NP - NPR'S MASTER CLASS IN WHITEWASHING THE STEVE BANNON APPOINTMENT

[Allan Balliett]

Since NPR is very questionable in many ways recently, I advise you to cling
to Amy Goodman at Democracy Now! until something better comes along.
Available on Pacifica stations as well as online

-Allan in WV

On Mon, Nov 14, 2016 at 11:23 AM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:

> http://nomoremister.blogspot.com/2016/11/nprs-master-class-
> in-whitewashing-steve.html
>
> If you're going to cover Donald Trump's decision to make Steve Bannon his
> chief White House strategist, you at least have to explain why that choice
> makes a lot of people very nervous. *The Washington Post*'s Jose DelReal,
> for instance, gets to the point:
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/11/13/trump-draws-sharp-rebuke-concerns-over-newly-appointed-chief-white-house-strategist/>
>
> The announcement has produced intense hand-wringing in Washington and
> sharp denunciations from political observers and strategists critical of
> Breitbart News's close association with the alt-right, a fringe
> conservative movement saturated with racially insensitive rhetoric and
> elements of outright white nationalism.
>
> The Southern Poverty Law Center, a hate-watch group, has accused Breitbart
> of explicitly embracing ethno-nationalism. After Bannon's elevation was
> announced, the law center tweeted several controversial stories written by
> Breitbart under Bannon's control, including a piece published two weeks
> after a mass killing at a black church in Charleston, S.C., last year:
> “Hoist it high and proud: the confederate flag proclaims a glorious
> heritage.”
>
> Now consider the disgracefully incomplete report
> <http://www.npr.org/2016/11/13/501938174/reince-priebus-stephen-bannon-picked-for-key-white-house-posts>
>  that appeared on NPR's *All Things Considered* yesterday. Host Michel
> Martin talked with Domenico Montanaro, NPR's lead politcal editor, about
> Bannon's appointment. Here's what Martin and Montanaro said about Bannon:
>
> MONTANARO: ... Of course, Bannon will still sort of be, you know, chief
> inspiration (laughter) at the White House. And that could mean that if
> things go wrong - you know, Bannon is no fan of the Republican leadership
> in Paul Ryan or Mitch McConnell, that he'll have sort of the - you know,
> the macho back for Donald Trump in order to fight back, if need be.
>
> MARTIN: Well, let's talk a little bit more, though, about Steve Bannon. He
> came into the campaign late but seemed to have a very large effect. Many
> people attribute the conspiracy theories that were pushed - about Hillary
> Clinton's health, for example, which were also fanned on the Breitbart
> website that Bannon led. Can you talk a little bit more about him?
>
> MONTANARO: Yeah. Unquestionably, he's a take-no-prisoners operative. You
> know, a former Hollywood producer, a Goldman Sachs managing director as
> well. He ran the website Breitbart, as you said, which has, you know,
> become kind of synonymous with the alt-right and certainly, like I said, no
> fan of the establishment Republicans. And establishment Republicans are no
> fan of them, so they're going to have to figure out a way to get along.
>
> Um, there's going to be more about that alt-right business, isn't there?
>  Nope.   Martin and Montanaro are through with that. All they can focus
> on is the possible political infighting.
>
> NPR's preferred approach seems to be letting loyalists come on one at a
> time, and allowing them to spin and spin and spin.
>
> At a time when basic American freedoms are under threat, and unfavored
> groups are at serious risk, I want to be told about the dangers. I want to
> hear about more than political power games -- and I don't want to hear one
> spin doctor after another telling me that everything's going to be all
> right.
>
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