NPR and bias

I'd just like to add a comment on the question of NPR's biases. Yes, 
they do get most of their funding from the govt, which leads them to take a 
stance on some issues which agrees with the govt position. On the other hand, 
virtually the entire mainstream media would be considered biased in favor of 
the govt by this standard.
        In fact, NPR has a very good journalistic record, and many of its 
reporters have proven themselves willing to take on the government when they 
feel the government is wrong.
        Another factor in this equation is the fact that this list does not 
exactly reach a wide audience, politically or population-wise. We are (as TC 
May eloquently put it when responding to one of my posts) preaching to the 
choir here (and a relatively small choir at that). The rest of the world does 
not necessarily see things the way we do, and we aren't likely to get much 
sympathy from the owners of commercial media outlets.
        Basically, I think that NPR is the best we're going to get, as far as 
good exposure is concerned. Yes, they have their faults, but I challenge anyone 
to show me a single major national media outlet that doesn't.
--
Matthew B. Landry
ml7694a@american.edu
(Finally!) mbl@ml7694a.leonard.american.edu

Matthew Landry writes:


>         In fact, NPR has a very good journalistic record, and many of its 
> reporters have proven themselves willing to take on the government when they 
> feel the government is wrong.

Though my sympathies are not "leftist" and though I often grimace when
I hear the slant given by NPR, I suspect the NPR/left/ACLU side is
more amenable to crypto and crypto privacy than the Right/American
Heritage/Falwell side is.

(As most of you know, whether you agree or not, the libertarian axis
is generally orthogonal to the axis defined by Left and Right.)

My point is that I think liberal left reporters are likely to be more
sympathetic to our views--even when they involve such libertarian
"extremes" as crypto-anarchy--than are right wing reporters. I'm not
sure why this is (I have some guesses), but it seems to be the case.

I can imagine a right winger saying "You mean your system will allow
faggots to plan their crimes in private? You mean enemies of our
country will be able to to use electronic black markets to trade
military secrets untraceably?"

So, while I don't place much faith in converting the masses--this
despite the interviews I gave for "Wired," "Whole Earth Review,"
and "The Village Voice"--I suspect that NPR is in fact a more
receptive place than, say, the Rush Limbaugh show would be.

(If I don't favor converting the masses, what *do* I favor?
Technology. It was technology and markets that created the revolutions
in personal computers, fax machines, VCRs, whatever, not proselyting
in the media. Strong crypto is like strong locks: if cheap enough and
easy to use, it will be used automatically by many people.)


--Tim May


-- 
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