In the News 1/31/05

Listened to Morning Edition, which was essentially the same as The Connection today.

Voting -- reports indicate that it turned out relatively well. It appears that the crackdown on driving worked well to keep casualties to a minimum. Of course, some places were extremely bad, and fewer people came out, especially in the Sunni areas. The best question was near the end, when they asked if things "felt different" today. The reporter said that they don't feel different now, but now that the step has been taken, the future will be better. Mostly the security situation must be stabalized, then people will feel different/better.

Earlier (like around 6, 6:30) there was a horrible interview between Steve Inskeep and a guy from the UN. He was trying to make it sound like the elections were SUPER!! JUST SUPER!! and when Steve asked him to be specific, he just kept falling back on platitutes. Finally Steve got annoyed and was just like, whatever, you jerk, I gotta go. I felt Steve was really looking out for us, the listener, and really stood up for us against this gladhandler from the UN. Way to go, NPR!

And what, you may be wondering, about Iraq's neighbors during all this crazyness? They are worried. Very worried. What if crazy fanatics start leaking out of Iraq? Just where do you think they will go? To us!! Gah! Also, the way the US has handled things in Iraq is making other countries feel quite unsure about democracy. The process is just too painful and disruptive. Reformists, according to the report, feel undermined by US policy. Huh. You don't say.

Continuing with the theme, democrats are trying to seem supportive of the election while at the same time wondering about mistakes in Iraq. They want a timetable. People are really beginning to demand to know about the end game here. NPR had two sides: one saying that their should not be so much emphasis on a timetable, the other arguing for one. Against: We should not rush things, or put an artificial timetable on things. For: Iraqis will know, with a timetable, what to expect, and hopefully this will end some of the worst attacks. In the end both sides came together for a timetable. It makes the most sense.

Serena Williams, for a change of pace here, won the Aussie Open. Good for her. She has come back from knee problems, not to mention personal ones. I don't remember who won the men's title.

The Connection was on the elections. Very interesting interviews with people over there who voted or did not vote. Callers were interesting, too.

News Today 1/28/05

Listened to Morning Edition as usual. Also listened to the connection.

More about Iraq today, natch -- it is the big news of the day since elections are this weekend. Lots of speculation about what the government will look like, how the shiites and the sunnis will handle things, how the Kurds will come out of the elections, and what the turnout will be like. In this same report, NPR went more in-depth about Arab-Kurdish tensions, especially surrounding Kirkuk. Arabs feel that Kurds are trying to take over the area, Kurds feel that Arabs are there illegally, brought in by Saddam to replace the Kurds forcibly deported. Sounds like trouble.

There was a very touching report on the Marine base in Hawaii where all of the Marines killed in that helicopter crash came from. What a sad report. They had interviews with Marines, friends and family, and some regular Hawaii residents talking about the soldiers and the impact on the base. Depressing.

After this, an interesting report on Richard Blum, a doctor who is considered the first combat psychologist. He was deployed to Korea as part of a secret mission to deliver mental health care on the front lines. He was awarded a bronze star (53 years late) for his service to soldiers in battle. The secret mission was attempting to treat PTSD before it set in hard by counseling soldiers on the battlefield. Cool.<>In short reports, it appears that many Iraqi ex-pats are lining up around the world to vote. Go Iraq!<>

More about the Rice nomination and the vote in Iraq – people are looking for answers about when we will be able to leave. One side says the “occupation” is now part of the problem. The other side says that any talk of withdrawal only fuels the insurgency. Congress is getting restless and wants a concrete plan. They hope Rice will be able to control things. Bush is not making any commitments, except to say that training Iraqi troops will allow us to leave sooner.<>

Amid all these bombings and scary terrorism, world hunger, etc., don’t panic now, but THE PLAZA IS CLOSING!! For those of us who live their lives wholly elsewhere, we are talking here about the famous Plaza Hotel in New York City. Apparently the owners are closing it to turn it from a hotel to a mixed use facility, condos, shopping and a smaller hotel. But don’t fret. Just put off that wedding until 2006 and you should be fine. The Plaza will reopen at that time with many of the same amenities, including the ballrooms and restaurants that made it, and keep it, famous. Whew. What a relief!

