Hacker Read

easterisle | karma -8 | avg karma -0.89 · 2012-03-16 18:01:59+00:00

An interesting coincidence - NPR is underwritten by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. I wonder if Gates helped fund this show in particular?

chrisrhoden | karma 1232 | avg karma 3.52 · 2012-03-16 18:23:22+00:00

Nope - This American Life is in no way affiliated with NPR (other than that they are often carried on the same stations.) This American Life is produced by Chicago Public Radio and distributed by Public Radio International. Lots of TLAs there, but no NPR!

easterisle | karma -8 | avg karma -0.89 · 2012-03-16 18:29:22+00:00

Good to know! Just wondered if there were any interesting connections here... This American Life is carried on NPR, funded by Bill Gates, doing a hit piece on Apple Factories (which are also Microsoft factories, but this isn't the Agony and Ecstasy of Bill Gates). Definitely there are some financial connections involved given that as you said This American Life is carried on NPR stations but I don't think there was a planned out conspiracy.

If my radio station played Bill and Melinda Gates Underwriting spots, it'd probably influence the culture of the station - does this have any effect on NPR's culture and did it effect the presentation of the story? Payola is a tricky thing...

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evan_ | karma 5677 | avg karma 3.29 · 2012-03-16 18:51:01+00:00

This American Life is NOT carried on NPR. NPR is not a radio station.

Furthermore, The Bill & Melinda Gates foundation has no connection to Microsoft, and even if it did, it would make no sense for Microsoft to put out a hit on Apple by way of Foxconn: Foxconn makes a lot of hardware for Microsoft.

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eli | karma 29331 | avg karma 3.14 · 2012-03-16 14:23:59

And further furthermore, corporate underwriters do not get to pick the stories covered.

tg3 | karma 1088 | avg karma 3.29 · 2012-03-16 18:51:23+00:00

This is quite the stretch. I don't think anyone could reasonably argue influence on TAL editorial decisions by Bill Gates. Yes, his foundation is a donor to NPR which runs on many of the same stations, but anything done by TAL shouldn't have any effect on those donations.

infiniteburp | karma 8 | avg karma 0.8 · 2012-03-16 19:46:30+00:00

This is not a dumb comment. B&M Gates foundation does put a lot of money into NPR. To think that the management and producers at NPR are not aware of this is ingenuous. Every editor in the country is aware of who's paying for the ads. There's certainly cases where MSFT has gotten prominent puff pieces placed into All Things Considered. Both AAPL and MSFT have "long arm" marketing strategies; don't put it past them to pull a stunt like this.

chrisrhoden | karma 1232 | avg karma 3.52 · 2012-03-16 14:57:12

Again, it's irrelevant. NPR is not involved in the production or distribution of This American Life.

tptacek | karma 394296 | avg karma 6.04 · 2012-03-16 19:59:40+00:00

It's a dumb comment because NPR has nothing to do with This American Life even if you believe that the largest private charity foundation in the world is a shill for Microsoft.

itg | karma 3597 | avg karma 6.54 · 2012-03-16 20:05:42+00:00

Foxconn also makes the Xbox360 and other hardware that Microsoft uses. No conspiracy here except for one guy lying and getting caught.