. 5 out of 10.
posted by boghead at 10:59 AM on June 5, 2010


you want to align the content of the station with the values of the brand that the station espouses, ja?

How about just dropping the mendacious propagandists?
posted by kenko at 11:49 AM on June 5, 2010


How about just dropping the mendacious propagandists?

But, would it still be Metafilter?
posted by found missing at 11:52 AM on June 5, 2010 [4 favorites]


The only reason I took this gig was because somebody said we'll make you blue.
posted by garnetgirl at 12:46 PM on June 5, 2010


THAT IS SOME FUNNY ASS SHIT!
posted by Fizz at 12:48 PM on June 5, 2010


It's a fucking tote?!

Best part of the whole thing.
posted by iamgoat at 12:51 PM on June 5, 2010 [1 favorite]


NPR is complete awesomeness compared to asshat Fox News or Air America. Those stations attempt to shout you into submission and beat you over the head while they tell you what to think. NPR has a more balanced approach and just tries to convince you to THINK.
posted by leftcoastbob at 1:04 PM on June 5, 2010


Trying waaay too hard
posted by stevil at 1:19 PM on June 5, 2010 [1 favorite]


It's kind of interesting that in every thread about NPR, there are always:

1) People who love and support public radio.
2) People who bitch incessantly about the little shortcomings of public radio.

I lean towards #1, I grew up on NPR and honestly don't understand the harsh criticism it receives over menial things like peoples voices and reporter bias. Yes, reporters have biased views, but when you step back and compare an average NPR story with an average MSNBC/Fox story, the sheer amount of information and depth that NPR goes into is obvious.

I dunno, it feels like criticizing a great meal because it was served on the same kind of plate that the next door McDonalds uses. Does that metaphor make sense?
posted by Taft at 3:41 PM on June 5, 2010 [4 favorites]


How about just dropping the mendacious propagandists

I think Mendacious Propaganda was the original name of On The Media.
posted by Rock Steady at 3:55 PM on June 5, 2010


Mara Liasson (Karl Rove's right hand woman)

Huh?
posted by lunasol at 4:54 PM on June 5, 2010


I guess after they get rid of pretty much everyone except Robert Segal and Nina Totenberg.

hey Hey HEY! I'm gonna wanna stand up for Warren Ulney here! That old man is sassy!

NPR isn't what it was before the fundy attacks in the mid-90s brought on a forced contriteness and Beaverism. They're starting to catch up online - losing the RealMedia in favor of MP3s ... many many podcasts available. They're not doing much in the way of new/experimental programming these days. Their coverage of music is barely and oriented to days of yore.
posted by Twang at 5:53 PM on June 5, 2010 [1 favorite]


I dunno, it feels like criticizing a great meal because it was served on the same kind of plate that the next door McDonalds uses.

How about this: too often NPR just tries to make a slightly healthier Big Mac. They can do better.
posted by Someday Bum at 10:06 PM on June 5, 2010 [1 favorite]


It's kind of interesting that in every thread about NPR, there are always:

1) People who love and support public radio.
2) People who bitch incessantly about the little shortcomings of public radio.


and...

3. People who bitch about the big, fundamental biases at NPR underlying the stories reported on and not, the ideological slant of those stories, the type of reporters and hosts hired, the selection of experts sought out to inform these reports (and those deliberately excluded), and so on.

NPR has serious shortcomings, and I don't mean just Scott Simon's creepy laughter or mawkish pieties or the annoying way Michelle says her first name. The NPRCheck blog did a great job detailing them week after week until the blog's proprietor completely burned out, after noting the same basic problems day after day for years. (The archives are still up, though, and the occasional open thread for people who just heard something that made them want to tear their hair out).

Michael Parenti used to tell a funny story about being approached tentatively by NPR for a role, along with that buffoon Cokie Roberts and Kevin Phillips (who is not a buffoon) as a political consultant. He understood that he and his POV had as much a chance actually making it onto NPR as Chomsky or Norman Finkelstein did. (But Juan Forero gets to slam Venezuela's government for whatever reason of the week, week after week, year after year, and just yesterday both David Brooks and EJ Dione congenially agreed in their weekly political "wrap up" that Israel was completely morally justified in their attack on Gaza Aid Flotilla.)
posted by Auden at 10:47 PM on June 5, 2010 [2 favorites]


NPR podcast.
posted by kenko at 11:49 PM on June 5, 2010


Perspective of an Australian here, home of the excellent ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission), which is government funded radio and TV. One of our ABC stations broadcasts NPR's All Things Considered. It has always seemed fairly light-weight fare to me compared to the ABC's own programs. Is this show representative of NPR or does it broadcast content more in-depth and insightful than this show?
posted by Pranksome Quaine at 5:39 AM on June 6, 2010


ATC is, as a national show, typically fairly vanilla. Local and regional shows have a little more oomph in some markets.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 5:52 AM on June 6, 2010


Their coverage of music is barely and oriented to days of yore.

Well, that's not really true. All Songs Considered regularly features brand new music by current and sometimes even cutting edge artists. Just the other day, I was driving (on a Thursday morning, no less) to a town an hour away and had Morning Edition tuned in, and they debuted a new song from Arcade Fire, which the host introduced with "if you aren't awake yet, you will be. This is rock and roll." And then a wall of sound hit my ears. I was thrilled, but then, I'm a rocker.

It's not an NPR offering, but if you aren't listening to Sound Opinions, you're missing one of the most erudite hours devoted to non-classical music I've ever heard. I can't recommend it highly enough.
posted by hippybear at 8:43 AM on June 6, 2010 [3 favorites]


Gee, I'm glad NPR can make fun of itself for its crappy social media/digital technology strategies after pulling the plug on things like The Bryant Park Project, which brought in new listeners and was DESIGNED to be multi-platform and interactive (radio/podcast, facebook & blog) in ways that NPR shows largely AREN'T (Planet Money podcast being the big exception).

NPR still can't seem get past its own internal production biases as "broadcast radio" and manages to stifle innovative new formats with a bizarre combination of over-production and under-promotion. This video, while cute, manages to expose NPR's whole attitude towards new media as "cheap gimmicks." It's like they still don't get it . . . It's not about autotune, it's about how a blog can amplify a story from the radio/podcast. It's not about 3D motion capture, it's about how Facebook and Twitter can help connect an audience with each other and serve as a "breaking news" feed. Shit like this video makes me want to beat my head against the wall-- "Look how smart we are for making fun of our failed new media strategies while failing to learn from our mistakes!" LOLPeople-who-are-impressed-by-their-own-intelligence!

Don't get me wrong, I like NPR and want to see it succeed (especially as most private news media replace journalism with infotainment) but I seriously question its ability to stay relevent in a changing media landscape, from its funding strategies to its production to its content. PRI (home of This American Life, Sound Opinions & The Sound of Young America) does a much better job in all these areas and NPR could do a lot for itself by looking at what makes these shows work if it wants to survive.
posted by KingEdRa at 10:21 AM on June 6, 2010 [1 favorite]


« Older Terrifying!   |   Davis Souter's commencement speech at Harvard Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments