NPR Public Editor

Sunday October 28, 2012

President Barack Obama (R) debates with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (L) as moderator Bob Schieffer listens on Oct. 22, 2012. Win McNamee/Getty Images hide caption

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Fairness & Accuracy

Election 1: Fact Checking The NPR Fact Checkers

by  Edward Schumacher-Matos

October 28, 2012 • NPR found Romney and Ryan made more incorrect claims overall during the debates than Obama and Biden. But in the last debate, Obama made the most incorrect claims. Can bias be found in the numbers? No. What counts is whether the fact checkers were right. We check.

Wednesday October 17, 2012

NPR Public Editor

Open Forum

by  Edward Schumacher-Matos

October 17, 2012 • Want to post a comment about something we're not covering? Here's a space for readers to share their thoughts about media, policy and NPR's journalism.

Monday October 15, 2012

Fairness & Accuracy

Hearing Is Believing: A Comparison of Romney and Obama Sound Bites

by  Edward Schumacher-Matos

October 15, 2012 • On the eve of the second presidential debate, we revisit the first one and the vice presidential debate. Some listeners thought they heard more clips of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan than of President Obama and Joe Biden. We found a virtual dead heat. In politics, our bile affects what we hear.

Friday October 12, 2012

Fairness & Accuracy

Mideast Report: July – September 2012

by  Edward Schumacher-Matos

October 12, 2012 • An independent review of NPR's Mideast coverage by former foreign editor John Felton. He generally found the coverage to be accurate and balanced, but two reports about Israeli settlers in the West Bank used incomplete statistics and missed key details.

Friday October 5, 2012

Language

That's 'Mister' To You, Buddy

by  Edward Schumacher-Matos

October 5, 2012 • Or Mister Governor or Mister President. Listeners hear bias in campaign coverage. I hear Andy Jackson and unwashed American culture.

Wednesday October 3, 2012

NPR Public Editor

Open Forum

by  Edward Schumacher-Matos

October 3, 2012 • Want to post a comment about something we're not covering? Here's a space for readers to share their thoughts about media, policy and NPR's journalism.

Saturday September 29, 2012

Fairness & Accuracy

The Fog Of War In Benghazi And Washington

by  Edward Schumacher-Matos

September 29, 2012 • Criticisms of NPR's coverage of the attack in Benghazi have become mixed with criticisms of the Obama administration's explanations. But NPR acquitted itself, if not perfectly, then very well. Steve Inskeep finds two valuable lessons in it all.

Thursday September 27, 2012

Fairness & Accuracy

We Write The Headlines; You Decide The Bias

by  Edward Schumacher-Matos

September 27, 2012 • Here is a test of NPR's political bias and your own convictions about what it might be. Headlines set the tone for NPR.org and are a litmus test for all the coverage. So let's look at the last three days of campaign headlines. You decide.

Wednesday September 19, 2012

NPR Public Editor

Open Forum

by  Edward Schumacher-Matos

September 19, 2012 • Want to post a comment about something we're not covering? Here's a space for readers to share their thoughts about media, policy and NPR's journalism.

Friday September 14, 2012

Ethics

Racism And Michelle Obama: In Support Of Self-Censorship

by  Edward Schumacher-Matos

September 14, 2012 • An ambiguous quote about the first lady by an attendee at a Romney American Legion event did injustice to blacks, veterans and the attendee herself. Many listeners heard hate speech. If so, did NPR share blame? Should reporters even care how the audience might react?

Wednesday September 12, 2012

Language

On Being A Proud Member Of The 'Democrat Party'

by  Edward Schumacher-Matos

September 12, 2012 • It's an insult that some Republicans repeat with glee, but complaints that NPR reporters have themselves indulged in referring to the 'Democrat Party' have so far proven to be untrue. Fortunately, your ombudsman is not a political reporter, or FDR would be turning in his grave.

Monday September 10, 2012

Media

When A Popular List Of 100 'Best-Ever' Teen Books Is The 'Whitest Ever'

by  Edward Schumacher-Matos

September 10, 2012 • An audience poll to select the 100 best young adult books coughed up 75,000 voters and just two books with non-white protagonists. Even a winning writer complained. Kill the judges? No, the enemy is us. Book editors ask for a solution.

NPR Public Editor

Open Forum

by  Edward Schumacher-Matos

September 10, 2012 • Want to post a comment about something we're not covering? Here's a space for readers to share their thoughts about media, policy and NPR's journalism.

Saturday September 1, 2012

Fairness & Accuracy

Pulling The Curtain Back On NPR's Election Coverage

by  Lori Grisham

September 1, 2012 • Readers and listeners complain about bias in individual segments of NPR's coverage, but Managing Editor David Sweeney says overall balance in the aggregate is what counts. We listened to a morning news meeting to see how the NPR sausage gets made.

Friday August 24, 2012

Language

Kicking You-Know-What

by  Edward Schumacher-Matos ,  Lori Grisham

August 24, 2012 • Occasionally a word that was once a "no-no" finds itself in our everyday lexicon. The problem for editors is deciding just when a word has become respectable. The latest debate is over "ass." We're undecided. What do you think?