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07 Nov 2011 23:22

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Music: Don’t wait to listen to “Camp”. You’ll be out of the cool loop.

  • Childish Gambino’s “Camp” is streaming already: You should have heard about “rap’s stepfather” by now. Childish Gambino, who you might know better as actor and writer Donald Glover, is releasing his latest album this month. Entitled “Camp,” it’s set to drop on November 15 … but if you’re cool, you can listen to it today. Thanks to NPR’s First Listen, you can listen to the entire album for free. It’s not safe for work due to explicit lyrics, but if we had our way, this would be mandatory listening material in every workplace. Take him seriously, though, as “few hip-hop artists have blurred the boundaries of rap and humor more subversively — or for a more serious end — than Childish Gambino.” source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Jun 2011 20:33

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U.S.: Chris Christie wants to outsource New Jersey’s public broadcasting

  • We need to have robust New Jersey public broadcasting, but we need to have it in a way that is not continuing to cost the taxpayers and can be perceived as truly independent from state government.
  • New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie • Describing his plan to have WNET take over public television coverage in New Jersey, as well as to offer up public radio coverage to stations in Pennsylvania and New York. A deal’s already in place. The decision is controversial to say the least — some New Jersey residents are concerned about losing local programming as a result of the plan, and over 100 people will lose their jobs — though they have the opportunity to reapply for similar jobs with WNET. Though officials reassure that donaations raised for public broadcasting “will stay in New Jersey,” this is kind of a crap move if you ask us. These services cost the state relatively little and their benefits are pretty high. And the state wouldn’t be able to get away with this move at all if they weren’t relatively small and adjacent to states with large public broadcasters already. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Apr 2011 14:53

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Politics: Mr. Glass goes to Washington … to defend NPR’s honor

  • frustration Following conservative activist (or hatchet man, if you prefer) James O’Keefe’s video embarrassing an NPR fundraiser, radio host Ira Glass was upset that NPR seemed to cede to claims of a liberal bias, which he thinks is nonsense.
  • pushback Glass took to Washington DC, giving a speech at George Washington University. He said that he’d asked Brooke Gladstone, one of the hosts of “On The Media” to dig up any statistics on these accusations against NPR. source
  • » Numbers and thoughts on bias: Glass cited a study on NPR by FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) which found their guests, from a partisan standpoint, were 60% Republican and 40% Democratic. He also defended NPR’s hosts, saying that Michele Norris asking a CEO if we can afford to eliminate taxes for certain companies isn’t bias, because she’d ask the same question of someone in favor of spending increases. But as the first example infers a pro-tax bent, a conservative might decry it as bias when it really isn’t. It’s an interesting take from an interesting man, and we urge you to give the full article a look.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Apr 2011 23:30

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Politics: Americans woefully misinformed on government funding of NPR

  • 5% share of the federal budget that Americans believe goes toward funding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
  • .01% share of the federal budget that actually goes toward funding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting source
  • » That 5% figure represents the median prediction Americans made when asked how much of the US government’s spending goes toward funding NPR’s parent organization. Very off-base, yes–but that’s just the median guess! Insanely, 5% of respondents believed that half of the country’s entire budget is given to the Corporation of Public Broadcasting. Relatedly, the average respondent thought foreign aid accounts for 10% of the budget, when it’s really more like 1%.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Mar 2011 10:53

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Politics: Waste of time: House GOP pushes to hur NPR’s federal-funding

  • Taxpayers should not be on the hook for something that is widely available in the private market. I wish only the best for NPR. Like many Americans, I enjoy much of their programming.
  • Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) • Attempting to make his final dagger-push into the body that is the federal funding of NPR. The bill “prohibits NPR and its local affiliates from using federal dollars to produce programming or purchase content from other member stations. Affiliate stations could only use taxpayer money for administrative costs, under the bill.” It’s being fast-tracked for a vote later on today. Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me! The House GOP’s going to push for something that’s not going to pass the Senate, Obama’s not going to sign, and is going to waste everybody’s time yet again. Check. Come on. Your party can’t complain about Obama picking his NCAA bracket if all you’re giving him to work with are stupid things that won’t go anywhere. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Mar 2011 14:38

