Letters: 'Music Curator' Diplo

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

It's time for your comments and, today, they're about Diplo.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EXPRESS YOURSELF")

DIPLO: (Singing) Express yourself. Express yourself. Express yourself. Express yourself. Express yourself. Release your (unintelligible).

CORNISH: My conversation with the world famous DJ this week sparked a conversation among listeners at NPR.org. The gist of that conversation was this: Many of you expect smart music coverage from us about classical releases, jazz certainly, even the work of a 14 accordion orchestra.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

CORNISH: But Diplo is not the kind of music that some of you expect or want to hear from ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

CORNISH: Lance Glousky(ph) of Guadalajara, Mexico, is not alone when he writes: The staff of NPR seems mostly like sane adults. Why can't they use some taste when choosing this stuff? Could anyone really like this music without being on amphetamines at a rave?

And G.Q. Lewis(ph) from Charlotte, North Carolina, writes: I typically don't provide negative feedback, but perhaps we've grown apart. NPR, where are you now? Where did you go? I miss my old friend.

Well, as we said, there was a conversation online and there were Diplo defenders. Among them, Chris Thompson(ph) of Rochester, New York, who writes: I find it hilarious that you people are tuning in to a show called ALL THINGS CONSIDERED and getting upset at the fact that they're considering all things.

We also took some flack for our interview yesterday about big cutbacks at the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Jerry Shiles(ph) of Catonsville, Maryland, writes: While I sympathize with the 200 employees who lost their jobs at the Times-Picayune recently, I was disturbed by your guest's comment that it was like Katrina without the water. It is amazing how millions of people have lost their jobs, yet only when journalists suffer does it become a true tragedy.

Your report also made it seem that the fact that 100 of the jobs lost were from the newsroom was especially tragic. This, in spite of the fact that these individuals probably have more education and better job prospects than the 100 individuals who worked in other areas. One of the reasons the media often has a bad reputation with the public is its extreme myopia regarding itself.

Thank you for your comments. Please write to us by visiting NPR.org and click on Contact Us.

Copyright © 2012 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.