My nomination for that would be its ‘national security reporter ‘ Dina Temple-Raston whom I have long castigated for being an unapologetic propagandist for the organs of the national security state. Glenn Greenwald gives yet another example of her breathless and uncritical coverage, this time of claims made by the CIA and its front organizations.
To be fair to her, her predecessor on that beat Tom Gjelten was hardly better. I used to say that when he was reporting, NPR seemed to stand for National Pentagon Radio and it may be time to pass on that dubious honor to her.
It may be that the kind of people who are drawn to national security reporting are those who either worshipped the security apparatus from the beginning or are the kinds of people who can be easily co-opted to relay the official line. Either way, they are not ‘reporters’ but mainly stenographers and shills.
I’m sure that the best access is given to the most friendly “reporters”, and actual journalists move on and away from the national security beat.
NPR is just another mouthpiece of the propaganda machine. I’ve always been amused when some right-wing dipshit wants to defund them -- it just enhances their “credibility” the the stupid-left.
It may be that the kind of people who are drawn to national security reporting are those who either worshipped the security apparatus from the beginning or are the kinds of people who can be easily co-opted to relay the official line.
Or more likely the kind of people assigned by their editors to national security reporting are the most tractable.
Pompous shills.
We know for a fact that the CIA has counted quite a number of journalists and editors amongst its assets in the past. Does anybody imagine that’s stopped recently, or that they’re not willing to push the boundaries of the limitations on domestic propaganda?
http://www.carlbernstein.com/magazine_cia_and_media.php