Interesting report on the Sundance film festival – it is more popular than ever this year, but don’t worry, it is still the place to find indy films. The best films, according to the commentary, are the documentaries, especially those in a new category, World Documentary. The dramas are really not much, and never have been. Usually they are just an introduction to new directors, etc., and the movies they make after winning at Sundance are better.

The Connection was about the Kurds and two Iraqis debated about whether Kurds are really Iraqis or not, and if what they are doing in and around Kirkuk is cool or not. I guess we will find out more after this weekend.

Not much to report today 1/27/05

Listened to less than an hour of Morning Edition today. and sort of heard The Connection a bit.

Started out this morning with the training of Iraqi forces. Report concluded that it will be a 3-5 year job at the very least. Interview was with a Major General who trained troops between 03 and 04.

Today is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz – listened to a story recorded in New York by StoryCorps (the story behind StoryCorps is fascinating, too – some other time) by Debbie Fischer. Her father, Oscar, was a survivor and was liberated. What a sad story! The story went on to an interview with Dr. Alan Berger who pointed to the Maus books as a good example of what happens to children of survivors – relationships are intense, kids feel they have to make up for what was lost. The grandkids of survivors are now making pilgrimages to the camps and ghettos – all in all a really interesting evolution.

<>Terrible commuter train accident yesterday is beginning to wind down. Now there are 11 dead overall. Turns out there was some poor suicidal schmuck who parked his stupid SUV on the tracks so he would be killed by the train. He jumped out of the truck at the last minute, and instead of killing himself, killed and injured plenty of other people. Idiot. Apparently he is in jail now, and the folks in Cali are thinking about what charges to bring against him. I hope he rots in jail on suicide watch.

Where do they come up with these stories? Malpie Ranch story was a refreshing view of ranching and environmentalism. To keep developers out, and to keep the land beautiful and plentiful a group of 30 ranchers has banded together to work with the government on preservation and profitability. Interviews were with ranchers and with environmentalists. The dissenting viewpoint was from a rancher in the area who has not joined the group. He worried about conservation easements that might take land away from him or his heirs. Turns out that there is a ton of support for these “working landscapes” of the west. Cool.

The Connection, what little I heard of it, was about top secret documents. The question was, “Is there too much secrecy in government?” Both sides were presented. The too much secrecy guy (I missed his name) was really shrill. I could not tell you about the other side. I don’t remember actually hearing much from that person. Lost my Internet connection in the middle, so missed a good deal of the show.

NPR News Today 1-26

Listened to Morning Edition today, 8-9.

Good news , for a change, from Israel/Palestine. Israel, reacting to Abbas's actions, has ended targeted killings. Excellent! Elections will be going on for municipal positions in parts of Palestine. People have a good feeling about the elections. The question is whether Abbas's more moderate party will prevail or whether Hamas will make headway and continue with terrorist actions from many places. It all sounds good, but NPR pointed out that no one is sure yet if the Palestinians want a state next to Israel, or if they are intent on taking over the whole area, meaning no Israel.

Interesting report on contractors in Iraq, specifically looking at KBR. Despite dangers people are applying for these jobs in huge numbers (1600 apps a month according to a spokesperson). Interviews with job candidates and workers made it seem mostly about the money, but the spokesperson from KBR said that for successful candidates weren’t so much about the money as about being patriotic, as about helping the war effort. Yeah, right. Sure. Not about the money. OK.

<>Here is a question NPR threw out there: Can we protect domestic air carriers from missile attacks, and if so, is it worth the expense? No conclusive answer.

Opening statements were today in the Scrushy trial. Scrushy, as head of HealthSouth, had his lawyers claim that he knew nothing of the fraud there, and that his subordinates lied to him. To back this up, lawyers pointed out that the poor, misled man has only a Respiratory Therapy degree – how was he supposed to understand those complicated financials? Scrushy’s accusers claim that the culture at HealthSouth was one of driving employees to lure investors through deception. Ultimately, this trial is all about making the company look like a better investment than it really was, and who is responsible for perpetuating false statements.

