[CLUE-Talk] Media outlets

[Sean LeBlanc]

On 12-18 06:38, Jeffery Cann wrote:
> Greetings.
> 
> As we debate various political and social issues on
> clue-talk, I am curious to learn the preferred media
> (video and audio) sources from my fellow CLUEbies.
> 
> Please post any links to your favorite news shows.

None of these are really "news" but NPR....

Back when I had cable, I used to enjoy the O'Reilly Factor and Hannity and
Colmes. Fox always gets called right-wing, and I'm sure that it *is* when
you put it alongside the broadcast networks and the New York Times, but is
there anyone who *really* thinks those do not have a serious skew to the
left? There is a reason for the soaring popularity of Fox News, and it's
because it's a breath of fresh air. Even if it was nothing but conservative
hacks, people could still watch it, and watch the others, and try to arrive
somewhere in between for their conclusions.... 

Anyway, if you watch Hannity and Colmes, at least, it's pretty fair - both
Colmes and Hannity do good jobs at articulating their viewpoints. And they
have Ferraro and Gingrich as regulars. O'Reilly often has on Judge
Napolitano (sp?) that I always find interesting. O'Reilly sometimes gets too
emotional and starts to shout down or cut off others, but he does have some
very interesting guests, and the guy has a real passion for his work, of
that there is little doubt. I know it seems dumb and irrelevant, but he also
has a way of getting across a "realness" to him - he seems genuine, and not
nearly as cynical as some talking heads. If there was a way to get Fox News
w/o paying $50/month to get it, I would...oh, I how I love cable monopolies.

As for news shows, I listened to NPR back when it wasn't AM (my car's AM
doesn't work, and I'm not working right now, anyway, so I don't listen on my
commute). I used to think NPR (some guy at Corning used to call it National
Pinko Radio) had a real lefty slant, too, but if you pay attention, they
have some pundits from the right come on, too. They also go much more in
depth into stories, and don't just get the sound bite and move on. At work,
I'd listen to www.cpr.org on occasion.

One thing that I think a lot of people may not notice or care about NPR:
they do such a good job of recording (production? mixing?) when they are on
location. It really doesn't get mentioned enough. It's really quite
incredible at times - you feel like you are there. I'm talking about the
human-interest stories that are pre-recorded, not the live bits.

There is a guy I listen to out of Pittsburgh on the computer: you can
download or stream mp3/Window Media/realplayer. The show is called Quinn and
Rose in the Morning: http://archives.warroom.com/archives.php

He's ultra libertarian/conservative, though, so be warned. It's not for the
meek. This sort of show, like Rush's, is more like entertainment, IMHO,
though, and less "news". It's op-ed on the air. 

For reading, I love www.opinionjournal.com. It's the op-ed site for the WSJ,
and as you would expect, it's conservative. Since I cannot afford a
subscription, I can only read what they make available online, though.
Again, not really "news", but opinions on the news.


And lastly, it's media, but neither news nor op-ed, I spend a lot of time
listening to live DJs spinning on www.groovetech.com. 


Cheers,

-- 
Sean LeBlanc:seanleblanc at americanisp.net  
http://users.americanisp.net/~seanleblanc/
Get MLAC at: http://sourceforge.net/projects/mlac/
Maybe I'm lucky to be going so slowly, because I may be going in the wrong 
direction. 
-Ashleigh Brilliant 
(contributed by Chris Johnston)