Can you blame public-radio people for taking it for granted that the only opinions that matter are right-wing ones?

No thanks to NPR, which "takes these issues very seriously," Lisa Simeone will be allowed to continue as host of World of Opera, produced by station WDAV and carried on many NPR stations, even after taking part in the Occupy DC demonstration. Her 15-year run hosting Soundprint, however, is over, because of her journalistically ethical deficiencies.

by Ken

You can't blame NPR for being edgy. After all, they've only just finally named Sesame Street overseer Gary Knell as their new president and CEO, replacing Vivian Schiller, who fell on her sword amid the right-wing hysteria over the long-overdue firing, following repeated warnings, of that right-wing thug Juan Williams (who had the temerity to pretend to be "liberal" when it came to on-air "balancing" acts). And so when it was suggested that NPR was behind the firing of LIsa Simeone as host of the Sirius Radio broadcast Soundprint, which appears on two NPR Sirius channels (and also a PRI one), for taking part in the Occupy DC protest, the NPR PR shop whirled into action.

WHY BOTHER QUOTING NON-RIGHT-WINGERS?
NOBODY GIVES A DAMN WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY

We'll come back to the NPR-Simeone situation, but fresh in my mind was a striking, presumably unintended (and therefore, for me, all the more resonant) confirmation that even in the upper reaches of the infotainment noozemedia, the only opinions that are now taken into account are right-wing ones.

It was a report in Tuesday's Los Angeles Times, by Carol J. Williams, about President Obama's nomination of Los Angeles lawyer Paul Watford (left) to the seriously underpopulated Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals -- you know, the famously liberal circuit, which the far-right-wing majority on the Roberts Court treats as basically a mock court, only with less standing in the federal judiciary than your average mock court.

The deck on the story read: "The choice of Paul Watford for the overburdened federal appeals court draws praise from both sides of the political aisle. Some see a smoother path for him to Senate confirmation." And reporter Williams began:

Paul J. Watford, a Los Angeles lawyer with broad experience and the support of some influential local conservatives, was nominated by President Obama on Monday to the busiest federal appeals court in the country.

The choice of Watford, 44, for the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals drew praise from colleagues on both sides of the political aisle, and predictions that he would have a smoother path to Senate confirmation than some of the president's more liberal nominees.

So, Watford's appointment "drew praise from colleagues on both sides of the political aisle," eh? The only thing is, we hear exclusively from colleagues on one side of the political aisle. Can you guess which?

Unless I missed something, a grand total of three people are quoted in the Times story:

DANIEL COLLINS ("who clerked for conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and was a government lawyer in both Bush administrations")

Colleagues at Munger, Tolles & Olson, the Los Angeles firm where Watford is a partner, described him as a great choice and a man ideally suited to being a judge.

"He's incredibly intelligent and has solid integrity and great judgment," said Daniel Collins, who recruited Watford back to the firm after a three-year stint at the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles and a year at the rival firm of Sidley & Austin. "He just embodies the definition of judicial temperament — very level-headed and even-keeled."

Collins, who clerked for conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and was a government lawyer in both Bush administrations, said he considered Watford a moderate who would be widely admired and respected.

"I don't think he'll approach the job with any kind of agenda other than to do what is right and consistent with precedent as he understands it," Collins said.

EUGENE VOLOKH ("I'm a moderately conservative Republican who would like to see conservative judges named to the courts")

Eugene Volokh, a UCLA law professor who has known Watford for nearly 20 years, also expressed satisfaction.

"I'm a moderately conservative Republican who would like to see conservative judges named to the courts, but my guy lost in 2008," Volokh said. "The question is, what can we get from President Obama? There are probably nominations I wouldn't support. The best we can get is going to be someone calm and judicial and attentive to precedent. . . . By all indications, Paul is going to be that kind of judge."

[For the record, Professor Volokh's self-description as "a moderately conservative Republican" is overly modest, and perhaps credible only by comparison with the thugs and certifiable loons who have massed to his right.]

JEREMY ROSEN ("former president of the Los Angeles Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society")

Jeremy Rosen, a partner at Horvitz & Levy and former president of the Los Angeles Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society, said Watford was a choice many conservatives could support.

"I know he has the respect of anyone who has come into contact with him. He is exceptionally bright and well qualified," Rosen said.

