Bob CollinsPerhaps it’s unrealistic to expect financially strapped news organizations to pay someone to publicize its flaws. But even if trust in newsrooms weren’t eroding, it would still be true that readers and listeners deserve someone on their side in a position of power. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Tag: NPR
For a guy whose weapon was a typewriter, Frank Deford lived a dangerous life. He gave his opinions and, on occasion, they chipped away at his legacy.
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There’s something about a radio station that connects you, Siegel said of his industry. That something is people like Siegel, with whom we shared the daily triumphs and tragedies.
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Jacqui Helbert, 32, was fired by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, which owns WUTC, the NPR affiliate, after local politicians complained about her coverage of a group of high school students who lobbied against a bill forcing Tennessee students to use restrooms and locker rooms matching the sex listed on their birth certificates.
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Deep in the recesses of the World Headquarters of NewsCut, there is a picture on a wall of the original employees of Minnesota Public Radio. Young Garrison Keillor, Michael Barone, and Gary Eichten standing with three others.
All of them were men. That’s the way radio was back then. Men. It wasn’t a place for diversity. Read more →
When we heard NPR’s segment the other morning about why the network didn’t refer to Donald Trump’s repeated assertion that millions of illegal immigrants voted for Hillary Clinton, denying him a popular vote victory, a ‘lie’ we figured that NPR’s ombudsman would surely hear about it. She did. And she’s issued her ruling. Read more →
The latest volley over whether journalist should say Donald Trump is lying comes after he indicated this week that he would have won the popular vote for president had it not been for voter fraud. There’s no evidence that’s the case, nor is it the first time the president has repeated the falsehood nor been told it’s a falsehood. Read more →
During last week’s confirmation hearings for attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., asked Sessions whether he would affirm a Justice Department guideline not to prosecute journalists for doing their job if he is confirmed.
‘Senator Klobuchar, I am not sure,’ Sessions said.
That’s not a good enough answer for the head of NPR News. Read more →
Last week’s revelation about a private intelligence report allegedly claiming Russia has gathered compromising data about president-elect Donald Trump is challenging news organizations to figure out when they should report unsubstantiated information. Read more →
The must-read story of the day is NPR reporter Asma Khalid’s, an Indiana native who signed on to cover the presidential campaign. Read more →
Rachel Martin started her new gig as a co-host of NPR’s Morning Edition today, and if you read between the lines of her interview with Current, the public radio newspaper, one gets the sense that the ‘inner-Beltway mentality’ continues to crumble.
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In public radio, ‘politicians and pointyheads’ tend to dominate. So it can be jarring to hear from people who are neither. Thus the term public radio.
There were some flaws in how NPR covered the campaign, sure, but it would be unfortunate if people walk away from the notion that hearing from people living their lives is something requiring apology. Read more →
Occasional NPR political commentator Cokie Roberts put herself in the line of fire this morning when she made a joke about birth control and Latino influence in tomorrow’s election.
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When reporters parachute in to provide sports coverage to an audience which hates sports, you get the kind of story NPR provided today in a blast against the fans of the Cleveland Indians. Read more →