NPR Public Editor Open Forum by Edward Schumacher-Matos December 10, 2013 • 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.
Media Texas Barbecue And Radio Deja Vu All Over Again by Edward Schumacher-Matos November 21, 2013 • No, you are not hearing things. Without fanfare, NPR in the last year has begun to rerun some features across its shows. Most were labeled on-air as encores, but some, like one on Texas barbecue, weren't. There are good reasons to repeat a particularly good story from another show, but a rerun should be labeled as such. Some folks question the rerun practice altogether.
Media The Meaning Behind The Panda-monium On NPR by Edward Schumacher-Matos November 14, 2013 • NPR ran five stores on the giant pandas in Washington's National Zoo during its coverage of last month's government shutdown. It then ran a sixth story on them last week. What gives? Does anyone in the rest of the country really care about the capital's pandas? An NPR editor responds.
Fairness & Accuracy A Fair And Balanced Look At Mara Liasson by Edward Schumacher-Matos November 7, 2013 • NPR's national political correspondent Mara Liasson is also a contributor to Fox News. Some listeners complain that she has a conservative bias. A review of her work finds otherwise.
NPR Public Editor Open Forum by Edward Schumacher-Matos November 5, 2013 • 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.
NPR Public Editor Open Forum by Edward Schumacher-Matos October 4, 2013 • 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.
Fairness & Accuracy Mideast Report: July — Sept., 2013 by Edward Schumacher-Matos October 4, 2013 • Former foreign editor John Felton conducts quarterly, independent, reviews of NPR's Israeli-Palestinian coverage. His third-quarter 2013 report is now available.
Ethics The Patriotism Of NPR And Its Sponsor Al Jazeera America by Edward Schumacher-Matos September 16, 2013 • Images on Al Jazeera of brutalized Americans in Iraq understandably still trouble some listeners, but NPR's acceptance of sponsorship support from the new Al Jazeera America fall well within free speech and ethical standards. Al Jazeera itself brings a valuable international voice into our living rooms.
Language What We Hear When NPR Refers To 'Obamacare' by Edward Schumacher-Matos September 6, 2013 • Republicans invented the term "Obamacare" as a way to denigrate the Affordable Care Act. NPR's hosts and reporters now commonly use the term, prompting the ire of some listeners. Is NPR "letting Fox drive the narrative," as one wrote?
NPR Public Editor Open Forum by Edward Schumacher-Matos September 6, 2013 • 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.
Ethics S. Dakota Indian Foster Care: Listening To Your Responses by Edward Schumacher-Matos August 14, 2013 • Here are some preliminary responses to your comments on the ombudsman process, on sourcing and on the length of my review of an NPR investigation into foster care for Native American children in South Dakota. Many of you wondered what NPR should do next. That is not for me to say, but one officer from the Native American Journalists Association has a suggestion. I also answer a grandmother quoted in the series who called me with a concern about truth.
Ethics S. Dakota Indian Foster Care 1: Investigative Storytelling Gone Awry by Edward Schumacher-Matos August 9, 2013 • An NPR investigation into foster care for American Indian children in South Dakota took on a serious issue but failed in several crucial respects. The series alleged that state social workers took children from their families as a way to get federal funds and put them in white homes out of cultural bias. While acknowledging secondary problems, editors defend the series, which won prizes. I find, however, that it violated NPR's standards because it lacked proof and failed to give the state's side on key points. The series also was characterized by an unfair tone, factual errors, misleading data and inadequate context. It should not have aired as it was. This introduction summarizes a six-chapter report on how not to do investigative storytelling.
Ethics S. Dakota Indian Foster Care 2: Abuse In Taking Children From Families? by Edward Schumacher-Matos August 9, 2013 • The willful taking of American Indian children from their families was presented in the NPR investigation as the baseline of alleged widespread abuse of the foster care system by the state of South Dakota. But the series offered no documented proof, and it failed to fully discuss the centrally relevant matter of child neglect. The series also failed to report that South Dakota reservations have some of the highest levels in the country of alcoholism, drug abuse, violence, teenage pregnancy and similar ills. Many families there are struggling and falling apart.
Ethics S. Dakota Indian Foster Care 3: Filthy Lucre by Edward Schumacher-Matos August 9, 2013 • The NPR investigation into foster care for Native American children in South Dakota sought to follow the money but misused the way federal incentives and bonuses work. The series alleged that state social workers took the children from their families as a way to reap funds for the state, but it gave no proof for this charge, which does not stand up to scrutiny. The weaknesses were covered over with tendentious language and tone.
Ethics S. Dakota Indian Foster Care 4: The Mystery Of A Missing $100 Million by Edward Schumacher-Matos August 9, 2013 • The headline number in the NPR investigation into foster care for Native American children in South Dakota was that the state receives nearly $100 million a year in federal funds. The series alleged that this money — a large amount in a poor state — is driving state abuses of Native American children. Without clearly telling us, however, the $100 million number is poorly sourced and pumped up by including white children and adoptions. The state says it receives less than a quarter of that amount for Indians, even including funds for Medicaid and adoptions. The reporters have not given me information proving the state wrong.