I literally just came back from putting a less eloquent but similarly themed letter in my outbox to my local NPR affiliate, WHYY in Philadelphia. I had been a sustaining member for 15 years before cancelling a year ago. They still send fundraising letters & I use their envelopes to reply with the reasons I can no longer pledge. I did give praise for the recent On Point interview with Hannah Barnes, but it’s daily drowned out with misinformation about gender-confused youth. Thanks Lisa for using your writing talent to continue to push for change! And now I’m singing “🎶I wrote my way out” from Hamilton - thanks for the earworm! 😉
Thank you for contacting New York Public Radio. Thanks as well for your longtime financial support of WNYC. I am confirming the cancellation of your $16 monthly donation as of 3/29/2023.
Every listener matters to us, so we are saddened that we have disappointed a long-time, loyal listener like you. We thank you for telling us how our coverage of gender dysphoria in children has fallen short in your eyes-specific feedback like yours is always more useful to our programming team. Please know that we do spend a great deal of time and effort compiling and reviewing the feedback we receive about our programming, and we will share your comments with our programming teams.
Thank you again for your past support of WNYC and for taking the time to write to us with your feedback."
Ha! Thank you! We used to listen to nothing but NPR, but now it generally drives me crazy (although my wife still listens), and not just for the gender stuff. It’s almost worse when an outlet that has gained a reputation as being nuanced and honest (NPR, NYT, etc.) starts to simply pass on to their trusting public a certain ideology’s talking points. Insidious. Let’s hope they wake up. Anyway, thanks for your good work!
Lisa, thank you for writing this! When I canceled my WNYC membership in 2021, I did not explain why. The coverage of gender was probably about 60 percent of the reason, but I was fed up with the overall illiberal attitudes prevailing at the station. (The last straw was an On The Media episode that bashed free speech absolutism without interviewing anyone who claimed to hold such views.) I imagine that WNYC and NPR have both lost a lot of donors in the last couple of years; I hope your letter helps them to understand why.
Bravo! I cut back from a whopping Producer's Circle membership ($100/mo) to a barebones $10/mo because of this and told the WNYC director of legacy/donations to pass the news up the line. She still calls regularly and I get to deliver the same message.
Well done Lisa. Fortunately for me here in France the issues around gender are covered from both sides! And as far as I know there is no station that peddles the new US orthodoxy.
This is just so scary. I was/am a gender-nonconforming female, 73 years old. I even gave myself the nickname "Tabo" (for tomboy) as a pre-adolescent. And surprise, surprise-I am a lesbian. I am proud to be a woman. The new stereotypes are so regressive! Argh!
This is a wonderful letter, but I wonder if it will be read? A month ago I sent the following letter to PBS Newshour, after a particularly biased show ( and heard nothing back):
"As a devoted PBS viewer, i was very upset this evening when your coverage of the bills restricting Trans-affirming care was completely one-sided and only presented part of the story, painting the opposition to the current Affirming narrative as Republican and dismissing any dissent out of hand.
I have been a lifelong liberal Democrat, and I have become alarmed in the last 5 years to see how Gender ideology has overtaken formerly sane and balanced discourse. The science is NOT settled; the studies which the whole basis of Gender Affirming care are based upon are flimsy and do not hold water when scrutinized. The Dutch, UK, Sweden and other European countries have closed clinics and dialed back on the Affirmation approach due to concerns about safety and efficacy of the treatment path.
The damage done to minor children by puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones is NOT "reversible"; at the time of physical growth and development these compounds distort and stunt the natural growth of children, leading to sterility, bone weakness, premature menopause, chemical castration and cardiovascular harm which often takes a decade to manifest. Kids should not make irrevocable, lifelong, body-altering decisions when they are too young for even simple responsible choices like drinking, tattoos and driving!
It is misleading and unfair to your readers to only present one side of this complex story, neglecting the stories of detransitioners, folks harmed by surgeries and medications who suffer lifelong illnesses ( eg: osteoporosis from Lupron), and the cohort of kids who, as teenagers do, change their minds, but suffer loss of sexual pleasure, fertility and psychological confusion from lying to themselves and others.
Glorifying this pathway as "lifesaving" and as the only choice is very wrong, and neglects the very real causes of distress, including social contagion from internet use, autism, history of sexual abuse and other underlying psychological issues whose solution is not "transition" but psychological treatment of the underlying issues. This is a medical scandal on par with the Lobotomy craze of the 1940s, and has already caused untold harm to many families.
I wish you would present a more nuanced, balanced view and not make this a partisan issue. It affects everyone, with women being forced to share jail cells with intact men claiming a "woman" identity, silencing of dissent, girls exposed to boundary violations, family estrangement, parental dis-empowerment in schools, etc. Please watch the recent film: Affirmation Generation:
As a former daily newspaper journalist of 30 years, I've been completely upended by the shift in my field toward incuriosity-cum-advocacy on various issues, but the trans story in particular.
It just makes no sense to me. As a reporter, I pursued with vigor stories revealing the misdeeds of politicians from the party I preferred, without hesitation. I saw my job as to get as close to the truth of any matter as I could, and did not shy away when that made me uncomfortable.
