WMUB Listener Feedback

Listener Chris Cruden wrote to us Friday July 22, 2005"

This morning a brief news item referred to the 1946 bombing of the King David Hotel in Israel. The news item referred to the terrorists as Israeli underground fighters. This is totally inaccurate, the bombing was by terrorists and admitted as such by "Rabbi" Yzertinsky (Yitzhak Shamir, later the Prime Minister of Israel, his code name was "Rabbi")

After his release from prison, by the British, he justified his terrorist activities by stating “….. there are those who say that to kill Martin (Sgt Martin was his British arresting officer) is terrorism but, to attack an army camp is guerilla warfare and to bomb civilians is professional warfare, but I think it is the same from a moral point of view. Is it better to drop an atomic bomb on a city than to kill a handful of persons? I don’t think so. But nobody says that Truman was a terrorist. For us it was not a question of the professional honor of a soldier, it was a question of an idea, an aim that had to be achieved. We were aiming at a political goal. There are many examples of what we did to be found in the Bible, Gideon and Sampson, for example.”

The "idea" he quotes in the above statement is the sole of all terrorism and when we hypocritically attempt to justify terrorism we find acceptable, we consequently feed the cause (idea) of terrorism we find unacceptable. Sadly and regrettably we appear to feed the terrorists and their cause by all we do.

Here's a reply from NPR Ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin:

I checked with Morning Edition and indeed, in the program's "opening" where one of the hosts mentions what events occurred this day in history, the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1946 was mentioned. It was said that the act was committed by "the Jewish underground" and that more than 90 people were killed.

There is no doubt that this was an act of political terrorism committed by a group known as the Irgun whose members included future prime ministers of Israel such as Yitzhak Shamir and Menachem Begin. The Irgun was a guerilla force that targeted the British occupation forces with the aim of driving them out of mandate Palestine in order to create an independent Jewish state.

In later years, apologists for the bombing said that the King David was a legitimate target because it was a military headquarters for the British Army in Mandate Palestine and that the Irgun phoned three warnings to the hotel which they said were ignored.

Yet there were civilian casualties among the mostly British military casualities. By today's standards, it was certainly an act of terrorism.

All of this is beyond the informational scope of the "opening" of the program. I have spoken to the editors to remind them that forty years later, the mentioning of certain events remains fraught with complexities that defies our usual journalistic shorthand.

Regards,

Jeffrey Dvorkin
NPR Ombudsman

Thank you for the program on Darfur Friday morning [7/22]. I rearranged my schedule to stay and listen to it. I am glad that you added the chap from southern Sudan because those issues need to be aired and as your speakers said, are somewhat related too. I felt the information presented by the primary speaker was given at a level that was a bit too basic/shallow, and only the answer to the final question really got into the nitty gritty details that someone who follows the news could be enlightened by more in depth background. Still it was a good 'effort' using your resources at hand. Another suggestion for a speaker who is fairly 'local' and might be persuaded to discuss the subject on your broadcasts, is Sam Laki, who teaches at Central State University and hails from southern Sudan.

As regards the question that the speaker could not answer, Osama bin Laden was NOT in Sudan at the time of the attack. I was in Khartoum at the end of September 1999, one year after the attack, and there were many wanting to engage me in WHY this was done!! people who were educated, working at Ministry level were horrified and disgusted by such aggression from the US, which they all had admired.

August 20, 1998, the al-Shifa ("Health") pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum, Sudan, was destroyed in cruise missile strikes launched by the United States in retaliation for the August 7 truck bomb attacks on its embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, in which 225 people were killed and a further 4,000 wounded

The administration of President Bill Clinton justified the attacks, dubbed Operation Infinite Reach, on the grounds that the al-Shifa plant was involved in producing chemical weapons and had ties with the violent Islamist al Qaeda group of Osama bin Laden, which was believed to be behind the embassy bombings. The August 20 US action also hit al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, to where bin Laden had moved following his May 1996 expulsion from Sudan.

