Recently I’ve made a new hobby of dogging NPR, National Public Radio.
As a decades long listener I see myself as having a vested interest and like to think of myself as a member of the loyal opposition.
You see I do believe NPR is first rate on many levels, even its news has its glowing moments.
But, these trying times demands better than last administration’s status quo of ignoring all that don’t fit the official storyline.
I’ll admit I’m no expert on the deep background, but I do know the Cheney/Bush Administration failed in various attempts to cripple NPR.
Three cheers for the public outcry that stymied them!
However, I also noticed that they sure managed to get NPR News programming watered-down.
I believe the time has come for a more thoughtful assessment of real world facts & science to retake its rightful place within the NPR News lineup.
And for this I shall continue dogging my pals at NPR
as "myperspectives"
I’m sharing the following because I think it’s a good short synapsis of a point I keep trying to enunciate regarding the financial/biosphere interface
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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104841465
Expert Still Backs Investing In Stock Market
All Things Considered, June 2, 2009 · Jeremy Siegel, professor of finance at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Stocks for the Long Run, says he still thinks the best investment in the long run is the stock market. He says he is "virtually sure" it's not going to be a long wait for a good return on stocks.
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Professor Siegel, your chain of logic is stupefying.
Where in all this prognostication do you ever consider the realities of our Earth’s health?
You speak of the thirties, yet never mention the vast untapped resources that abounded back then.
Professor, haven’t the past two centuries of economic prosperity, nay exploding wealth been predicated upon the consumption of our Earth’s resources... that is its biosphere along with its mineral wealth?
And hasn’t this consumption taken place with rampant abandon?
Coupled with absolute contempt for sustainable strategies?
Our crop lands and ocean fisheries are seriously damaged.
What about future water supply issues?
What about the next inevitable natural weather catastrophe(s) coming our way?
Prof. Jeremy why do all you economic big shots always ignore such real world factors?
Any wonder why you’re always taken by surprise at the next “shoe dropping.”
What good are the professor’s & NPR’s myopic assurances when you all ignore predictable future consequences of current real world trends.
NPR NEWS needs less fluff &
more serious investigative reporting!
start with less music
and more real world science
during NPR’s “news” programs.
ps. in my NPR comments I go under myperspectives, which relates to a previous email address.
2 comments:
I found your blog and was quite impressed. I too am disgusted with the way information is disseminated these days. I have been fortunate to travel to many foreign countries and the manner in which news is told in many places outside the United States is strikingly different. When you read an article in Canada or Egypt, even Vietnam, you actually are given perspective through a long line of events. News is not told as a single, isolated event as it too oftentimes is here in this country. Thoughtful and instructive are the words I would use to describe articles I read in other countries newspapers.
I've been thinking lately that perhaps there should be a course of study at all US colleges called "pre-journalism". (Think of "pre-med" studies as an exact analogy). No one ever enters college and immediately takes "medicine". They have to get a broad background before they delve into such an important topic. It seems to me that studying journalism exclusively at such a young point in a career is useless. So many journalists just don't know anything about anything. Under my scheme, they would take history courses, science courses, economics courses, etc. There would even be a few writing courses. But a degree in journalism would only be obtained at the Master's level, where you learn how to frame stories objectively that you have from knowledge obtained from your undergraduate work.
I am going to put a link to your blog on my blog site. I agree with your views in this matter and want to make others aware of how pedestrian our sources of information are in this country.
Wayne Ranney wrote: “...the manner in which news is told in many places outside the United States is strikingly different. When you read an article in Canada or Egypt, even Vietnam, you actually are given perspective through a long line of events.
News is not told as a single, isolated event as it too oftentimes is here in this country.
Thoughtful and instructive are the words I would use to describe articles I read in other countries.”
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Thoughtful and instructive ~ what a novel wonderful idea for America’s media! ... Why?
Because: America’s news has a long tradition (going well beyond William R. Hearst) of setting up and defending myths rather than soberly examining the substance of any complicated happening or issue.
Today’s reality is that
we have entered a difficult stage in our history,
America would be well served by
less faith based story lines...
less pushing myths...........
And much more examination of all facets of our collective evolving situation.
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