The now-reflexive positions of many reporters (I was an opinion writer and columnist for years, and before that, a news and features reporter; we should, I think, draw brighter lines between the two) on trans issues astounds me.
But, as you note, the big ship of institutional journalism *seems* to be turning, thanks to efforts by credible, ethical, responsible, diligent writers like you, Jesse Singal, Helen Joyce, Helen Lewis, J.K. Rowling and others.
I started listening to WNYC in the late 90s when I wasn’t working. It opened me up in so many ways and made me feel like a real New Yorker. I was listening the morning on 9/11 and that further cemented my solidarity with the station (and New York). After that I never stopped listening, or giving money. Until about a year ago when I noticed how they covered gender, the way they falsely reported “facts.” I started turning it off because it made me feel angry but it also made me feel cut off from my city. It felt like a huge loss. Now I still turn it on from time to time but end up turning it off within five minutes when I hear something objectionable. Now I listen to WQXR at home and WFUV in the car.
I wrote a less eloquent and less specific letter to my NPR station in the San Francisco area, KQED and cancelled my long-standing yearly donation, too. I used to love listening to them all day long. I’d implore my CNN parents and FOX news grandparents to listen for a “more balanced view.” But their coverage of gender medicine has been horribly biased and uniformed. And over the last couple years, they have dropped the ball on several other tricky issues in favor of identity politics-only, activist-driven propaganda. Such a loss for us all. Thank you for your work!
This is an extraordinary letter. You write, "I have heard you pass opinions off as fact, repeat unscientific claims, dismiss questioning as bigotry, and frame an issue that is about healthcare as being Left versus Right, as shorthand for good versus evil." As I have watched local liberal outlets in St. Louis cover the story since Jamie Reed's whistleblowing account of the gender clinic at St. Louis Children's Hospital was published, I have been thinking these same thoughts while reading each article.
Though NPR has been particularly dishonest and political on this issue, the letter could just as easily have been addressed to the Associated Press, NBC News, the Gannett newspapers or most other big media companies. There are reasons that mainstream press outlets are believed by only about 1 in 4 Americans at this point. Some of it is partisan attack from Rupert Murdoch's outlets, and the political divide that leads people to find information sources that confirm their opinions. But it's impossible to ignore the fact that obviously biased and misleading coverage, driven by newsroom groupthink, is a big part of the problem.
I literally just came back from putting a less eloquent but similarly themed letter in my outbox to my local NPR affiliate, WHYY in Philadelphia. I had been a sustaining member for 15 years before cancelling a year ago. They still send fundraising letters & I use their envelopes to reply with the reasons I can no longer pledge. I did give praise for the recent On Point interview with Hannah Barnes, but it’s daily drowned out with misinformation about gender-confused youth. Thanks Lisa for using your writing talent to continue to push for change! And now I’m singing “🎶I wrote my way out” from Hamilton - thanks for the earworm! 😉
Update!
"Dear Lisa,
Thank you for contacting New York Public Radio. Thanks as well for your longtime financial support of WNYC. I am confirming the cancellation of your $16 monthly donation as of 3/29/2023.
Every listener matters to us, so we are saddened that we have disappointed a long-time, loyal listener like you. We thank you for telling us how our coverage of gender dysphoria in children has fallen short in your eyes-specific feedback like yours is always more useful to our programming team. Please know that we do spend a great deal of time and effort compiling and reviewing the feedback we receive about our programming, and we will share your comments with our programming teams.
Thank you again for your past support of WNYC and for taking the time to write to us with your feedback."
Ha! Thank you! We used to listen to nothing but NPR, but now it generally drives me crazy (although my wife still listens), and not just for the gender stuff. It’s almost worse when an outlet that has gained a reputation as being nuanced and honest (NPR, NYT, etc.) starts to simply pass on to their trusting public a certain ideology’s talking points. Insidious. Let’s hope they wake up. Anyway, thanks for your good work!
Lisa, thank you for writing this! When I canceled my WNYC membership in 2021, I did not explain why. The coverage of gender was probably about 60 percent of the reason, but I was fed up with the overall illiberal attitudes prevailing at the station. (The last straw was an On The Media episode that bashed free speech absolutism without interviewing anyone who claimed to hold such views.) I imagine that WNYC and NPR have both lost a lot of donors in the last couple of years; I hope your letter helps them to understand why.
Thank you. Similar letters now need to be written to organizations like Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, and they need to be written in numbers.
Bravo! I cut back from a whopping Producer's Circle membership ($100/mo) to a barebones $10/mo because of this and told the WNYC director of legacy/donations to pass the news up the line. She still calls regularly and I get to deliver the same message.
Well done Lisa. Fortunately for me here in France the issues around gender are covered from both sides! And as far as I know there is no station that peddles the new US orthodoxy.
This is just so scary. I was/am a gender-nonconforming female, 73 years old. I even gave myself the nickname "Tabo" (for tomboy) as a pre-adolescent. And surprise, surprise-I am a lesbian. I am proud to be a woman. The new stereotypes are so regressive! Argh!
