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Mis-Media
Going Up?
Everyday while walking in and around the halls of National Public Radio Headquarters, one gets used to the familiar faces. Colleagues struggle to open doors with a “Starbucks” coffee in one hand and the New York Times in the other, the long silences in the elevator that are broken up by obvious comments about the weather, and the recipes for last nights leftovers are swapped in the break room. After a while these habits become less like greeting rituals and more like a way of life. But how much do these faces-- brown, white, experienced or young reflect the final product that makes NPR what it is? And how much diversity, not just in terms of race but also in terms of lifestyle is there in the newsroom?
When I first began my daily ins and outs through the NPR lobby, I was an intern working for the National Desk. Besides the general friendliness of both the newsroom and administrative staff, I immediately recognized a “culture” within NPR. Although there was a wide range in terms of age, and even in race, the political landscape within the building appeared largely liberal—an accusation I have heard time and time again from listeners who worry that a slant of NPR will emerge after 2 consecutive terms of the Bush administration.
Older listeners highlight this point with the fact that in NPR’s early beginnings, there were more cultural stories and local narratives based on the middle class. Nevertheless, it is explicable why a nonprofit such as NPR would attract what our Ombudsman, Jeffrey Dvorkin would call “Sandalistas”, or the hippie generation who earned their degrees at universities where NPR was originally aired. This trend has continued by attracting younger audiences, who by nature tend to be more rebellious against precedent anyway. Nevertheless, I find it unfortunate that cultural programming, which had its beginning in collegiate institutions, should automatically be dubbed as “liberal” by non-listeners, merely because it is produced by a not-for-profit organization or collective. This is because non profits typically work towards a common good to benefit the community as whole, while news outlets in the private sector have overhead to consider, making financial profits their bottom line.
Like most places of work, NPR has done its best to hire a highly regarded staff of journalists, producers, engineers and management that would best reflect the work ethic of the organization. But how accurate is that reflection in the newsroom when more time is dedicated to political talking points than issues of local interest which serve the community?
The local art and traditions of a population do not have a political leaning; rather they are the roots of which a small society is based. The latest arts and crafts craze of St Paul, Minnesota should have as much political leaning to it as an interview of a grandfather’s love of baseball; essentially, none whatsoever. Rather than pointing out the ideological differences which so often divide entire societies, this kind of reporting in human context helps families thousands of miles away connect with each other, which is difficult without a varied staff to detect varied stories. It helps connect the rich inner culture of NPR Headquarters to those who might not have the opportunity to relate to it otherwise, giving strangers the opportunity to connect in a café, at the gym, and on those silent elevator rides.
Going Up?
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