NPR: Armed America

[In God We Trust]

NPR is the only terrestrial radio I will listen to. I have listened for years and I have found they are fairly neutral on most issues. They are also the only station that does not bombard you with 8 minutes of commercials every 5 minutes.

 

[timbo]

NPR is the only terrestrial radio I will listen to. I have listened for years and I have found they are fairly neutral on most issues. They are also the only station that does not bombard you with 8 minutes of commercials every 5 minutes.

This is why I have almost completely converted to streaming audio/music/news. Very little in the way of commercial interruptions (if any). I can't listen to commercial over the air broadcasting any longer since I discovered streaming ten or so years ago.

 

[spt_1955]

You have to love the "anties" . Second paragraph of the article is :

It's puzzling that so many Americans are choosing to arm themselves at a time when the FBI tells us violent crime and property crime have been falling dramatically for two decades.

So what is it?Carnage in the streets or dramatically falling crime rates? Please pick a side.

 

[Knuckle Dragger]

I think Tom Ashbrook's show is one of the best on the radio. While these arent his, Ill take a listen when I finish this fricken memo.

Mike

Sent from my cell phone with a tiny keyboard and large thumbs...

Really? I hate that show and find Ashbrook insufferable and arrogant. First, it's a call in show. The vast majority of people who call into shows like this are a waste of oxygen. Ashbrook and his sidekick Jack Beatty are major antis. Anytime they do a show on guns or the Second Amendment it's horrible one-sided. And if they do try to present our side, they sabotage it by using Larry Pratt, who uses his five minutes to drone on about a tyrannical government, generally coming off as bat-shit crazy.

Generally, if find the actual national new reporting done by NPR (not necessarily WBUR) on the Second Amendment and gun issues to be pretty reasonable. The long form nature of their stories (6-8 minutes vs. 30-90 seconds for commercial radio) works very well. In some cases, they seem to go out of their way to be 'contrary' to what we generally expect of them.

 

[Varmint]

Exactly this

[video=youtube_share;zZcjfh4fIXA]http://youtu.be/zZcjfh4fIXA[/video]

You gotta wonder how many times they had to rehearse that before they could do it without laughing.

 

[In God We Trust]

This is why I have almost completely converted to streaming audio/music/news. Very little in the way of commercial interruptions (if any). I can't listen to commercial over the air broadcasting any longer since I discovered streaming ten or so years ago.

I only listen to stuff on my phone 90% of the time. Either my own music or a podcast or audio book.

I have had my truck for 6 years now and the only station I ever bothered to program in is 90.9

It's probably been over 12 years since I tuned in to a music channel on terrestrial radio.

 

[MaxStravinsky]

I listen to NPR daily, especially like 'The Moth Radio Hour'. If it starts getting too liberal I just switch to classical or one of my CD's.

 

[MrsStrangeNH]

Whatever you guys may think of public radio, that they did a piece like this is a step in the right direction. Think of how many people who are neutral or anti actually listened to that story because it was from a source they trust, instead of dismissing it immediately as ravings from gun nuts.

 

[Pinion]

I listen to NPR daily as well when I'm commuting. Lately a lot of their shows are about how someone is suffering from one problem or another. When I get my fill, I listen to something else. I podcast NBC news and other national news podcasts and listen to them in the truck as well on my way to work in the mornings. I dont mind their voices, usually. Dianne Rheem (sp?) sounds like she's a thousand years old and has some kind of palsy in her voice. Its radio, dammit. If you sound like that, go do something else.

 

[rwl1955]

I listen to NPR all the time. I cringe at both their technology and firearms stories. They tend to not know much about what they are talking about, and tend to mix opinion in as well.

********
Then why do you listen?

 

[LittleCalm]

You have to love the "anties" . Second paragraph of the article is :

It's puzzling that so many Americans are choosing to arm themselves at a time when the FBI tells us violent crime and property crime have been falling dramatically for two decades.

So what is it?Carnage in the streets or dramatically falling crime rates? Please pick a side.

And the fact that the number of guns in circulation has dramatically increased over the last 20 years as well. Comical how antis talk out of both sides of their mouths.

 

[Pinion]

Probably the same reason why I listen to AM Republican Radio. Its good to see what goes through the mind of a completely different demographic.