This is a wonderful letter, but I wonder if it will be read? A month ago I sent the following letter to PBS Newshour, after a particularly biased show ( and heard nothing back):
"As a devoted PBS viewer, i was very upset this evening when your coverage of the bills restricting Trans-affirming care was completely one-sided and only presented part of the story, painting the opposition to the current Affirming narrative as Republican and dismissing any dissent out of hand.
I have been a lifelong liberal Democrat, and I have become alarmed in the last 5 years to see how Gender ideology has overtaken formerly sane and balanced discourse. The science is NOT settled; the studies which the whole basis of Gender Affirming care are based upon are flimsy and do not hold water when scrutinized. The Dutch, UK, Sweden and other European countries have closed clinics and dialed back on the Affirmation approach due to concerns about safety and efficacy of the treatment path.
The damage done to minor children by puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones is NOT "reversible"; at the time of physical growth and development these compounds distort and stunt the natural growth of children, leading to sterility, bone weakness, premature menopause, chemical castration and cardiovascular harm which often takes a decade to manifest. Kids should not make irrevocable, lifelong, body-altering decisions when they are too young for even simple responsible choices like drinking, tattoos and driving!
It is misleading and unfair to your readers to only present one side of this complex story, neglecting the stories of detransitioners, folks harmed by surgeries and medications who suffer lifelong illnesses ( eg: osteoporosis from Lupron), and the cohort of kids who, as teenagers do, change their minds, but suffer loss of sexual pleasure, fertility and psychological confusion from lying to themselves and others.
Glorifying this pathway as "lifesaving" and as the only choice is very wrong, and neglects the very real causes of distress, including social contagion from internet use, autism, history of sexual abuse and other underlying psychological issues whose solution is not "transition" but psychological treatment of the underlying issues. This is a medical scandal on par with the Lobotomy craze of the 1940s, and has already caused untold harm to many families.
I wish you would present a more nuanced, balanced view and not make this a partisan issue. It affects everyone, with women being forced to share jail cells with intact men claiming a "woman" identity, silencing of dissent, girls exposed to boundary violations, family estrangement, parental dis-empowerment in schools, etc. Please watch the recent film: Affirmation Generation:
https://vimeo.com/800032857
for a more balanced view of the complexities of this important issue.
Thank you for your consideration of the harms of this approach. "
As a former daily newspaper journalist of 30 years, I've been completely upended by the shift in my field toward incuriosity-cum-advocacy on various issues, but the trans story in particular.
It just makes no sense to me. As a reporter, I pursued with vigor stories revealing the misdeeds of politicians from the party I preferred, without hesitation. I saw my job as to get as close to the truth of any matter as I could, and did not shy away when that made me uncomfortable.
The now-reflexive positions of many reporters (I was an opinion writer and columnist for years, and before that, a news and features reporter; we should, I think, draw brighter lines between the two) on trans issues astounds me.
But, as you note, the big ship of institutional journalism *seems* to be turning, thanks to efforts by credible, ethical, responsible, diligent writers like you, Jesse Singal, Helen Joyce, Helen Lewis, J.K. Rowling and others.
I started listening to WNYC in the late 90s when I wasn’t working. It opened me up in so many ways and made me feel like a real New Yorker. I was listening the morning on 9/11 and that further cemented my solidarity with the station (and New York). After that I never stopped listening, or giving money. Until about a year ago when I noticed how they covered gender, the way they falsely reported “facts.” I started turning it off because it made me feel angry but it also made me feel cut off from my city. It felt like a huge loss. Now I still turn it on from time to time but end up turning it off within five minutes when I hear something objectionable. Now I listen to WQXR at home and WFUV in the car.
I wrote a less eloquent and less specific letter to my NPR station in the San Francisco area, KQED and cancelled my long-standing yearly donation, too. I used to love listening to them all day long. I’d implore my CNN parents and FOX news grandparents to listen for a “more balanced view.” But their coverage of gender medicine has been horribly biased and uniformed. And over the last couple years, they have dropped the ball on several other tricky issues in favor of identity politics-only, activist-driven propaganda. Such a loss for us all. Thank you for your work!
I did the same thing 6 months ago. It feels like a terrible loss.
This is an extraordinary letter. You write, "I have heard you pass opinions off as fact, repeat unscientific claims, dismiss questioning as bigotry, and frame an issue that is about healthcare as being Left versus Right, as shorthand for good versus evil." As I have watched local liberal outlets in St. Louis cover the story since Jamie Reed's whistleblowing account of the gender clinic at St. Louis Children's Hospital was published, I have been thinking these same thoughts while reading each article.
Though NPR has been particularly dishonest and political on this issue, the letter could just as easily have been addressed to the Associated Press, NBC News, the Gannett newspapers or most other big media companies. There are reasons that mainstream press outlets are believed by only about 1 in 4 Americans at this point. Some of it is partisan attack from Rupert Murdoch's outlets, and the political divide that leads people to find information sources that confirm their opinions. But it's impossible to ignore the fact that obviously biased and misleading coverage, driven by newsroom groupthink, is a big part of the problem.
You are my hero. Thank you for this and for everything else.
Excellent letter - thank you!