Comments on: Heard it on NPR?

By: wuziq

wuziq — Tue, 12 May 2009 00:43:33 +0000

the things they talk about on NPR are interesting and legit. you can tell just by the way they talk, all calmly and stuff. am i rite?

granted, NPR is interesting sometimes, but i can’t stand listening to it. the way they talk allows them to assign more meaning to what they’re saying, which i don’t like. i take it like i take any other news source: with a grain of salt.

By: East Coast Surfer

East Coast Surfer — Fri, 01 May 2009 17:54:05 +0000

Okay, from now on I will only quote the local sports radio, Rush Limbaugh and anything else from Fox News…

By: Lisa

Lisa — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:41:53 +0000

I love this post so much that I dd the worm across the floor!

BTW, I found you through the spaghetti thing. Fun night, eh? It was very nice to meet you. …. babspeapod

By: Anne

Anne — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:51:37 +0000

I think naming your source adds context, but agree that some people are pretentious about it. You might also want to add the phrase “I was reading the Times and…” (meaning the NY Times of course) to your list of peeves.
My pet peeve is cashiers who can’t make change.

By: bay13kid

bay13kid — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 21:20:29 +0000

Wow, you know I heard something on NPR about Blog Rage a few days ago. I guess this is what it looks like

By: Ears of Steel

Ears of Steel — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:32:10 +0000

My only gripe is the redundancy — if you are an intelligent person relaying something interesting, you might as well just say “I heard” and skip the “on NPR” part. I agree with bunchkel – if there were another media outlet reliably providing useful/stimulating stories, maybe name-checking NPR would be pretentious. As things stand, it’s just stating a fact.

By: jennifer

jennifer — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:14:23 +0000

The above comment reminds me of a spot-on NPR spoof Chris made up years ago, which we still reference and it still makes me laugh. SFX: Tinkling of silverware. VO: It’s breakfast time at a nursing home in Singapore…

Too accurate, from the sound effects to the obscure story location to the hushed voice of the announcer.

I get very tired of NPR calling everyone “Mr.” and “Mrs.” Scott Simon comes off sounding like an over-awed 6th grader talking to his teacher every time he addresses his interviewee.

By: kenren10

kenren10 — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:36:00 +0000

You know what I heard on NPR?

Clanky bits of ceramic dinnerware.
The clicking of bicycle gears.
The low humming of a laboratory centrifuge.

Some would say NPR is biased in their reporting – and they are. If there were a compelling story on soundproof rooms or the near-vacuum of space they just couldn’t cover it!

I’m just glad they don’t author PowerPoint presentations for my department meetings – the slides, fades, wipes and other annoying transitions would throw me into a seizure as surely as the epilepsy-inducing robot anime from a few years back.
TIC (tongue in cheek)
Ken

By: kerry

kerry — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:09:51 +0000

I like this post and it made me laugh..but I must confess I do love NPR and listen to it regularly because 1. I’m abroad and it’s good to hear what’s going on back home- (that and John Stewart) and 2. it really is one of the few sources out there that is relatively reliable and interesting. I don’t say ‘I heard it on NPR’ to be snobby and I never really thought of people who do as being so, either. New perspective I guess And as far as the uniform described in the top comment (so funny!) of NPR listeners- Good Lord I’m so opposite. ps. My dad is a regular listener as well and hasn’t any higher education than high school.

By: bunchkel

bunchkel — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:34:35 +0000

I am an unabashed NPR lover! But I think the reason you hear “I heard it on NPR” ad nauseum is because you so rarely hear anything worth repeating anywhere else!! Can you imagine launching an interesting tidbit about Sweden or useful bit of historical info with “I heard it on Entertainment Tonight”…maybe it’s less about the pretensions of NPR listeners and more about the fact that none of us can get interesting news anywhere else anymore!?!?