Trust me, both sides talk out of their ass equally.

********
Then why do you listen?

 

[mibro]

Whatever you guys may think of public radio, that they did a piece like this is a step in the right direction. Think of how many people who are neutral or anti actually listened to that story because it was from a source they trust, instead of dismissing it immediately as ravings from gun nuts.

All Things Considered: Concerns Over Mass Shootings Spark Rise In Concealed Carry Permits

I just read the above transcript linked in the OP's first post and the three examples of defensive firearms use were cherry-picked to tell the story that carrying a firearm doesn't really help you and will probably hurt you.

Story 1 - a liberal will conclude "he should have let him steal the car, then the teen wouldn't be dead."

Story 2 - a liberal will conclude "she wouldn't have had her arm shot off if she'd just handed over the wallet/purse."

Story 3 is the infamous dumb-as-a-rock "shoot out the tires" woman.

None of the examples picked were of the "I drew my weapon and the mugger ran off" variety, probably the most common type of defensive firearms use.

The whole story is a faintly disguised hit piece, a sock full of rusty bolts. Just what I'd expect from NPR.

 

[jhblaze1]

i cannot bring myself to listen to NPR. something about their voices. i just imagine some wannabe academic with a turtle neck and scarf trying to sound intelligent. vomit.

yep..so ****ing pretentious. Can't stand it.

 

[crazymjb]

Really? I hate that show and find Ashbrook insufferable and arrogant. First, it's a call in show. The vast majority of people who call into shows like this are a waste of oxygen. Ashbrook and his sidekick Jack Beatty are major antis. Anytime they do a show on guns or the Second Amendment it's horrible one-sided. And if they do try to present our side, they sabotage it by using Larry Pratt, who uses his five minutes to drone on about a tyrannical government, generally coming off as bat-shit crazy.

Generally, if find the actual national new reporting done by NPR (not necessarily WBUR) on the Second Amendment and gun issues to be pretty reasonable. The long form nature of their stories (6-8 minutes vs. 30-90 seconds for commercial radio) works very well. In some cases, they seem to go out of their way to be 'contrary' to what we generally expect of them.

Really? I find the topics to generally be pretty interesting and the call in portion to be pretty limited and decently screened. Now that you mention that I do hear you on the Larry Pratt front... that said thats an own worst enemy example.... plenty of gun owners were bitching at Jim Wallace for doing his job rather than being another Larry Pratt when dealing with Beacon Hill, and plenty would be bitching about anyone other than Larry Pratt being on the other side of a gun debate on NPR. Jack Beatty does suck. Dianne Rheam sucks too while were at it.

And all NPR announcers sound arrogant, but all talk radio hosts sound like punk douches. Outside of podcasts its hard to find tolerable sounding hosts.

Mike

Sent from my cell phone with a tiny keyboard and large thumbs...

 

[Infinite Jester]

All I can stand is Wait,wait don't tell me and Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

 

[Rider]

if more Americans think that then more Americans should be voting for gun friendly pols...

I had to stop listening one day when 5 hippie PhD's refused to call what was happening in the Sudan 'genocide' because they weren't just killing blacks or Christians, they were killing anybody who wasn't an Arab Muslim. They just went in a specific order. They spent an hour discussing the nuances of what was happening as compared with 'genocide' because the implication was that to call it genocide meant the US was morally obligated to take action.

Fast forward 15 years to the Obama administration and Kerry at State, and we see that in fact, you can declare genocide to be happening and take absolutely no action, even when your own people are among those being killed.

I am surprised that the left can't see the connection between gun sales continuing to be off the charts with the sentiment that most people have towards the government and more generally the direction society is going.

I do miss Science Fridays, but then, I don't have time to listen anyway.

 

[Infinite Jester]

I had to stop listening one day when 5 hippie PhD's refused to call what was happening in the Sudan 'genocide' because they weren't just killing blacks or Christians, they were killing anybody who wasn't an Arab Muslim. They just went in a specific order. They spent an hour discussing the nuances of what was happening as compared with 'genocide' because the implication was that to call it genocide meant the US was morally obligated to take action.