<>Good interview with Tom Ridge. I thought NPR did an excellent job with Ridge – they asked tough questions but were not antagonistic or clearly biased. They were looking for answers, but not trying to force the answers to go in one direction or another. Interesting questions included homeland security’s primary objective (preventing a catastrophic incident, determining potential targets and developing a plan to keep them safe), how much money is enough to spend on fortifying certain targets, the effectiveness of the color code system, and the balance between safety and civil liberties. One interesting exchange involved the color codes and how much they were influenced by politics. Ridge, natch, assured NPR that threat levels had nothing at all to do with politics. Ridge also admitted that they don’t know the enemy well, and that is a real problem. I felt the interview questions were fair, and did not appear to attack the Bush administration. They were not softball questions, but they were fair.

News Today 1/25/05

Listened to Morning Edition, as usual between 8 and 9 AM. Also listened to a show called Counterspin. Got to find the website for that show, becuase it deals mainly with PR and what PR people do to popular stories in the media today. Fascinating!!

First stories this morning were briefs on Iraqi elections and Allawi’s statements about troop withdrawals, AARP announcing how seniors don’t support the SS reforms, and stock reports (I think today was quarterly earnings releases).

<>A major story today is that Bush will ask congress today for an additional $80 billion for military operations. The money will go mainly to Iraq and Afghanistan, with some (rumor has it) going to Tsunami relief and to support the new government in Ukraine. It was not long ago that Bush asked for $25 billion, and he got it. Total this fiscal year: $105 billion. Total expenses for the war on terror, with the bulk going to Iraq: $300 billion. Sick. And despite all this money we are spending and lives we are losing and people we are killing, Iraqi elections are on shaky ground.

An interesting report on a law enacted when I lived in the city: Kendra’s Law. Poor Kendra was killed on the streets of New York by a mentally ill man who should’ve been committed but was roaming around free because his mental hospital closed and he had no alternative care. Apparently it is doing a lot of good in New York, and to prove it they interviewed a mother who had her grown son committed under Kendra’s Law. Her son was fine, then became violent (some kind of schizophrenic disorder), but would not take treatment or stay on meds. Kendra’s Law allowed her to force him into treatment, and now he must be on a regimented treatment program or risk getting involuntarily committed to a mental institution. NPR also interviewed people from opposing groups, including a lawyer (?) who says that Kendra’s Law interferes with people’s civil rights. This statement was contradicted by someone pointing out that sometimes paranoids/schizophrenics/manic-depressives/whatever don’t realize they are sick, and are so suspicious of treatment that there is no other way to get these very ill people into care. The lawyer came back with the fact that involuntary commitment is equivalent to unfair incarceration. After all, being sick is not a crime in and of itself. But you cannot deny that the parent with the mentally ill adult son, and the adult son, were better off for Kendra’s Law.

<>Richard Scrushy made the news this morning for all the bad, bad things he did at HealthSouth. He will be going to trial under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. This trial is the first one to use Sarbanes-Oxley, so there is a lot of focus on it. Sounds like, from the reports, that this case is a slam dunk, but you never know. NPR also focused on the Christian show the Scrushy’s host, but they made it sound so sordid, as in we steal money from innocent investors, but look at what good Christians we are!! Look!! How can the Scrushy’s be bad if they do good works/host a Christian TV show/make a show of being religious. Very cynical. In the end the message is: keep an eye on this case. It should be interesting.

Big news for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. They are partnering with Norway to give $1.5 billion to the GAVI organization. GAVI runs vaccination programs for children worldwide. Supposedly it is really helping things all over the place, but some think the program is not focusing on the right problems. NPR pointed out that the Gates Foundation also supports international health coverage on NPR, FYI.

At the end they always do a nice feel-good piece. This one was on girls’/women’s basketball programs. Sounds like girl ball players are beginning to come into their own. Now even high school programs are getting quite competitive, so college teams are getting better and better. There are more than just a handful of really good teams out there these days, so games are more interesting and attendance is going up. What does it all mean? More TV coverage and more recognition for great athletes on women’s teams.

