Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
Larry Koler ·
April 10, 2012 at 1:28pm
I want to put this as plainly and clearly as possible:
- NPR and PBS are politically far to the left of the country that funds them.
- They take money that comes from the government.
- They should morally and ethically strive with unswerving diligence to provide political content that is consistent with the country as a whole.
- Morally and ethically they should not side against any major political faction. They should recuse themselves if there is any doubt on this.
- NPR and PBS are morally and ethically in breach of trust with this country. They have allied themselves with only the most left-wing part of the Democratic Party. They have done this throughout their entire history.
- They have allied themselves with our enemies -- both within the country and outside. They have done this throughout their entire history.
- Rob Long gives them the patina of respectability by lending his conservative bona-fides to them. This gives a false impression that they capitalize on when defending themselves against bias. Even if he never talked about political topics, Rob should have nothing to do with these people because they have proven to have failed in their mission as laid out at their birth.
I'm sure you all agree but, if not, then please do opine.
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Comments:
Jul '10
Re: Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
Rob should take what He earns at NPR and spread it out evenly to Us because it's Our taxes and I don't see anything in Our Constitution supporting it.
Mar '12
Re: Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
I'm solidly conservative, and on the right wing of the republican party. Am I wrong for listening to NPR? If so, why? If not, why not?
If so, how does my listening differ from Long's working? Arguably, a rightish voice is all the more important on PBS or NPR, which reach a different audience than Ricochet or The National Review.
Jun '10
Re: Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
They were not originally set up to have a different audience than the mainstream. But, your statement is correct -- they are on the opposite political pole from NR and Ricochet. They shouldn't be.
They are completely given over to the liberal elites who have all the money in the world to fund this without government help or money. But, I want to stress that this is not about the amount of money -- it is about fiduciary responsibility, professionalism and common decency.
Dec '10
Re: Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
Larry,
Both NPR and PBS get most of their money from private sources. I think it is time to recognize the validity of what you say and simply remove their federal funding source.
Also, I would take one more thing away from them. I would deny them their name and corporate trademarks. I would not allow them to take on a new name that in any way suggests that they are part of or affiliated to the government.
Let them go forth into the market place and learn responsibility or perish. Rob can then do as he pleases. My only advice would be not to get too comfy in the easy pseudo-government gig.
Regards,
Jim
Edited on April 10, 2012 at 3:19amMay '11
Re: Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
Retreating from public debate is a circle-the-wagons loser strategy. To triumph, you must engage the populace and win them over. You don't do that by refusing to join the conversation.
Oct '10
Re: Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
Hello Larry,
I'm conservative enough to make Barry Goldwater seem like a rino squish.. but I donate to, and listen to NPR. I think you're being pretty hard on them.
And like you I wish they didn't take federal dollars. I'd be happy to chip in more.
Give NPR it's due. Unlike any other radio format it runs a lot of in-depth news items. Slanted? Yeah, sometimes, although often still fact-laden. We're smart, and we can filter out the slant. In my area, it's also home for fine arts broadcasts which I can get nowhere else.
Actually, I think that it would be great if some of the Ricochet podcasts could be offered to NPR for re-broadcast.. especially Epstein and Yoo. What an education they could provide for the NPR audience!
Edited on April 10, 2012 at 3:02amJun '10
Re: Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
By "the conversation" do you mean that conversation in the Congress for its inception and funding or conversations on NPR?
What you don't do is help them circle their wagons. Rob is helping them.
Jun '10
Re: Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
Limestone Cowboy, Here's how you answer your canard about the "good" content:
If you contract with me for a service and give me $1 Billion, I can guarantee you that I can provide $100 Million worth of very worthy products and services in return. You will like what I can provide. It will be objectively good stuff.
What I'm talking about is what they did with the other $900 million.
(This is intended as a simile -- but not one that is too far off.)
Jan '11
Re: Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
Larry Koler:
[NPR] shouldmorally and ethically strive with unswerving diligence to provide political content that is consistent with the country as a whole....
Rob Long gives them the patina of respectability by lending his conservative bona-fides to them. This gives a false impression that they capitalize on when defending themselves against bias. Even if he never talked about political topics, Rob should have nothing to do with these people because they have proven to have failed in their mission as laid out at their birth.
So NPR is horrible because it's biased on the Left, and, therefore, all conservatives should refuse to associate with it? That's completely circular.
NPR, like all other media, should be fully privately funded; they'd have a rough year or two at first, but I'm certain they'd come out on top and we'd all be better off for it.
Mar '11
Re: Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
Larry Koler:
So if this is the case, doesn't the presence of conservatives (like Rob) on NPR actually bring it closer to the center, thus helping fulfill the demand in #3? Perhaps your post should instead be titled "NPR needs more Peter Robinson" (who appears about once or twice a year on NPR).
Just trying to play devil's advocate.
Oct '10
Re: Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
Larry Koler: Limestone Cowboy
If you contract with me for a service and give me $1 Billion, I can guarantee you that I can provide $100 Million worth of very worthy products and services in return. You will like what I can provide.
