On the Media

This show is very badly-needed analysis of how current events are reported and by whom and why and to what ends and how it calcifies into the Dominant Narrative over time. This show is basically an anti-calcification agent against propaganda. For those who don’t just consume the information as it’s fed to us, but consider the framing and the competing agendas, OTM is one of the few sources of support for doing so. I love this show so much and particularly Brook Gladstone. I listen to every single episode and could listen to BG’s voice all day.

The episode about public broadcasting being in danger was so biased that it provided a perfect encapsulation of why public broadcasting SHOULD be defunded. Chef’s kiss.

I was an ardent fan and supporter of NPR for over 30 years. At some point during the COVID lockdowns, I just found I couldn’t abide listening anymore. I didn’t think it was because it was too woke, because I considered myself to be a woke progressive leftist. But it was the tone—and the tone policing. The virtue signaling. And the fact that I had serious questions about COVID and the transing of children (as I am from the Question Authority generation) and there was NEVER any attempt to explore divergent views on these issues and others. Anybody who had questions was brainwashed by right wing misinformation, even though I never consume right wing news. I just had common sense questions, many of which have been born out. My point is that I was very dismayed by Brook’s contemptuous tone toward Mike Gonzales. I don’t agree with Gonzales on CPB funding, but as do agree with some of his points, and I do not need Brooke or anyone at NPR to tell me how I should interpret information. And this is why I finally stopped listening to NPR. The insidious contemptuous tone.

What do you care? If one is still anticipating this show, that person has no sense of taste, mood or dignity. There was a time in which this program meant something. A time in which it adhered to its title. A time in which an examination of popular media was the sole theme. That time is long gone. If one tried, for the past 800-some dismal broadcasts, to convince themself it’s possible for the program to return to its function, that person is sorely mistaken. The drivel I for one have endured… Just go back for any length of time. Listen to this nonsense for as long as you can bear it. It’s sheer pablum. It signifies less than nothing. No sound, no fury. Shame on NPR for allowing a good vehicle to become so wearisome.