NPR reports: 1/24/05

Listened to Morning Edition today. Right now listening to Talk of the Nation.

Looks like lots of people endured a terrible storm this weekend. Right now they are reporting 16 deaths, but earlier it was 14. There was over 1 ft. of snow in most places, even New York City. Wow.

George Bush. Ownership Society. Don't get me started. Interesting PR angle on this: do you think of social security reform as introducing "private accounts" or "personal accounts"? If you think first of private accounts, then GWB's PR machine has not worked on you yet. If you think personal accounts, score one for the Bushies. The White House is trying to change the rhetoric here so the discussion about social security reforms does not scare old people ("seniors"), a big conservative base. When seniors get scared, says the street, republican heads roll. NPR did a great job interviewing David Wessel from the Wall Street Journal, and they did not take sides. The interviewer asked very fair questions that helped define what "ownership society" is supposed to mean. It means no more "government will take care of you"-type benefits. It means giving people more choices and more responsibility thusly: people will buy their own insurance, they will maintain and manage their own retirement accounts, etc. The government will help those of lesser means through tax credits. Wessel pointed out both the upside and the downside of this kind of thing. Also he pointed out that Bush talks a lot about the upside, and rarely mentions the downside risk for average folks. He also said that the White House's agenda was to keep the social security "crisis" in the news to galvanize supporters, but that others were working to show that the problem is not a crisis -- a problem, yes, but not a crisis. There may be a crisis sometime in the future, but it will be many many years before that happens. Both republicans and democrats are taking this stance, because the crisis talk is scaring their senior voters, and the politicians are beginning to really sweat. Wessel traced the history of the ownership society idea to Clinton's welfare reform, and said that Bush is widening it to cover many situations. Democrats fear the erosion of the social safety net that keeps the poor from becoming even poorer. The report did not come down in favor of one side or the other on the debate. I have often heard that the WSJ is biased against the left, but Wessel seemed very fair minded about the issue, and dealt with facts on both sides.

Sounds like things are going right down the toilet in Iraq. The reports sound horrible. Hope they can vote ok. Talk of the Nation is dealing with this issue today. Sounds like there are terrorists that are really trying hard to keep voters away from the polls. Sad.

Nice eulogies of Johnny Carson today. I never watched his show. Not a late night person.

Great story on Mel Levine, a doctor challenging the assumptions about American kids' learning disabilities. Works out of UNC (?), and runs an organization called All Kinds of Minds studying kids' brains and making recommendations on how to best educate people of varying abilities. His basic premise is that everyone learns differently, and therefore we should talk about an individual's strengths and weaknesses instead of labeling and walking away. To help children struggling to learn, Dr. Levine first names the child's strengths and weaknesses, then helps them formulate a plan to overcome the weaknesses. He's trained over 23,000 teachers so far, and has a contract to train 20,000 more in New York City on how to stop labeling and start naming each weakness, then addressing each weakness with an action plan. Labeling restricts freedom, makes the problems seem insurmountable, results in a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy and makes the child feel somehow defective. By enumerating issues, he can give each child a plan to overcome them. Levine is trying to create a "humanitarian movement" -- the idea is that people would know themselves, so there would be a lot less mental illness due to people trying to be something they are not. People would then track to their strengths and not fight their natural inclinations, and end up happier and fulfilled in their work. Go Mel!! You got the right idea, and I admire it. I wish he could analyze me!!

News Jan. 21

I listened to Morning Edition.

Of course, there was a report on Iraq. In Basra NPR folks talked to regular people, dock workers and such. An interesting report on their feelings on troop withdrawal and voting.

More speech parsing today. Reporters brought up questions like, "How will Bush mend fences (in Europe)?" Also they were wondering whether or not the speech actually helped in this regard. According to polls, a majority of Europeans believe Bush's re-election will be bad for security.