Larry, I don't know what percentage of NPR's budget is privately funded. Judging from the recent sting videos which (deservedly) cost Vivian Schiller her job as CEO, they could easily do without federal funds. And then bias is no longer an issue.
As for the billion/100 million metaphor, I'm not sure it holds. There are a very large number of contributors , presumably not stupid, who feel they are getting value exceeding 10 cents on the dollar, and who if they are rational perceive value in excess of of one dollar per dollar contributed. Me included.
Think about cable. You're probably paying for many more channels than you would ever watch: many of those channels may actually be offensive to you. Personally I wouldn't take HBO as a gift, but many people I know are forced to pay for it as part of a bundle.
Oct '11
Re: Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
Limestone Cowboy: Slanted? Yeah, sometimes, although often still fact-laden. We're smart, and we can filter out the slant. · 28 minutes ago
Edited 26 minutes ago
My absolute, 100% favorite slanted public radio moment came on the night of the 2009 gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia. I was listening to WNYC, the local public radio station for New York City. The local politics host, Brian Leher, was broadcasting the returns that evening, and I could tell he was pretty stunned at the way things were going when Virginia was called for McDonnell. Here's what he said: "And so a huge win for the GOP here in the former capital of the Confederacy."
Ahahahaha! I love that. You know, because he was clearly so shocked that McDonnell had won, and his immediate off-the-cuff response was to insinuate that the GOP was racist, by trying to tie the party to the Confederacy (which was made up entirely of Democrats).
Brian's alright. I tune in to his morning show every once in a while, mostly to laugh.
Oct '10
Re: Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
Albert Arthur
Limestone Cowboy: Slanted? Yeah, sometimes, although often still fact-laden. We're smart, and we can filter out the slant. · 28 minutes ago
Edited 26 minutes ago
Ahahahaha! I love that. You know, because he was clearly so shocked that McDonnell had won, and his immediate off-the-cuff response was to insinuate that the GOP was racist, by trying to tie the party to the Confederacy (which was made up entirely of Democrats).
Brian's alright. I tune in to his morning show every once in a while, mostly to laugh. · 0 minutes ago
Albert, thanks for making my point. You saw right through it.
Jun '10
Re: Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
Many of you are missing the point and that is the aspect of being good stewards of government funds and government projects -- and this aspect of good government must be supported as we slide into Socialism more and more. Instead, things are getting worse. Government has become the creature of the left.
This particular example is a clear cut case of abuse.
NPR and PBS are egregious examples of bad governing, misuse of funds and mischief-making on a grand scale.
Please stay on topic.
Jul '10
Re: Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
It's true, I have a lot of friends in politics, but they wouldn't be friendly very long if they knew I listened to NPR instead of Rush, which they regard as a harmless vice. It doesn't make any difference to me what a man does for a living, understand. But this Martini Shot business, it's a little dangerous.
Actually though, I think it is a good thing that Rob is talking to the hippies through NPR. He speaks their lingo, and can plant some ideas more effectively from that platform. This is all the more true as his "agenda" is to infotain, not indoctrinate.
Edited on April 10, 2012 at 4:12amDec '10
Re: Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
Larry,
I agree with what you say and Rob would probably be better off using his talents elsewhere. However, we need a strategy to deal with them.
It is imperative that they lose the imprimature of government. Remove the funding and remove the trademark and logo. Make them rename on their own. Their private contributors that believe in them can go on buying what they want. The rest of us won't be dragged into it.
I don't think they would last two seasons.
Regards,
Jim
Jan '11
Re: Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
Rob Long is a conservative?
Larry Koler:
He scored a 13! An honest 13.
May '10
Re: Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
I'm a video migrant worker. In the past if PBS was paying I was working. Simple logic: If they ain't spending that budgeted money on you then they're spending it on someone or something else.
What Rob does is neither illegal or immoral. How NPR gets the money may be immoral but that's not the question, is it?
May '11
Re: Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
Larry Koler: Many of you are missing the point and that is the aspect of being good stewards ofgovernment funds and government projects -- and this aspect of good government must be supported as we slide into Socialism more and more. Instead, things are getting worse. Government has become the creature of the left.
This particular example is a clear cut case of abuse.
NPR and PBS are egregious examples of bad governing, misuse of funds and mischief-making on a grand scale.
Please stay on topic. · 29 minutes ago
Thought your topic was whether Rob Long should be there.
I just can't get too upset about NPR, and the fact that they get some gov't money. As Jim posted earlier, most of their income comes from private sources. Yeah, they're way to the left, but anybody with any sense knows it.
Given the much larger and more serious problems with the federal gov't, NPR is not even on my radar.
Oh, and I haven't heard Rob there but maybe now I'll try to find him.
Re: Is Rob Long Morally Wrong to Work for NPR?
Point of fact: Rob works for KCRW not NPR. As an independent station, it receives some money from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, but the majority of their operating budget is raised privately. Also, Rob's work on KCRW is distinctly non-political. He is not advancing an agenda, rather he mostly makes fun of show business dweebs, a tremendous public service around these parts.
Most importantly, they play great music not heard on any other station in this market. Also a tremendous public service.