The Khartoum attack was noted for its outstanding precision, as successive missiles all but levelled the al-Shifa works with minimal damage to surrounding areas. But the factory is today widely thought to have had no connections with weapons-related activity or with bin Laden.

--Dorothy B.

I'm a big supporter of PBS and WMUB. Please keep Kenneth Tomlinson's partisan spin off the air. I don't want to see those pro-Bush pundits from the Wall Street Journal—I want real journalism.

--Mike

[A clarification from WMUB: Kenneth Tomlinson is Chair of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. As such he is not on the air, but is generally credited with persuading PBS to distribute the Wall Street Journal television show. PBS produces public television programs; NPR, our network, is a separate organization, for radio only.]

As you are well aware, WVXU has been sold. Several of their programs are disappearing. I always listened to Simply Money each Thursday afternoon at 5:00. It is going off the air in August. The show had a good following. The Financial Network Group in Cincinnati did the show. . . I have no idea if they would be interested, but it would be great if you could find a way to work them into your schedule. I know you don't have any locally produced shows except at 9:00. Perhaps, instead of a repeat at 7:00, why not a live show once a week?

--David Allen

I sent an e-mail the other day to Mama Jazz and said that I often (meaning a lot) listen to WMUB at night on the internet. I know that you have many listeners over the internet and they probably span continents. PS: I am picking up what appears to be the high definition broadcast on my computer and it really sounds good.

--Grant Wadsworth

[Editor's note: the HD Radio signal, to which we assume Mr. Wadsworth refers, is only available via an HD receiver, not yet available in stores. However, we're glad he gets a good quality signal on-line].

I love National Public Radio, and I am delighted with WMUB's programming. I specifically enjoy Morning Edition, the Diane Rehm show, News and Notes, Fresh Air, and All Things Considered. The distance in substance and quality between NPR and all other forms of radio news coverage is huge.

I have two questions/requests for you:

1. Is there any way you can begin programming On the Media? I listen to On the Media most Saturday mornings from 7 to 8 a.m. on WYS0 from Yellow Springs, and I think it is--bar none--the best program on all of radio.

2. I can't tell you how tired I am about storm coverage on NPR News. My God, we're not even into hurricane season and already there has been massive coverage of tropical storms that have not even reached Jamaica. I have listened to several NPR news broadcasts in which more air time has been given to approaching storms than to any other news item, foreign or domestic. Can you please tell me to whom I can write at NPR headquarters to protest the undue coverage given to weather conditions that may (or may not) affect just a portion of our nation? Thanks?

Keep up the great work. NPR and WMUB is one of the best things in my world.

Cheers and gratitude,

--Don Daiker, Oxford

Almost Monday is the best of radio on earth this date. The juxtapositions are actually masterful though probably random. Who picks this music? Well done,well done!

--James Fellers

I have noticed that the call letters WMUB are spoken so often on this station that it becomes a nuisance to hear them. I only listen to WMUB and have been bothered about this for a long time but just now decided to send you this message. No big deal but yes, it is a nuisance.

--Anita M.

I just bought a set of am/fm headphones recently. The first time I used them while cutting grass, I came upon your station., I really enjoyed the bluegrass! I hope I can always cut grass to your tunes!

-- Gary Super

When I received my New Member Mug a couple of months ago, it was broken. I sent it back, requesting a replacement. Not much later I received a lovely new, intact mug.

The mug is very cool. I love it -- everyone who sees it wants one like it -- so I tell them how to get one!

Thanks again.

--Marsha in Germantown

I'm curious as to why Morning Edition host Renee Montagne constantly refers to California or Los Angeles as "here in Los Angeles" or "here in California," When did Ohio become annexed by California? It's very annoying. Please make her stop.

--Scott Richardson

What's going on with NPR? I listened to a program on the evolution controversy on All Things Considered this evening, and was outraged that only one viewpoint was heard. It's true that I missed the last 5 minutes (was in the car) but the previous 25 minutes had been devoted strictly to the opinions and comments of people who are against the teaching of evolution.

I've always loved listening to NPR precisely because you could always count on hearing both sides of a controversy. I would like very much to know if this policy is changing. If so, is there anything that faithful NPR listeners can do about it?