And that's it, folks. Either reporter Williams and her editors didn't notice that nobody from the non-right side was quoted or they didn't care. (If I had to guess, it would be that the identities of any non-right-wingers who might have been quoted would have opened them to derision from non-right-wing readers.) In any explanation, though, the fact remains: In the newspaper's view, the only opinions that mattered were those of the right-wingers.

For what it's worth, in case you're trying to get some idea of what sort of nominee Paul Watford is, and what his nomination may say about the president's current thinking about high-level judicial appointments, Watford clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1995-96. But before that he clerked for Ninth Circuit Judge (now Chief Judge) Alex Kozinski, a Reagan appointee.

TO RETURN TO THE NPR MESS --

I get the feeling that the operation has become so sensitive to right-wing criticism -- especially with all those extreme right politicos looking for any excuse to press their case for defunding. And I know a lot of people are concerned about the lengths to which NPR now goes to ingratiate itself with any potential right-wing allies.

At 6:12pm Wednesday, Dana Davis Rehm, NPR's senior vice president for marketing, communications, and external relations, sent a "Communications Alert" to "all staff," which I'm picking up from David Swanson's post today, "NPR Gets Radio Host Fired For Occupying":

We recently learned of World of Opera host Lisa Simeone’s participation in an Occupy DC group. World of Opera is produced by WDAV, a music and arts station based in Davidson, North Carolina. The program is distributed by NPR. Lisa is not an employee of WDAV or NPR; she is a freelancer with the station.

We're in conversations with WDAV about how they intend to handle this. We of course take this issue very seriously.

As a reminder, all public comment (including social media) on this matter is being managed by NPR Communications.

All media requests should be routed through NPR Communications at 202.513.2300 or mediarelations@npr.org. We will keep you updated as needed. Thanks.

As David reported, some three and a half hours later (if I've got the chronology right), while NPR was presumably still "in conversations with WDAV about how they intend to handle this," Lisa was fired from a different job, as host of Soundprint, "for being 'unethical,'" according to David's post, which includes interesting quote from an interview with her. David's post brought forth a steaming response from NPR's director of media relations, Anna Christopher Bross, which began, "Your post this morning was wholly inaccurate. We’d ask you to please make corrections immediately."

Huh? "Your post this morning was wholly inaccurate"? Wholly inaccurate? So Lisa Simeone wasn't fired from Soundprint? And she didn't say the things that David says she said? Like:

I find it puzzling that NPR objects to my exercising my rights as an American citizen -- the right to free speech, the right to peaceable assembly -- on my own time in my own life. I'm not an NPR employee. I'm a freelancer. NPR doesn't pay me. I'm also not a news reporter. I don't cover politics. I've never brought a whiff of my political activities into the work I've done for NPR World of Opera. What is NPR afraid I'll do -- insert a seditious comment into a synopsis of Madame Butterfly?

This sudden concern with my political activities is also surprising in light of the fact that Mara Liaason reports on politics for NPR yet appears as a commentator on FoxTV, Scott Simon hosts an NPR news show yet writes political op-eds for national newspapers, Cokie Roberts reports on politics for NPR yet accepts large speaking fees from businesses. Does NPR also send out 'Communications Alerts' about their activities?

I'm going to take sides here and say that the post wasn't by any stretch of the most demented and dishonest imagination "wholly inaccurate," meaning that our Anna is a liar. Or maybe just an imbecile. What she probably meant to claim is that David's post contained, oh, say, gross inaccuracies. Namely:

It has been reported that NPR had a role in the decision made by the management of the public radio program Soundprint to end its relationship with Lisa Simeone as the program's host. This is not true. Soundprint is an independent public radio program that is not produced by NPR. NPR had no contact with the management of the program prior to their decision. We learned about it after the fact, through media reports.

Fair enough, especially if it's true. Since Anna has already been caught in one lie, I hope she'll understand if I suggest that I'd feel more confident if she undertook that in the event it turns out that anyone at NPR in fact had contact with the management of Soundprint prior to their decision, both Anna and the contactees will take appropriate remedial action. (I have my own idea, but I would be denounced as reckless and bloodthirsty if I laid it out.) I thought it was also a piquant touch that Anna concluded her note: "When will you correct your post to remove NPR from the equation?Please let me know if you have questions." (Boldface in the original; also the lack of space between "equation?" and "Please," suggesting -- from my experience, anyway -- that some editing had been done there.)

