I am out of town this week at a journalism seminar and visiting WUSF in Tampa, Fla. My column will return next week.
Interested in thoughts on how well NPR and other mediums have covered the Eliot Spitzer story.
--Alicia Shepard
categories: Bias
NPR Ombudsman
HOW WELL HAS NPR COVERED THE ELIOT SPITZER STORY?
Unlike the breathless commentary from the 24 TV stations, NPR was very good. I feel so sorry for Silda and her children.
My question is why so much coverage at all? He is a state governor that is now shamed and resigned. How much can you talk about this subject??? How much do Americans need to know of the details, the name of the prostitute and such? I would think that there are more pressing stories that affect the daily lives of Americans that get much less coverage.
Having been a loyal Morning Edition & All Things Considered listener for years, I was disappointed in the coverage of the Eliot Spitzer situation. While it is understandable that you would cover the story from a wide variety of angles, I was dismayed not to hear an interview of a psychotherapist who specializes in sexual compulsions/addictions discussing the powerful emotional & psychological forces at work in this type of behavior. Including this perspective would have contributed much-needed education to the public discourse. Instead, what we listeners got were the financial dimensions, the political implications, and of course the insight-less and all-too-common "How could he have been so stupid?" commentary. Please do better for the country's sadly expected next sexual scandal.
Tony Stiker
New York, NY
I'm curious why NPR has described Spitzer's activity as "involvement in a prostitution ring." When I first heard it, I took that to mean that he was part of the financing or operations of this operation rather than a customer. The distinction matters to me, even though neither is a good role for a governor. Elsewhere, I have heard "patronized a high-priced call girl" which much more accurately describes what the subsequent story contains.
NPR has not covered the Spitzer story "badly" - just excessively. But that is more an example of contemporary American (political?) culture than anything else: it's what people want to hear about.
I agree with the comment above, your use of "involvement in a prostitution ring" was completely off-base and a ridiculous description of events. I would also have liked to hear a discussion of why Republican Senator David Vitter is still in the Senate after committing the same offense.
Also, how about a discussion of the lack of substantive policy discussions in the coverage of media? It seems that your reporters are most happy covering sex scandals and would rather have a root canal than discuss actual policy proposals. Every topic and every speech is broken down and discussed in terms of political calculations and how it will affect the polls.
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