| December 2004 | ||||||
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
| In response to his plummeting poll numbers, Bush will probably |
Before the broadcast . . ., which told of a brief and disappointing flirtation with another elf named Snowball, the "Morning Edition" producers worried about Mr. Sedaris's discussing his homosexuality. "You very seldom hear a gay man on the radio," Mr. Glass said. "I mean one who isn't talking about being a gay man with AIDS or discussing gays in the military. We got a lot of letters that said, 'Thanks for letting David Sedaris on the radio, not as a gay person, but just as he is.' "Well, what worried the NPR producers in 1992 has them scared shitless in 2004. Snowball was cut from this morning's rebroadcast.
The overall cutest elf is a fellow from Queens named Snowball. Snowball tends to ham it up with the children, sometime literally tumbling down the path to Santa's house. I tend to frown on that sort of behavior but Snowball is hands down adorable -- you want to put him in your pocket. Yesterday we worked together as Santa Elves and I became excited when he started saying things like, "I'd follow you to Santa's house any day, Crumpet!"So, when the next begathon comes around, call up your local NPR and ask them what the fuck they did with Snowball and then tell these craven cowards that you are not giving them another nickel until they bring Snowball back.
It made me dizzy, this flirtation.
By mid-afternoon I was running into walls. At the end of our shift we were in the bathroom, changing clothes, when suddenly we were surrounded by three Santas and five other elves -- all of them were guys that Snowball was flirting with.
Snowball just leads elves on, elves and Santas. He is playing a dangerous game.
Replies: 38 Comments
on Friday, December 24th, Mike Stample said:
I just wrote NPR's ombudsman and ripped him another one. More importantly, David Sedaris needs to take a public stand on this "sanitizing" of his work. NPR needs him more than he needs them; let 'em know how we feel about freedom of speech in this country.
on Friday, December 24th, Ross Porter said:
I heard the "deleted" passage on the broadcast that ran on my NPR affiliate here in San Diego this morning.
on Friday, December 24th, konopelli said:
Never
Provoke
Republicans
gutless fux...
on Friday, December 24th, Clif said:
I can't deny, Ross, that you might have heard it on the San Diego affiliate, but I heard the reading twice on the DC affiliate and the Snowball passage was deleted. Most importantly, click on the link to the audio of this morning's broadcast. It's a the top of the post. Snowball is nowhere to be found in the audio NPR posted today.
on Friday, December 24th, Atrios said:
yeah, I even checked the 1992 transcript from lexis. There then, not now..
on Friday, December 24th, Kate said:
Wake up and smell the color of money, everyone! NPR has been a sell-out ever since they got Mrs. Kroc's (McDonald's) big donation. During morning drive for the last week, every show was about religion.
on Friday, December 24th, Toes said:
Does anyone have the numbers on how much money NPR gets from the gov. anymore? I thought it was so little that they wouldn't need to pander like this. And I would have thought that the Kroc money would have given more freedom, not less.
on Friday, December 24th, t q said:
Boy NPR [National Propaganda Radio] is disgusting. I was an avid listener - until about 6 months after 9/11, when they, like FOX news merely read government press releases and called it news. Can't stomach that kind of hypocrisy!
on Friday, December 24th, Shortbus said:
"Freedom of the Press, is only free, when you own it"
on Friday, December 24th, MKT said:
The excerpt from from today's broadcast of the Santaland Diaries on the NPR website runs 7:06 minutes (including a :30 intro and a :06 conclusion). David's reading runs precisely 6:30 minutes.
A copy of the original 1992 broadcast may found at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1108137 It was rebroadcast in response to a listener request on Fresh Air in 1994. This excerpt runs 9:15 minutes (including a :45 sec intro and a :10 sec conclusion). David's reading runs approximately 8:20 minutes. Approximately 1:50 minutes was cut from original version. Approximately :55 of this time represents the Snowball story! I need to take some more time to compare the two versions to identify the other section(s) that were cut and see what conclusions, if any, may drawn.
I am extremely disappointed to say that this does indeed seem to be rather blatant censorship of gay-friendly content.
on Friday, December 24th, Joe Anger said:
It's amazing how backwards this country is getting. I heard The Santaland Diaries on This American Life a few years ago - Snowball material included - and it was my first introduction to David Sedaris.
Anyone, gay or straight, can relate to the Snowball segment because it's the kind of thing that happens to all of us.
The biggest fear in America is not terrorism. It's the fear that you might have a homosexual encounter and like it.
on Friday, December 24th, Trinkets said:
Has NPR jumped on the bogus "Moral Majority" bandwagon too? I don't suppose any of these talking heads who've been spouting this "voting for moral values" garbage has taken into consideration that us Blue State Democrats were voting for moral values too. We were voting AGAINST Bush's and the Religious Rights' morality!! How about that! Maybe we like our gays and and we don't mind if they marry and we like the choice to have an abortion or not and we like not having to see the 10 Commandments in our court houses and we like to believe or not believe in what ever God we want--- that's why we got off our butts and voted against George. Why has it been assumed that this vote for "morality" meant Bush's sick and twisted morality?
on Friday, December 24th, jake said:
The republicans put new people in charge of our public broadcasting networks a while back. Hence, we have seen such dispicable things creep onto our airwaves (tv and radio) since. It is just another reason to turn it off.
on Friday, December 24th, Zagnut said:
Uh, I just now heard the whole Sedaris thing mentioned above on THIS AMERICAN LIFE. It's on right now.
on Friday, December 24th, Tom said:
I heard the unedited version on KOPB - Portland, OR (NPR affiliate) last week and every year in recent memory.
