Michele Norris and Melissa Block read from listener letters about the first installment in NPR's series on prostitution in Nashville, the cover for the video game Madden NFL and Los Angeles street artist Captain Hook.
Copyright ? 2011 National Public Radio?. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.
MICHELE NORRIS, host:
It's time now for your letters and one update to a piece we aired yesterday. That piece was a review of the new album by British punk legend Poly Styrene. We mentioned that she had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. Sadly, Poly Styrene died last night. She was 53 years old.
MELISSA BLOCK, host:
And now to your comments. We heard from many of you about the first installment in NPR's series on prostitution in Nashville and efforts there to help women escape the street life. While we did warn listeners about the story's graphic content, Tim Hunt of Raleigh, North Carolina, was still taken aback.
He writes: My reaction was to ask myself, why was that necessary? Then I had to ask what is the point of the whole story? Of what value is it? Sure, it's great that people are trying to effect change when change is needed, but how does the distribution of this kind of story, with that sort of graphic verbal pornography, do anything but attempt to titillate a certain population of NPR listener?
NORRIS: Yesterday, I talked to Jamin Warren of KillScreenDaily.com about the so-called Madden curse. Many fans of the popular video game "Madden NFL" believe landing on the game's once-coveted cover now guarantees a player will have a bad year. In a twist, the makers of the game are, for the first time, letting fans vote on who they want to see on the cover. This year's finalists are Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick and Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis.
Well, Ryan Brennan of Charleston, South Carolina, wrote in to point out something that we did not include in the interview - that Michael Vick has already been on the cover of "Madden" for the 2004 edition. After he was chosen, Vick broke his leg during a game and sat out much of the season.
BLOCK: Finally, we ran a profile of Captain Hook, that's the alias of a Los Angeles street artist. Her specialty, yarn bombing. Instead of spray painting buildings or bridges, Captain Hook stitches cozies on parking meters and outfits statues with sweaters.
Well, Jerry DiGrezio of Dover, New Hampshire, wrote to tell us he enjoyed the story of Captain Hook but he says this: I was very annoyed to hear graffiti perpetrators called street artists. Anyone who has ever viewed the desecration of the city of Rome by graffiti would call them what they should be called, urban terrorists.
NORRIS: And Anne Boyd of Landenburg, Pennsylvania, points out one mistake. She writes that our reporter referred to Captain Hook using a crochet needle to make her art. Sorry, no, says Boyd. It's crochet hook, as in Captain Hook. Get it?
We get it and we apologize. The next time we air a story about a street artist or urban terrorist who crochets caps for animal statues, we will do better.
BLOCK: Please keep those letters coming. You can write to us by visiting NPR.org. And click on Contact Us.
Copyright ? 2011 National Public Radio?. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.