I don't know about y'all, but I have been growing more and more frustrated and disgusted with NPR's steady decline as a news source. This morning I hit my breaking point as I caught correspondent Tovia Smith's story about Governor Palin's candidacy stirring up feelings of empathy and identification with working moms.
Until now, I thought NPR might have been subtly grinding an axe against Obama (I perceived a general pro-Hillary bias in their primary coverage)-- but as of this morning, I now think they've set aside their commitment to unbiased news gathering altogether and are just picking up on whatever memes Republican strategists are using to warp the debate on important issues into a referendum on personality.
I bet Bob Edwards never would have put up with this crap.
Here's the angry letter I sent NPR in response.
Dear NPR:
As a subscriber to NPR stations for the past ten years, I wanted to let you know I've never been more appalled than I was this morning at the decline of your "news" coverage of the presidential campaign.
Your reporting on the so-called criticism of Sarah Palin's motherhood as a liability to her candidacy came straight out of the Republican talking points. I thought NPR would be smarter than to go along with the straw man arguments being put forth by the GOP to deflect attention away from the real issues at hand-- Governor Palin's inexperience, ignorance, and extreme social views. But instead, this morning I was treated to a "report" about how Palin has come under fire for her balance of professional and personal responsibilities-- never mind the fact that that "fire" was nothing more than a spark on the blogosphere that has been fanned into a blaze by McCain spokespeople artfully using it as flak in a war of perception.
Not only did I find myself hearing this slanted bit of pseudo-propaganda, but Tovia Smith threw her own dash of butane on the pyre when she commented (not reported) that Obama hasn't been criticized for his own political career while raising children.
While perhaps that may be true, Ms. Smith, I would also like to point out that Obama's children aren't coming home unmarried and pregnant either, and if they were I doubt the Obama family would be held up as a paragon of "family values."
I personally agree with Senator Obama that this should be a campaign on the issues, not the families of the candidates-- but if the Republicans (and apparently now NPR) want to have that conversation, I would be mindful of the thin sheet of Alaskan ice beneath your feet.
More importantly, I believe the 2008 campaign has made the erosion of NPR's reporting manifest to its listening audience. While I still adore This American Life, Fresh Air, and Car Talk, NPR News has lost its place of trust in my life.
Your biases have become transparent, and your adherence to the modern journalistic tenet of "equal time for different viewpoints equals quality reporting"-- in lieu of the fact checking or critical analysis that true reporting should embody-- has left you failing in your mission to deliver true, unbiased information to your listeners.
I want my money back.
Jeffrey W_____
Los Angeles, California