--Jean Brandt, Dayton

[WMUB General Manager Cleve Callison: While I did not hear very much of the piece you mention, I can't imagine that NPR has become a vehicle for creationist ideology. I'm sure they're simply reporting the facts of the climate in Tennessee some 80+ years ago.

I did find the NPR web page with the original story by Barbara Bradley Hagerty, an essay by Noah Adams, and a great deal of other material.]

[NPR Ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin: Thank you for your email to Cleve and I appreciate the fact that he shared your note with me.

The two reports were not, in my opinion, free airtime for creationism. The goal was to look at the still smouldering issue on the anniversary of the Scopes "Monkey" trial. I thought Noah Adams did an amazing job in revisiting Dayton, Tennessee and that Barbara Bradley Hagerty's report was also wonderful as she spoke to high school students about this.

The story is still very much alive around the United States and I believe that NPR's reporting on this is essential to ensure that listeners understand what are the core beliefs of many Americans.

I am told that NPR will be doing other stories that look into the reasons why evolution is under attack and how its advocates plan to respond to the proponents of creationism and intelligent design.]

This message was also sent to the NPR Ombudsman and to Morning Edition:

Today's (June 28, 2005) report about the Philippines on Morning Edition had what seemed to be biased language. I am a Roman Catholic and am pro-life.

I was particularly concerned about associating "reproductive health" with "abortion" and "contraception" and describing people opposed to contraception and abortion as "opposed to reproductive health." Nothing is further from the truth.

The report described the health clinics as privately funded, but it did not mention the source of the private funding, which might explain the reason for some of the opposition to the clinics. The report did not indicate if the clinics would be allowed to stay opened if they stopped promoting contraception, which, by the way, seems to be a more accurate description than "modern family planning."

The report also failed to properly explain why the Roman Catholic Church and the government leaders of the Philippines are opposed to contraception and abortion. Simply quoting the Archbishop (or Bishop?) as seeing contraception as being a step closer to abortion is a shallow and incomplete explanation. One good source for a complete explanation is the encyclical of Pope Paul VI called Humanae Vitae (On the Regulation of Birth) http://www.ewtn.com/library/ENCYC/P6HUMANA.HTM. This encyclical could have been quickly mentioned in the report, but it was not.

I understand that Morning Edition cannot have extremely detailed reports. I also agree that Morning Edition does an excellent job of maintaining balance (or at least attempting to maintain balance), but reports should acknowledge when the they are incomplete and ideally should provide recommendations for additional resources, like web sites or books, that listeners can access for a complete perspective on larger, important subjects.

Thank you for considering my comments. I think you do a really good job and appreciate all your hard work.

--Best regards, Joel Maurer, Englewood, Listener of WMUB 88.5 FM and many other public radio stations!

I have moved here recently from Colorado and listen to WMUB constantly. Of all the NPR statiions I have listened to this one is head and shoulders above the rest. You do a mighty good job.

--Morry Hollenbaugh, Oxford

I don't know if I am a minority of one, but that "Red, White and KA-BOOM" commercial drives me NUTS! AND IT IS REPEATED INCESSANTLY! It sounds like a truck rally commercial "MONSTER TRUCKS ROCK!"

-- Anonymous

How do you pronounce the name of [your home]? I hear most of you say "Oxford". One or two say "Oxferd". Is the "ferd" a local twang?

--Anonymous

Every Alan Winkler commentary you broadcast further convinces me Mr. Tomlinson has got it right, public radio needs better balance.

--Jim in Farmersville

RE: [NPR's] story this morning [May 18th] about the the Cuban (I think) who is wanted by the Venezuelan government for an airplane bombing a few years ago.

The reporter mentioned how the fellow "slipped into the United States". The reporter either missed an important part of the story or decided not to report on it for fear of offending the administration. Is this not a horrific breach of our border security? Or is our government is deciding that some terrorists are ok, and thus overlooking its own security guidelines.

Either way I think our national integrity is at stake.

-- John Naramore