Don't know if they edited it today but I'll be ticked off if they did.
on Friday, December 24th, bill said:
wake up time! Boycot time. The Only Option we really have left! The talk on the blogs is cheap Jan 20 05 DC!
see ya all there
on Saturday, December 25th, Atrios said:
it appears that the morning edition producers clipped it, while other shows rebroadcasting it didn't.
on Saturday, December 25th, Paradisi said:
That offends them?!? And meanwhile you can't turn on the TV without an ad for Viagra, et. al.---
Buncha idiots. And NPR jumped on the jingo bandwagon approximately 9/18, anyway. If you're lucky enough to be able to get CBC radio, there's real news there.
on Saturday, December 25th, Clif said:
That's possible, Atrios, but it looks to me from the NPR site that the last time NPR played the uncut version was on 6/9/04 as a "Driveway Moment." Maybe some affiliates have been braver recently.
on Saturday, December 25th, Charles said:
You guys have it all wrong. We MUST stop all references to anything the Fuhrer finds offensive from getting on the airwav...oops, sorry! That was my comment on munichblog.com from 1936.
on Saturday, December 25th, Mellifluous said:
The biggest fear in America is not terrorism. It's the fear that you might have a homosexual encounter and like it. - Joe Anger.
I think the greatest fear is that you might have a homosexual encounter and find that you survive it without being smitten by the ICB.
on Saturday, December 25th, Stosine said:
Cut and paste, and send an email to NPR about this:
ombudsman@npr.org, corrections@npr.org, jking@npr.org, lbremner@npr.org, ejohnson@npr.org,allsongs@npr.org,atc@npr.org,dgeorge@npr.org,opera@npr.org,,connection@wbur.bu.edu,daytoday@npr.org,drshow@wamu.org,freshair@whyy.org,jazz88@wbgo.org,jazzpro@npr.org,jazzset@npr.org,justicetalking@asc.upenn.edu,lusa@npr.org,loe@npr.org,pj@scetv.org,morning@npr.org,fota@fool.com,perftoday@npr.org,tonycox@npr.org,ato@npr.org,onthemedia@wnyc.org,oag@wbur.bu.edu,reweb@npr.org,saysyou@wgbh.org,shorts@symphonyspace.org,SundayB@wshu.org,totn@npr.org,scifri@npr.org,plants@npr.org,thistle@npr.org,waitwait@npr.org,watc@npr.org,wesun@npr.org,puzzle@npr.org,email@wrn.org
on Saturday, December 25th, Richard Johnston said:
Get out while you still can.
on Saturday, December 25th, MT said:
The version of the Santaland Diaries that was run on Morning Edition was always much, much shorter than the original text. In the 32-minute long version that aired on This American Life, Ira Glass begins the segment by saying:
"The Morning Edition version of the Santaland Diaries ran only eight and a half minutes because of the format of Morning Edition, but here, here we have the time to stretch out, and play something that's much closer to David's original text."
And while it is closer, even the 32-minute version of the story leaves out quite a bit of material that was in the original text.
So this isn't some vast right-wing conspiracy. I am a huge fan of David's. I'm sure he'd be laughing at the ridiculousness of people getting up in arms over one of his stories being edited for time over ten years ago.
About 5 minutes worth of fact-checking could have confirmed this.
on Saturday, December 25th, mj said:
I heard the censored version in Boston yesterday morning. I found it online and played it this morning for my father--believe it or not, it came up because we'd been listening to Billie Holiday after opening presents--and was pretty surprised to hear the whole Snowball part. Luckily my Pa is no 'phobe. I was confused, but figured I must've wandered out of the room the first time I heard it. Dunno why I wouldn't have just assumed it was censored--I've long since abandoned illusions about NPR as a vehicle for progressive values.
Boston. Guys can get married here, just not be attracted to each other. Weird.
on Saturday, December 25th, amyc said:
MT, the point is not that the Snowball stuff was removed from the original text. The point is that NPR's 8-minute version of "Santaland Diaries" used to include the Snowball section -- every year they've played it until this year.
on Saturday, December 25th, Gabriel said:
The point is that NPR's 8-minute version of "Santaland Diaries" used to include the Snowball section -- every year they've played it until this year.
MT, how's that for a few minutes' worth of fact-checking?
on Saturday, December 25th, No Public Radio said:
NPR hasn't been liberal in many years. It is corporate-controlled media.
on Sunday, December 26th, MT said:
So NPR is currently airing both the long and short versions, both with and without the Snowball passage. If it were censorship, wouldn't it be a bit more thorough?
on Sunday, December 26th, Huh? said:
Why was this EVER an NPR Chrismas item? This is nuts. If you don't understand why this material is inappropriate and obnoxious, you don't understand "tolerance."
