Notes From the CPB Ombudsman
Ken A. Bode
November 9, 2009
NPR's Political Editor and NPR's Ombudsman
NPR's political editor Ken Rudin was the subject of a recent column by Alicia Shepherd, NPR's ombudsman.
Let me begin by saying that I consider Rudin to be the best of breed when it comes to political commentators. He knows politics, he knows history and when he's on NPR, I stop and listen. I'm also a subscriber to his Political Junkie newsletter at NPR.org.
I don't know who told Rudin he was off base when he compared the Obama Administration's boycott of Fox News to President Richard Nixon's enemies list -- or if he just realized it himself. Either way, he did the right thing. He admitted his mistake and he apologized to NPR's listeners. Calling it a "boneheaded mistake . . . foolish, facile, ridiculous and embarrassing."
Ms. Shepherd's observation that admitting you made a mistake improves credibility is also right on target. Conversing live on the radio (or on cable or broadcast television) sometimes leads to comments and comparisons that exceed what a journalist might put into a reported piece.
Reporters are asked to make judgments (Can Obama survive a defeat on health care?), predictions (Will the final bill contain a public option?), or offer advice (What does the president need to do to turn this around?). It is when reporters are asked for their opinions that they most often stray into excess and inspire listeners to ask themselves, "How does he know that?"
A Driveway Moment
I had a driveway movement recently. Listening to All Things Considered, I was transfixed by a story about a grocery store in Oregon. The market, its innovative owner, his marketing strategy and business philosophy all were made to sound smart and inviting.
About one-third into what seemed like a 7-minute spot, I pulled into my driveway and sat back to listen. It dawned on me that it didn't matter that this piece was way too long, but why was it on the air at all? On television this would have carried the warning "Commercial Announcement." On All Things Considered it was of curious origins and a waste of air-time.
From the Ombudsman's Mailbag
Among the mail that arrived recently were two letters that got a close look. Many NPR stations, including the three we support, are conducting their membership campaigns around now. When a mailing arrived at our Greencastle, Indiana address from WVXU/WMUB soliciting our support, we set it aside to write a check.
But, for a change, I actually read the appeal. First, I noticed that the soliciting NPR station was in Cincinnati, Ohio. Then I read the warning that if I did not subscribe to this appeal, it would mean "putting your values and your programs at great risk."
Reading on: "WVXU and WMUB are publicly licensed radio stations. Our licenses were granted with the expectation that our listeners in Greencastle would support us through their $35 memberships and we would serve the Greencastle community with wonderful programs."
I checked for their frequency on our pretty good Bose radios, on our automobile radios and called three friends who are known to be NPR listeners and supporters. None of us could find the Cincinnati frequencies; none of us could receive the wonderful programs.
It seems to me that this kind of appeal for support is trolling outside reasonable limits. It is at least a waste of money to make mail solicitations like this, but it also exceeds candor to suggest that WVXU and WMUB are serving a community more than 150 miles from home base. If their license applications promise such service, they need to be amended.
Telephone Comments
These arrive from CPB in monthly groups, usually several months at one time. I aggregate the comments for a posting.
Often these amount to complaints about a break in scheduling or a program being dropped in one or more service areas. No fewer than eighteen comments arrived within days of one another complaining that Reading Rainbow was not available. Another program that bestirred its loyal audience was the senior fitness television exercise program Sit and Be Fit.
In area code 540 (somewhere in the Roanoke valley of Virginia) there is a customer who believes PBS has ignored a major issue in the debate over health care reform. He has called numerous times, on occasion twice a day, to say that: "It is obvious to anyone who has common sense that if you leave 50 million people without health care walking around and mingling with the rest of the population, these uninsured people will finally infect the rest of the population and cause TREMENDOUS CALAMITIES!!"
I think he is at least half-right. I don't know about the imminent potential for mass infection, but I'm pretty sure that I have not heard this point made in the many discussions I've monitored about health care on PBS (and NPR for that matter).
Ombudsman's Website
The NewsHour was the subject of more than a dozen complaints about the sponsorship of Monsanto.
One Oregon viewer had a specific complaint about NewsHour host Jim Lerher. "Where have you been, Jim? Where were you and the rest of the media in the lead-up to the Iraq war? Where are you with ALL the serious problems we have in this country, not the least of which is why aren't we prosecuting those banker/investment thieves."
I have no answer about prosecuting the bankers, but I have addressed the question of imbalance in reporting in the run-up to the Iraq war on the NewsHour on other occasions. I have been watching the program carefully during the period of debate and deliberation over what America will do in its commitment to Afghanistan. There has been far better balance in the Afghanistan discussions than was the case with Iraq. I commend especially Judy Woodruff for her excellent interview with former State Department official Matthew Hoh, who resigned in protest against US policies there.
Kudos
To Julie Rovner, health policy correspondent at NPR for her every-day, every-program's fair, balanced and informed coverage of the health care debate in Congress.
To Margaret Warner of the NewsHour for her ongoing coverage in Afghanistan. After many years of experience behind the desk in Shirlington, Ms.Warner has blossomed in her work abroad.
To NPR for its excellent special edition on Afghanistan, broadcast Thursday, November 5, with some interviews used on later programs. It was timely, deeply reported, fair and balanced.
To Michael Schwartz, producer and director of The Botany of Desire, a two-hour documentary that aired on PBS, October 28. Based on the book of the same title by Michael Pollan, the program examined how four widely different plants (apples, tulips, potatoes and cannabis) have affected human health and the world's economy.
This program was over ten years from proposal to production. CPB initially offered a grant, but it was withdrawn when full funding was not achieved from other sources on a timely basis. CPB also found the marijuana section a little dicey, suggesting at one point that it be dropped, substituting grapes in its place. Mr. Pollan's book did not include grapes, but it did include a thoughtful treatment of cannabis and what happens when psychoactive plants enter the brain. To its credit, PBS stayed with The Botany of Desire and its audience was rewarded with an excellent documentary.