Interesting reports from Titan. Turns out it rains methane there. Cool. Also a longer report on Boris Smeds, a German communications engineer who basically saved the whole Casini project. He was a nobody on the project, just supposed to check to see if the "dial tone" was there so that Casini could communicate, but got the idea that they better test by actually transmitting data. Did not get anywhere with the idea at first until a management change, then the head guy thought, hey, why not. Good thing, too, or the whole mission would've gone down the toilet. Horray for the low man on the totem pole. It pays to be persistant.

There was a fun interview with Dave Plotkin from WPKR in Winter Park, FL on his attempt at the longest continuous broadcast for the Guiness Book of World Records. Strange.

Following up on the inauguration festivities, there was a lengthy report on the Balls. The Bush's apparently went to each one, spending about 5 minutes at each. They made the Commander-In-Chief Ball their last stop, finishing up by about 10 PM. As usual, none of his fans were disappointed, even if the Bush's didn't stay but a couple of minutes. Will these people never learn? When will they become disappointed? Sigh.

Today's News 1-20-05

Did not get much chance to listen to news this morning, what with the two hour delay. Have been listening to live coverage of the Inauguration. NPR broadcast the speech live, then has been doing ongoing coverage and commentary as events unfold.

Coverage has been both about the supporters of the President, and the protests going on around the parade route and capitol.

For about the last hour or so they have been parsing the speech -- what did he mean by "the unwanted" for instance. Was he referring to abortion? Who knows. Did he offer up an olive branch to Democrats? Some say yes, some say no.

Perhaps I will write more about this later.

The Connection was about people's feelings about the festivities. Nicely balanced between outrage and "hey, this is not a celebration of GWB per say, but a celebration of democracy. Suck it up!"

Funny moment on Air America's Unfiltered this morning when Kent Jones reported that the Republicans had 9 balls, the Democrats had none, "except for yours, Barbara Boxer, except for yours!" Water came out of my nose at that one. Kent Jones. He is the best.

NPR News of the Day 1-19-05

I listened to Morning Edition. I am sure I also listened to the Connection, but can't remember a thing about it.

Lots of interest to report today:

Teen depression and how to treat it was the first story I listened to. There is a group out to find depressed teens through schools and pediatricians’ offices. The idea is to put a trained mental health professional (either a doctor or a nurse practitioner) who can detect depression, define options for treatment and make referrals. Based on early feedback, the program seems effective, and more teens are opting for talk therapy over medication.

Then Robert Reich, a commentator for Marketplace (I love that show!), did a great satirical piece on Bush’s “ownership society.” The piece was satirical, but also suggested some practical ways we can make the tax code more fair, etc.

A story on Palestine/Israel relations came next, reporting on Abbas’s struggle with militant groups. It pointed out how much work he has done trying to prevent additional attacks. Arikat, one of his aids, was interviewed pointing out both the difficulty of overcoming public opinion about Israel and its practices in Gaza and the West Bank, and the need for his own people to respect the rule of law and trust that the rule of law will prevail in the formation of an independent Palestine. Remarkably balanced for NPR, actually. Usually they are quite pro-Palestinian and give short shrift to the Israeli side of the story.

Loved the story that went over the verbal tussle between Condi Rice and Barbara Boxer. Did loyalty to Dubya crowd out the truth for Condi? Boxer suggests this outcome and looks for Rice to admit to her mistakes. Mistakes? Rice makes no mistakes. Ever. Sigh.

<>Very interesting news from California’s San Quentin Prison. An interview with Jeanne Woodford, former warden talked about instituting rehabilitation programs using volunteer teachers, as opposed to going with punishment only. The volunteers are employed to change the prisoners’ minds about who they are and what they can achieve. Ahh-nold actually really likes what has been done at San Quentin and wants to implement it system wide. The question is, can he? This report included not only accolades for the rehabilitation program, but criticism by groups that attempt to serve inmates who are released into poor communities with little or no hope for employment. Criticism was mainly about the lack of support for ex-cons on the outside. Essentially, no matter how much education and therapy they receive on the inside, if they are rejected by society on the outside, they cannot become productive, valuable citizens. An excellent report.

Of course, more about the inaugural. NPR interviewed a group of conservative college-age males from Iowa road tripping to DC for the events. Mostly it was about their crushes on the Bush twins.

