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From: rjb@akgua.UUCP (R.J. Brown [Bob])
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: NPR Bias?
Message-ID: <1746@akgua.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 17-Oct-85 11:49:14 EDT
Article-I.D.: akgua.1746
Posted: Thu Oct 17 11:49:14 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 19-Oct-85 04:25:58 EDT
Organization: AT&T Technologies/Bell Labs, Atlanta
Lines: 39

Subject: NPR loves KGB ? :-)

National Public Radio has taken some heat recently for
its alleged liberal bias.  Since I tend to a have a
jaundiced view of the whole journalistic enterprise
(except those rags/stations that agree with me :-)),
I thought I would listen to NPR and try to be objective.

Golly, the first "story" I heard this morning (10/17)
concerned cigarette smoking and women.  We got the basic
lowdown on all the nasty things that smoking does to 
women, young girls, and especially the unborn.

Now to this point I agreed because like most reasonable
people, I think smoking is just plain dumb.( I am an ex-smoker
and we're the worst kind.)

But, inserted in this "news story" or feature or whatever
we had this little political gem thrown in when they were
discussing cigarette advertising along the lines of
"You've come a long way baby.." - 

"Women are in a real sense victims of cigarette advertising."

Is this the proper kind of comment for a news feature ?
Doesn't this kind of material belong on the Editorial page ?

Now notice the reporter didn't say children or girls but
women - GROWN UP HUMAN PERSONS.  While I'm no advocate of
Land Raping, Robber Baron Capitalism, I see right away the
political stance of the reporter. S/he made the context clear
that the advertising and by implication the System is to
blame for the problem.

Now that is just one lil' ol' rain drop....but a bunch of these
gives rise to the charges about NPR bias.


Bob Brown {...ihnp4!akgua!rjb}