[NCLUG] BSA and NPR

[Matt Taggart]

dobbster writes...

> Okay, this is probably off topic.  (Let me know if I've broken the list
> rules.)

To stray further off topic...

> I frequently listen to the radio, and in particular, I often listen to
> NPR for the news.
> 
> On "All Things Considered" tonight, while they were listing their
> sponsors, I heard something like:
> 
> "NPR is sponsored by the Business Software Alliance.  The BSA assists
> businesses in maintaining software license compliance..."
[snip]
> 
> For quite a while, I have also noticed that another of NPR's regular
> sponsors is the "Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation".  They always tack
[snip]

Two more reasons why NPR is the devil.

> I think "All Things Considered" is generally perceived as a relatively
> unbiased source of news, although I know some people claim consider
> public radio to be "ultra-liberal".  It doesn't seem that way to me. 

They are perceived that way but it's far from the truth. Most of NPR's support 
comes from large multinational corporations like Dow, Dupont, Exxon, ADM and 
their content reflects it. In ways NPR is worse than CNN,etc. because they 
claim to be(and have a reputation of being) an unbiased source.

> Anyway, I wonder if these "sponsors" might be trying to tip the balance
> of NPR's reporting in the arena of computing.

Yep.

> I admit that I tend to be pretty cynical about the media in general.  I
> don't watch TV at all.  I do not trust cnn.com, since they are part of
> the Time Warner super-corporation; nor do I trust msnbc.com, for similar
> reasons.  On both sites, I've seen too many "top news stories" that seem
> more like advertisements.  

Amen to that. And there's little coverage of things people actually care about.

> In fact, I haven't found any source of national/global news that I feel
> provides an unbiased view of things.  Perhaps I am just paranoid. 
> Still, I wonder: Do any of you feel the same way about the news media? 
> If so, do you know of any sites that provide unbiased, straightforward
> news?

IMHO, Independant Media Center( http://www.indymedia.org/ ) is very good. It 
sometimes lacks a little "polish" since it's mostly put together by 
volunteers. However a lot of people think it pretty radical left.

> I'm digressing.  Mainly, I am curious to know if anyone else out there
> has any observations about these "sponsorships" and possibly biased
> computer-related reporting on NPR.

You're not the only one. A few months ago there was a protest(20-30 people) at 
the Lincoln Center during an NPR related event.

For a critical analysis of the US Media read "Manufacturing Consent" by Edward 
Herman and Noam Chomsky. Most US Media is propaganda supporting US Foreign 
Policy and the Multinational Corporate agena.

I suspect a few people on the list will disagree. Flame on.

-- 
Matt Taggart
taggart at fc.hp.com