Brought in an editorial from the NYT re: evolution. Wondering about how to turn around evolution’s bad press. Question: How might PR be employed to further the cause of evolution and keep creationism out of the science curriculum?

Morning Edition Plus 1/18/05

Listened to Morning Edition from 7:30 to 9 this morning, The Connection from 10-11.

Several interesting stories this morning on ME worth talking about today...

First, illegal immigration in Spain is on the rise. Who knew Spain had one of the top 10 economies in the world? The president of Spain is proposing an amnesty program for illegals, allowing them to apply for and receive citizenship. This proposal goes over well in some circles, but in others it is seen as a disaster. It seems that the government is all for it because illegal workers get paid off the books, and so taxes like social security are avoided, which is bad for government. On the other hand, some people working illegally want things to stay the way they are. In an all-cash deal, they get every penny they work for without having to pay income taxes, and since they generally perform menial or domestic jobs, every penny counts. It would cost them too much to become legal, and on top of that, their employers might look elsewhere for off-the-books workers, thereby leaving them without any job at all. NPR interviewed two illegal nannies who talked about the pros and cons. Their comments were primarily cons. I am sure we will hear more about this issue. I’ll be interested to find out if the government can sell the plan to immigrants and employers.

Then there was a great story about pensioners in Russia – they staged protests because Putin was trying to take away their free bus rides and some other free services that are vital to their survival. There have been a lot of cuts to state benefits for pensioners since the fall of communism, but things have gotten out of hand lately, and the old folks blame Putin. They demonstrated in the streets, and Putin backed down, reinstating free bus service, among other benefits. Interviews with pensioners registered their surprise at Putin’s quick cave-in, and the pride they felt in forcing his hand. Good work pensioners!

Condi Rice was a topic of discussion this morning. Her confirmation hearing is today, so there were a couple of short reports on Rice and the process. Everyone seems to think she will be confirmed, but not everyone is happy about it. She will be the first black woman Secretary of State, which will add to her considerable list of firsts.

I think we are just fascinated with this avalanche story. NPR did an interesting bit on ski resorts and what they do to keep people off of dangerous parts of the mountain. Also, the report tried to answer the question of why these skiers who got killed were off the marked trails in the first place. The wilderness areas are marked clearly with a skull and crossbones, but the skiers paid no attention to the signs. It was also apparent that others had skied in the area without any problems, which lulled these folks into a false sense of security. Recommendations: Look at avalanche forecasts in the area where you will be skiing before venturing off the resort trails. Do not rely on intuition or whatever to tell you if an area is safe. And, in general, stay within the bounds of the resort for maximum safety. Duh.

Then there was a great story about the death penalty. In Pennsylvania, juries are not told whether their life sentence is with or without parole, and the Supreme Court will hear a case shortly to determine if this information ought to be provided for a fair sentencing. The case involves a man sentenced to death because the jury could not be sure their life sentence would keep him in jail. The defendant’s lawyers feel that he would’ve been sentenced to life had the jury been fully informed about life sentences.

Lastly, there was a sad story about the Shanley trial/ Shanley was a Roman Catholic priest who molested many children over a lengthy career. It is unclear whether he will be convicted of any crime at all because three out of four of his accusers have been eliminated, so now it is a he said-he said situation. There may not be enough there to convict him. Two of the three dropped cases had to do with the accusers’ drug/alcohol abuse and criminal convictions. The other dropped out because of a mental breakdown under questioning. The person was homeless and disappeared after that. The last defendant was in the military and is married. He seems like a good bet, but since he is the only one left, he may back out, or the defense may find something in his background to discredit him. It would be horrible if this scumbag got away with his crimes.

The Connection was about adoption laws and birth parents’ privacy rights vs. the right of an adopted child to find out his/her history. The person representing the parents’ privacy side was really awful. He did not strike me as all that credible. His argument that adoptees’ rights were steamrolling that of parents was weak, and he came off sounding like a whiner. The advocates for adoptees were really articulate and countered each argument strongly with facts and figures to back up their claims. Callers mostly sided with adoptees, even birth mothers. Very interesting.

