The young child has some fair merits, NPR has heavily moved its programming toward progressive political ideology compared to day to day life.
Their narrow focus on elite media/academic preoccupations has really made their coverage unappealing. I mean I'm interested in that stuff to an extent, but no everything in the world needs to be examined that way.
Could only look back and laugh.
Not sure where they took a wrong turn, but "fair and balanced" or even "well-rounded" are not terms I would use to describe current NPR.
I wouldn't say he did it single-handedly, but I went from tripling my monthly donation in the Spring to cancelling my membership and getting rid of my radio in October.
It's a shame that I'm struggling to think of one example that fits into that category...
To a large extent media audiences self segregate and demand certain content, and media companies have responded by tailoring their products. That probably further narrows their appeal.
I have to imagine that some of these news orgs will simply fail once they become too narrow and audience preferences shift again. News operates in a market just like anything else.
For example, if you think minimum wage should be living wage, then saying it's an undue interference with the market will be perceived as a political statement.
What happens now in the federal government is immensely important and impactful for every American and NPR can't really avoid covering it. It's essentially their job.
Now, if NPR has more and more content about "progressive political ideology" (PPIC), there would therefore be less content about any other topical content (AOTC). If PPIC + AOTC = TC, and NPR increases PPIC as TC is held constant, means that AOTC must decrease.
I hope that clears it up for you.
Besides, from an outsider's perspective (not my Tax money!), NPR seems to be a bit like the BBC in that it is continuously mischaracterized as some bastion of the left, when the left usually don't want much of anything to do with it - rather that the correct "ideology" is effectively liberal capitalism (Think Obama, middle of the road type politics) bend over the status quo's knee.
One frustrating thing is that this type of programming takes precedence over all other sorts of local news. I’ve begun to tune out NPR and listen to another news radio station, a CBS affiliate, for coverage that has direct and actionable relevance to my daily life. I’m probably not the only one.
It’s not like I’m uninterested in progressive politics, either. What turns me off about NPR’s political programming lately is simply that it’s become boring, predictable, and repetitive.
I think the focus on "diversity" or "intersectionality" is largely to blame. If you need to check off 6 boxes on your diversity checklist to cover a story, that rules out the vast majority of subjects.