Fast forward 15 years to the Obama administration and Kerry at State, and we see that in fact, you can declare genocide to be happening and take absolutely no action, even when your own people are among those being killed.

I am surprised that the left can't see the connection between gun sales continuing to be off the charts with the sentiment that most people have towards the government and more generally the direction society is going.

I do miss Science Fridays, but then, I don't have time to listen anyway.

Classic manipulation of terminology to fit agenda. Surgically cutting the puzzle pieces to make them fit is the MO of the left. That's what you get when no one is ever called on blatant hypocrisy.

 

[endus]

I know very well that I'm far from the only NPR listener on NES. So, I'm very surprised no one posted links to these two radio long-form stories from Tuesday.

Morning Edition: Does Carrying A Pistol Make You Safer?

All Things Considered: Concerns Over Mass Shootings Spark Rise In Concealed Carry Permits

I was actually looking for a link to post the first one the day it aired but couldn't find it. It wasn't a terrible piece. Like most things on NPR it sounded like something produced by people who lean left, but were making a sincere effort to make their reporting as neutral as possible. I liked where they had the firearms instructor talking about how if you used your gun in self defense, your whole life was going to change. They did an OK job emphasizing that concealed carry classes are anything but training people to be cowboys/girls.

NPR is one of the only traditional news sources I put any stock in whatsoever. Their overseas coverage can be weeks or months ahead of other American news outlets. I remember when there was the earthquake in Haiti, they were literally reporting on it for a month before you even heard a peep in the American press.

I know what people mean about the voices, though. When I was a kid someone who drove carpool used to listen to it and it drove me crazy. If the person on air smacks their disgusting lips or makes any kind of unintentional mouth noises it can become unlistenable almost immediately.

 

[endus]

Probably the same reason why I listen to AM Republican Radio. Its good to see what goes through the mind of a completely different demographic.

If there was only a conservative NPR - a bunch of conservatives doing news and genuinely trying to be as neutral as they could possibly be. Between that and NPR we would really have solid information.

 

[BobR51]

NPR radio used to help me sleep at work.

 

[CosmicIrony]

If there was only a conservative NPR - a bunch of conservatives doing news and genuinely trying to be as neutral as they could possibly be. Between that and NPR we would really have solid information.

It would be interesting, but I have yet to hear a conservative news source that was anything but over the top partisan. I used to watch "Firing Line" because there was some very intelligent discourse on that show. But I have yet to hear anything on Fox that I could take seriously.

 

[Lank]

It would be interesting, but I have yet to hear a conservative news source that was anything but over the top partisan. I used to watch "Firing Line" because there was some very intelligent discourse on that show. But I have yet to hear anything on Fox that I could take seriously.

Fox isn't conservative! Just a different shade of progressive...

 

[swampy]

I have never even dialed it in to find out if the voices are irritating.

Xanax + wine x Prozac = NPR voice

 

[Rob Boudrie]

There are really 2 separate questions regarding personal safety:

1. Am I safe if I am armed?

2. Am I safer if I am not armed but others are?

#2 may be due to personal choice or laws. Unfortunately, many people who would find the answer to #2 no and #1 yes, support the disarming of others because they cannot, or choose not, to arm themselves.

 

[Whutmeworry]

Fox isn't conservative! Just a different shade of progressive...

FOX Business, however, is actually refreshingly conservative and gets beyond the superficial, reflexive dirt-digging style of the main FOX NEWS channel. If you have Verizon as your cable provider, check out NEWSMAX as well.

 

[garandman]

i cannot bring myself to listen to NPR. something about their voices. i just imagine some wannabe academic with a turtle neck and scarf trying to sound intelligent. vomit.

Yall didn't listen to Click & Clack, the Tappet Brothers, on "Car Talk?"

What is wrong with you people! "Foreign Accent Syndrome."

http://youtu.be/BNPJSxzdhDc

 

[endus]

It would be interesting, but I have yet to hear a conservative news source that was anything but over the top partisan. I used to watch "Firing Line" because there was some very intelligent discourse on that show. But I have yet to hear anything on Fox that I could take seriously.

I don't disagree at all. It's kind of bizzare to me that the right tries to criticize the left as basing their argument on emotion, while at the same time rejecting everything that is factual. They will reject facts that point to their own conclusions being true.