If I get time to listen to All Things Considered I will report on that later.

Yesterday's news (1/17/05)

I did not have a lot of time to listen to NPR yesterday -- the girls were out of school and I had a busy day, but the little I did hear, both a bit in the morning and a bit between 5-6 PM had to do with the Tsunami, the inaugural and Zhao Ziyang, the Chinese Communist leader who died recently.

The Tsunami reporting had to do with aid workers and had some interviews with devistated locals in Shri Lanka and Aceh, and was the usual awful stuff.

The inaugural reporting had to do with civil war reenactors marching in the parade. These reenactors were southerners who actually played Federal troops instead of Confederates. The story was well balanced, but the ending summed up its usefulness overall: The war ended over 140 years ago. Get over it.

The story on Zhao Ziyang was very interesting in that it pointed out that he has been all but forgotten by the Chinese people, even though he played a very important role in the Communist government. He was removed from power after the Tiananmen Square massacre and placed under house arrest, where he lived out his days. He'd been under house arrest for 15 years. NPR interviewed several Chinese people, and no one really remembered him, even though he did a lot for the economy of China.

Today's news (1/14/05)

I listened to Morning Edition from 8 to 9, The Connection from 10-11, and a bit of All Things Considered between 4-5:00. This morning's interesting stories were Abu Ghraib, Israel, and the Tamel Tigers. This afternoon was a follow up to the Tamel Tiger story with more detail. The Connection was about the Supreme Court ruling giving Federal judges more leeway in sentencing. It was a great series of interviews with some interesting public opinion thrown in there. For the most part, it sounds like the judges are very much in favor of having the freedom to actually act as arbiters of justice as opposed to mechanical sentencers. Personally, I like that, too. Circumstances must be taken into account. People are not machines with interchangable parts, and government cannot and should not treat them that way.

NPR News Yesterday (1/13/05)

I listened to Morning Edition from 8 to 9, The Connection from 10-11, and a bit of All Things Considered between 4-5:30. There were two stories that had PR angles, one about the inaugural and one about major league baseball.

The inaugural story featured a public relations person from the Ritz-Carlton hotel justifying the hotel’s rate hike of 20% during the events in Washington (“We charge what the market will bear!” she said.), and reporting on some of the more outrageous requests the hotel has gotten from guests paying (in some cases) $2000/night. She really tried to cast the best possible light on inaugural excess, but you just can’t make something so crass sound good, especially with all the bad stuff going on elsewhere in the world. The piece was probably cast as a fluff piece, but NPR cannot resist moralizing when people are dying of AIDS and whole villages have been destroyed, and there is not enough money to go around. Selfish Americans (Republicans)!! Shame on you! As a follow on to the fluffy PR piece, there was some serious reporting about protesters on the inaugural route getting shortchanged (or outright denied) space to express their views. This report was well balanced in that it also took some republican supporters’ views on the subject, including interviews with several republican group spokespeople who were also getting shorted on space along the route. But, the reporter took care to point out that denying certain groups access was tantamount to curtailing freedom of speech, since these groups would be excluded from media coverage of the event, thereby loosing their ability to voice concerns about the Bush administration.

In the afternoon, the folks from major league baseball (MLB) tried to get their point across about drug testing, and how great their system would be. The nice thing about this story was its balance – it did a good job giving voice to all interested parties. Part of the point of the story was to showcase how MLB executives were spinning drug testing measures, trying to make them look more stringent than they really were, while minimizing the news that drug use was widespread in the sport. The report ended positively, so the MLB PR folks did a good job communicating the drug testing plan to NPR – well enough to convince the reporter that the drug policy is at the very least a step in the right direction.

THe Connection was about Social Security reform. I love listening to people express their opinions about stuff like this, which is why I enjoy listening to call-in shows on NPR. It gives you a richer, more nuanced view of an issue like privitization of SS.

There were also several stories about Aceh Province, Iraq (how about that, no WMDs! Duh), and the La Conchita mudslide (what a nightmare), likely taken from the wire services. All in all an interesting day of news on NPR.