I’d like to thank 30 Rock for the title of this article. Their brief mention of the differences between “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays” through a Christmas card being sent by an ultra-conservative couple stating “‘Happy Holidays’… is what terrorists say. Merry Christmas!” is really quite perfect. Nina Totenberg, a legal correspondent for NPR, has […]
Tag Archives | NPR
NPR Gets Nod on List of Top PR Blunders of 2010
Although the list came out a few weeks back, yesterday Current.org reported that NPR was awarded a spot on the Top 10 PR Blunders List for 2010. Just add this distinction to the litany of challenges NPR is facing this year, which were so eloquently discussed by Gavin Dahl in his Radio Survivor post yesterday […]
Radio’s Fall – Part Two: NPR’s ‘Liberal’ Identity Crisis
Editor’s Note: Radioactive Gavin has collected more than 300 articles on radio and digital music over the past 3 months for Common Frequency. This is the second in a series of seven posts he is contributing, looking back at the end of a rough year in radio. When Stephen Colbert gave a ‘medal of fear’ to a seven-year old […]
Radio’s Fall – Part One: No Money, Mo’ Problems
Editor’s Note: Radioactive Gavin has collected more than 300 articles on radio and digital music over the past 3 months for Common Frequency. This is the first of a series of seven posts he will be contributing in the coming weeks, looking back at the end of a rough year in radio. Conservatives crying “Defund NPR” […]
Hate groups. How should NPR handle them?
Some NPR listeners were clearly offended after a 48-second spot by Barbara Hagerty about the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas. The group is composed of roughly 70 members and boasts a website with the not-so-charming URL of www.GodHatesFags.com. Primarily known for their protests of soldiers’ funerals, displaying signs such as “Thank God for Dead Soldiers,” […]
From hoops to NPR and voicemail – today’s action in LPFM
Prometheus has posted photos and video from their hula hooping protest in front of NAB headquarters today in support of low-power FM. According to the group dozens of people showed up to ask NAB head and former senator Gordon Smith to stop blocking the Local Community Radio Act, SB 592. It turns out that so […]
Classical, jazz, and world music on public radio declined by up to 30% over last decade
A survey of 505 public radio stations from 2001 through 2010 indicates that a fifth of them abandoned classical music formats during those years. Many also let go of jazz, and even more discarded world music during the same time period. The statistics were submitted to the Federal Communications Commission by National Public Radio in […]
Soon you’ll be able to tell NPR staff that they’re Nazis by e-mail
Blessed be National Public Radio’s Ombudsman Alicia C. Shepard. The Republicans in the House made their first attempt at defunding NPR on Thursday. They lost the vote, but surely it’s not the last time they’ll try—capitalizing on outrage over NPR’s firing of Juan Williams. Meanwhile Fox News chief Roger Ailes has apologized to the Anti-Defamation […]
Channel 6 “radio” stations could be silent by 2012
Currently the FCC is accepting comments on a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the low-power television service [PDF]. Unlike full-power TV, LPTV is still analog. Now the FCC is considering a timeline for closing that gap. The fact that LPTV is still analog is why some stations on channel 6 have been able effectively […]
Firing Juan Williams: Did NPR act appropriately?
NPR News recently announced the termination of news analyst Juan Williams based on some comments made during his October 21st appearance on Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor. When asked to comment on the current situation between the United States and the Muslim community, Williams publicly stated, Look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. You know the […]