I didn't much appreciate the extremely poor and sneaky decision to reveal, at the tail end of Steve Inskreep's interview on NPR's 'Morn Ed' with Imran Khan from Pakistan, that Mr Khan didn't know what C-SPAN was, and the general implication was that he is some sort of country bumpkin or political naif, if not a fool. How helpful of NPR to point out this fact, and in such a gently condescending manner. The sophisticates in the listening audience no doubt chuckled in their subtle way.
Imran Khan has long enjoyed a huge following as a sportsman in the British Commonwealth world (cricket, that is), and has devoted much of his efforts to philanthropy in Pakistan, and now politics. I'm glad NPR is just discovering these things.
So, Imran Khan, let it be known, didn't know what C-SPAN was. Conversely, I wonder if anyone at NPR knew who Imran Khan was (without looking him up in Wikipedia), and what he has accomplished?
This is a continuing problem for such on-air 'personalities' as Steve Inskreep, who tend to speak faster than they can think.
Despite success in ratings, NPR has long moved into a realm where they are hardly a first-stop source for news and insight concerning current events. They may score interviews with VIPs, but opportunities are usually squandered by the lack of talent or quality to be found amongst most of the NPR stalwarts.
Whether Mr Khan agreed to let these 'personal' bits be broadcast or not, I think Inskreep and NPR owe him a public apology for their adolescent abuse of broadcast principles.
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What's wrong with Imran Khan not knowing CSPAN? There are people in the USA who do not know about Geo TV. He made Pakistan very proud by speaking in very good English and so humbly about his friendship with Benazir.
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