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People who criticize NPR for being explicitly Republican or promoting some specific corporate or government agenda are missing it.
That's not the issue.
The issue is that NPR has internally defined a goal of "objectivity" that prizes ignoring ones own passions, views.
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That's not the issue.
The issue is that NPR has internally defined a goal of "objectivity" that prizes ignoring ones own passions, views.
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It is a problem throughout journalism--as @jayrosen_nyu and others have articulated.
One that thinks there is some thing called "neutrality" that is a coherent goal and which has no crisis mode, when one side is just plain wrong.
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One that thinks there is some thing called "neutrality" that is a coherent goal and which has no crisis mode, when one side is just plain wrong.
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But the deeper issues at NPR have nothing to do with ideology or politics.
It is a profoundly inward-looking, bureaucratic, fearful, hierarchical culture that is nearly incapable of taking in outside information, reacting thoughtfully and boldly.
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It is a profoundly inward-looking, bureaucratic, fearful, hierarchical culture that is nearly incapable of taking in outside information, reacting thoughtfully and boldly.
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It's more like Xerox or Blockbuster or other legacy cos that were built for one biz model and can't shift.
The ideology/journalistic ethics stem from that bureaucratic culture.
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The ideology/journalistic ethics stem from that bureaucratic culture.
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It has all the hallmarks of a stagnant decision-making process:
- the most powerful person, not the best idea, wins every disagreement.
- criticism or new ideas are seen as rude threats.
- huge risk aversion. innovative experiments that fail are quickly condemned.
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- the most powerful person, not the best idea, wins every disagreement.
- criticism or new ideas are seen as rude threats.
- huge risk aversion. innovative experiments that fail are quickly condemned.
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I left NPR in 2013, but folks at NPR do call me often when they are unhappy or curious about the outside world.
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