David notes in one of his updates, presumably based on his conversation with Lisa Simeone: "The Executive Producer of Soundprint, when firing Simeone, told her on the phone that she had violated NPR's code of ethics," adding that "she [i.e., the Soundprint exec producer] brought NPR into it." (He notes in another update that WDAV "has stood strong in the face of NPR pressure and will not fire Simeone," and quotes NPR's confirmation: "Classical public radio station WDAV says Lisa Simeone will continue to host World of Opera," with a link to WDAV's website "for further details.")

It's certainly relevant that respected news organizations -- the New York Times, for example -- do in fact bar reporters from participating in political activities including demonstrations. The applicability of this to the host of Soundprint is questionable, though. In my sheltered life I had no idea what it is, so I searched out its website, soundprint.org, where I found a grand total of two hot stories highlighted on the homepage, under the head "This Week on Soundprint Radio":

* Everest and Beyond
A tribute to the extraordinary life and achievements of Sir Edmund Hillary. After his memorable conquest of Everest in 1953, this tall, craggy, modest man, added to his worldwide fame . . . . [Read the rest onsite.}

* In My Father's Dreams
Rob Robins has always wanted to learn to fly, but with five kids to feed the former brewery worker’s budget would not stretch to lessons and running up the required number of flying hours to get his private pilot’s license. Now at 74 . . . . [Ditto.]

[Say, does Soundprint specialize in New Zealand stories? Would-be 74-year-old aviator Rob Robins, who by the way has been deaf since age five, is, as Sir Edmund was, a New Zealander.]

On the Soundprint website I also found this, in a box on the upper-right corner:

Soundprint and Lisa Simeone have ended their work together after fifteen years. Soundprint is a journalistic program and Lisa's leadership role as a member of the steering committee and a spokesperson for the October 2011 protest activities, associated with the Occupy DC movement, conflicts with her role as the host of a documentary series. Soundprint adheres to the highest standards of journalism which include maintaining appropriate distance from marches, demonstrations and other political activity. These are standards held by many other journalism organizations, including National Public Radio.

Lisa has been a dynamic and engaging host for Soundprint, and we wish her well for the future.

Well, I'm sure Rob Robins along with the family, friends, and admirers of Sir Edmund Hillary will be relieved to know that Soundprint has stood up for those "highest standards of journalism" it adheres to.

I'm also intrigued to note that the "journalistic ethics" point tends to be made by defenders of NPR even as they insist on the uninvolvement of NPR in the Simeone firing. The suggestion seems to be that while NPR had nothing to do with it, even if they had, they would have been justified.

David Swanson, for example, has a comment from one Evil Adam which begins, "This story is 100% untrue," which again is a 100% lie, which is backed up by another lie: "NPR has no connection to SoundPrint." Unfortunately, Evil Adam has been lured out onto this limb by careless reading of the ever so carefully worded statement he then quotes from NPR: "NPR plays no role in Soundprint's production or distribution."

Read them again:

EVIL ADAM: "NPR has no connection to SoundPrint."
NPR STATEMENT: "NPR plays no role in Soundprint's production or distribution."

Um, really and truly not the same thing. Not at all. (As noted above, two of the three Sirius Radio channels on which the show is carried are NPR channels, and if you think that's "no connection," then with all due respect this discussion is probably over your head.) Nor, of course, do the NPR apologists show the slightest interest in what went on in all those discussions between NPR and WDAV about Lisa's continuing as host of World of Opera. You do remember, I'm sure, NPR Senior Veep Dana Davis Rehm declaring, "We of course take this issue very seriously," in her "Communications Alert."

Finally, there's that overriding question about enforcement of prohibitions on potentially conflictful outside activities for media people. I guess there were really no "journalists" involved in any Tea Party activities, because I don't remember hearing of any fired for them. (If you want to argue that none of the Fox Noise people who played such a prominent role were journalists, I certainly can't disagree.) In general, I'm going to guess that enforcement falls a whole lot more swiftly and certainly on non-right-wing participants than on right-wing ones.

Which is OK, I guess, since after all nobody gives a damn what non-right-wingers have to say. Which is why it's so important to deprive them of as many opportunities as possible to say it.

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