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Yes I have started reading the piece by Uri now and it basically confirms what I was imagining. "He declared that diversity—on our staff and in our audience—w
by aaronax 2y ago
Yes
I have started reading the piece by Uri now and it basically confirms what I was imagining.
"He declared that diversity—on our staff and in our audience—was the overriding mission"
"Journalists were required to ask everyone we interviewed their race, gender, and ethnicity (among other questions), and had to enter it in a centralized tracking system."
Pretty much guaranteed that they were trying to hit race/gender quotas.
- josephg 2y agoI always find it on the nose when “diversity” is used to mean “aligned with modern leftist political ideals”. That’s just not what that word means. If NPR wants actual diversity (of opinion), they should consider tracking the political affiliation of the people they interview in their database. But in my experience, DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) never seems to include a diversity of political views. I find that very suspicious.
- edflsafoiewq 2y agoWhen we can talk about "a diverse candidate", the word has obviously become untethered from any ordinary meaning.
- Wolfenstein98k 2y agoRead "non-white", "non-straight", and/or "non-male" in place of "diversity" and you will see that it works 100% of the time.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- josephg 2y agoI think you’re right. But that isn’t actually what diverse means. The opposite - lefty non-white, non-straight and mostly non-male people are a specific political group. I think it’s quite on the nose for organisations to cater to that community explicitly. And the wider population is far more diverse than that.
- drewrv 2y agoA news organization that chased “diversity of opinion” would not be a good news organization. Some opinions are not worth entertaining. If NPR were broadcasting the rantings of flat earthers, Sasquatch hunters, and anti-vax weirdos, it may be entertaining but it wouldn’t be news. Also: the reason DEI initiatives ignore “diversity of political views” is because that is not a trait you are born with.
- astrange 2y ago> Also: the reason DEI initiatives ignore “diversity of political views” is because that is not a trait you are born with. Is that true? You're born from your parents[0]. I don't think it's actually much of an important distinction that you would have different socialization if you were adopted. Younger LGBTQ/NB people don't agree with this nearly as much as they used to, for instance. Several of those groups are just things you decide to do. [0] as the vice president said: https://twitter.com/brownskinthem/status/1712665740069724184 https://twitter.com/brownskinthem/status/1712665740069724184
- jimbokun 2y agoNPR flat out got some stories wrong due to their biases.
- drewrv 2y agoProbably. Every news organization gets stories wrong. That’s why reputable news sites issue corrections: https://www.npr.org/corrections/ https://www.npr.org/corrections/
- vkou 2y agoEveryone does. Even as a baseline of "Things that almost all members of it can agree on", our society is incredibly biased in how it views the world. So is every other society in history. I'm sure ancient Greeks were convinced that they had it all figured out, too. Fish don't have a word for water. Spend a significant part of your life immersed in a society with a radically different worldview, and it'll be very clear just how arbitrary team blue/red complaints about bias are. You don't actually want unbiased reporting. It would be either useless, or make you extremely uncomfortable all the time. You're just unhappy that it's got the wrong bias.
- jimbokun 2y agoNew York Times is surprisingly good about this. Most of their reporting does have a left bias, and of course opinion even more so. But they do have some serious, thoughtful conservatives in their opinion pages. Like David French and Ross Douthat. And they have reported on controversial issues like the dangers of medically transitioning minors. David Leonhardt points out the places where conservative arguments have facts on their side, like how closing schools during Covid for so long greatly damaged learning outcomes and was a bad decision overall. It eliminates blind spots that come from only considering views confirming an ideology and thus getting important stories wrong.
- ryan_lane 2y agoWhere do you draw the line around what voices need to be included? Conservative politics have moved so far to the right that centric liberal politics is what old conservative politics used to be (because democrats are big tent, and the republicans have been shedding voters due to extremism). Balance isn't positive or useful when it shifts things further one direction, especially when there's such a massive shift.
- specialist 2y agoYes and: what ever their pre Trump "conservative" bonafidas, neither French or Douthat land any where near today's mainstream movement conservatives (MAGA).
- sanderjd 2y agoThey have conservative bonafides, no scare quotes necessary. The Republican party mainstream (MAGA) is not attempting conservatism, it is right wing populism. The word "conservative" does not have a new definition, the change has been that it no longer applies to the political party it once did (at least more so).
- jimbokun 2y agoThat’s why they have voices like French and Douthat. It’s hard to find a thoughtful full on Trump supporter, because his “arguments” don’t lend themselves to thoughtful reflection or analysis.
- faeriechangling 2y agoIt is strange to me. It seems obvious to me that it would result in more diversity to have say, a latino network with all latino reporters who interviewed latinos, and a different network which was multi-ethnic, and a Fox News like network which was white as heck, than it is to just have the 2nd. Diversity is implemented in a strangely homogenous way where there is only one monoculture. One correct, diverse way to run such an organisation.