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Politics: Ira Glass is having none of this left-wing NPR talk

  • …people on the right are going around trying to basically re-brand us, saying that it’s biased news, it’s left wing news, when I feel like anybody who listens to the shows knows that it’s not. And we are not fighting back, we are not saying anything back. I find it completely annoying, and I don’t understand it.
  • “This American Life” host Ira Glass • Talking to NPR’s “On The Media,” which, well, focuses on the media. Glass, who actually works for Public Radio International, nonetheless knows the meaning of solidarity, and he seems none too pleased with NPR’s rather tepid defense of itself. On the heels of James O’Keefe’s candid video of NPR fundraiser Ron Schiller (which, it bears mentioning, was not on the level, like basically everything O’Keefe has done) NPR does seems to be pretty willing to let its enemies define it. Our take? It’s just not in the rhetorical DNA of NPR to engage in full-throated argument against it’s critics the way, say, a cable news channel or politician might, so Glass’s frustrations may not abate anytime soon. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Mar 2011 22:18

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Politics: Congressman Doug Lamborn does not like Big Bird

  • I have been seeking to push Big Bird out of the nest for over a year…it’s time for Big Bird to earn his wings and learn to fly on his own.
  • Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) • On the departure of Vivian Schiller, the now-former CEO of NPR — as well as his push to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and NPR. He wrote the legislation to defund the organizations. “We can no longer afford to spend taxpayer dollars on non-essential government programs,” Lamborn said, and Schiller’s departure “only strengthens my resolve to eliminate all federal funding for NPR and its parent organization.” Fair enough, but cut the Bird some slack, eh? He’s just an innocent bystander!  source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

09 Mar 2011 10:16

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Politics: NPR’s board discusses CEO Vivian Schiller’s resignation from NPR

  • I recognize the magnitude of this news – and that it comes on top of what has been a traumatic period for NPR and the larger public radio community. The Board is committed to supporting NPR through this interim period and has confidence in NPR’s leadership team.
  • NPR Board of Directors Chairman Dave Edwards • Discussing what happens next, as CEO Vivian Schiller resigns from her job with NPR. Her resignation, caused by a gotcha clip where NPR fundraiser Ron Schiller was caught saying things critical of the Tea Party to a couple dudes pretending to be Muslims. (How do these people get duped?!) “The Board accepted her resignation with understanding, genuine regret, and great respect for her leadership of NPR these past two years,” Edwards notes. We feel all those things, too. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Mar 2011 10:02

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U.S.: Whoa … NPR’s CEO, Vivian Schiller, just quit. O’Keefe drew blood.

  • schiller #1 Last night, NPR’s Senior Vice President for Fundraising, Ron Schiller, pushed up his resignation two months. The change was caused  by the release of a gotcha video clip. He’s now resigning “effective immediately.”
  • schiller #2 The CEO of NPR, Vivian Schiller, who’s unrelated to Ron, has resigned herself in the wake of the news. That was fast. Point to James O’Keefe: Your guys went past “finish him!” and scored a fatality on NPR. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Mar 2011 18:59

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Politics: Andrew Breitbart: No beef between me and James O’Keefe

  • The mainstream media uses me as a way to marginalize James, and James as a means to marginalize me.
  • Andrew Breitbart • Explaining why his decision to pass on the latest James O’Keefe saga, involving a soon-to-be-departing NPR exec, isn’t an attempt to distance himself from the gotcha video specialist. “I’ve said all along that James needs to be an independent journalist,” he said. “His ACORN videos weren’t posted exclusively on Breitbart sites.” Breitbart famously criticized his protegé after he attempted to do some sketchy stuff involving CNN reporter Abbie Boudreau. But for what it’s worth, Breitbart appears to be pretty happy with O’Keefe’s latest story, even if he wasn’t the guy who brought it to the world. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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