(And after that election, understand that there are millions of people across America who are really angry that the Democratic Party gets the blame for this.)
on Sunday, December 26th, Clif said:
MT,
This American Life is produced by PRI, not NPR. Some, but not all, NPR affiates run This American Life, which apparently broadcast the full version. But NPR only ran one version this year, the one without Snowball.
on Sunday, December 26th, bloggerbrain said:
First reaction: WTF?!!
Second Reaction: This is something we may never get to the bottom of. I'm sure the explanation will be something like "The show had to be cut for time purposes" or something like that.
The creepiness just keeps on creeping in.
b
on Sunday, December 26th, MKT said:
The other major cut from the original 1992 broadcast raises additional glaring questions regarding potential censorship by NPR. The deleted segment addresses animal testing by Proctor & Gamble. If you check page 18 of the .pdf of the NPR annual report (at http://www.npr.org/about/annualreports/npr2002.pdf ) you will learn that Proctor & Gamble is a major funder of NPR:
"NPR is grateful for the leading roles taken by... generous corporate supporters including ...Proctor & Gamble..."
Could NPR be possibly censoring an artist to protect one of its sponsor/funders? Here is the text of the second ommitted segment:
A child came to Santa this morning and his mother said, "All right, Jason. Tell Santa what you want. Tell him what you want."
Jasonsaid, "I...want...Prokton and...Gamble to... stop animal testing."
The mother said, "Proctor, Jason, that's Proctor and Gamble. And what do they do to animals? Do they torture animals? Do they torture animals, Jason? Is that we they do?"
Jason said, Yes, they torture. He was maybe six years old.
You can listen to this segment at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1108137
This second segment deleted from this year's broadcast begins at 3:48.
on Monday, December 27th, Ray said:
So what happens next? Does Snowball get gang raped by the elves and Santas he so dangerously led on? If Snowball is up for it, frisky elf that he is, it's only a gangbang and what's so offensive about a little Christmas gangbang? Hey, that gives me an idea for a nativity scene..
on Tuesday, December 28th, SuZ said:
I stopped listening to NPR after the election and it became clear that they were just as gutless as the rest of the media in not reporting on election fraud.
But how gutless do you have to get to censor a passage that has no reference to sex in it whatsoever? I am a big fan of David Sedaris, and I love hearing him read from his work on NPR, but I am through with NPR. They owe him an apology
at the very least.
on Wednesday, December 29th, The Great White Buffalo said:
No sexual references and the post above applauds the idea of a GangBang?
I figured that leading many people on is wrong and sends the wrong message to our youth.
I don't want my daughter practicing sexual activity with many, and certainly not many at one time.
What about the STD problems that we have, and the weak mindset that most Americans have.
What of those that can not control their thoughts, desires and lusts?
I applaud NPR for becomming a more effective force in making the media safe for everyone.
Ever get raped?
on Friday, December 31st, Ira Glass said:
Hi everyone -
I produced this David Sedaris story for Morning Edition back in 1992, and broadcast a much longer, uncut version of the story this Christmas on the show I host, This American Life.
I understand everyone's concern and alarm over this, believe me. Every week it seems, I have to call my attorney to ask if it's still okay to say a phrase like "pissed off" or "god damn" in the current FCC environment.
But I'm guessing that the reason NPR cut Crumpet from David's story had nothing to do with fear of the FCC, the right wing, or its own listeners.
When I first produced Santaland for Morning Edition, the show gave more time to feature stories. In the current news environment, NPR understandably wants to devote more time to news and analysis, so features get shoved in smaller segments at the end of the hour. To run Santaland today means running it shorter. So someone at NPR had to cut over two minutes. I urge you all to listen to the original story and ask you to think about what you'd cut. Every section of the story works; every section makes a different point. It's really a judgment call.
I believe this was an entirely innocent editorial decision. I might've cut the same stuff myself.
As a longtime NPR producer, I think there's a lot the network can be criticized for, but honestly, it's a pretty gay-friendly news source.
Consider please: 490 public radio stations - which is to say, nearly the entire public radio system - ran our version of David's story last week. The program directors are not shy about letting me know when I broadcast something that gives them heartache or heartburn or grief from their listeners. I've not gotten one complaint.
So ... while I understand everyone's alarm at Crumpet's excision ... and while I think it's vitally important to sound the sirens when something like this happens (I didn't know about the cut till I read it here and thanks for that) ... I think this case is not more proof of the Rising Tide of Badness that so many of us feel right now.
As for boycotting your local station at pledge time over this, I hope you'll keep in mind that your local station probably RAN David's story on our show this year, that your local station doesn't control Morning Edition's editorial decisions on this kind of thing in any case, and then do what you think is best.
on Friday, December 31st, Ira Glass said:
Oops, I typed Crumpet when I meant Snowball in that post.
Just more proof of anti-gay bias, I guess.
Oh wait - Crumpet's gay too.
Ira