NPR: NO 'SPOILER ALERT' FOR SPORTS

NO 'SPOILER ALERT' FOR SPORTS

“That's because NPR considers sports as news and treats it as such, by reporting it as it happens.”

When an NPR newscaster announced the winner of the French Open Semi-Finals on June 6, our office received a few emails from not-amused tennis enthusiasts. These fans were upset that a spoiler alert wasn't given.

Listener Frank Luke writes;

"What a bummer for us on the West Coast to have the beans spilled and fun spoiled. This morning at 7 a.m. the results of the French Open tennis results for the men's semifinals were announced so watching the match would not be as enjoyable for us fans here in Hawaii. OK it's only the semifinals. I can forgive that, but please give the sports announcements a heads up before you blab the results, PLEASE! The finals will be coming up, and I hope you will be considering my plea. You don't like story endings to be disclosed do you?"

Mr. Luke has a point. The newscaster gave no indication that the name of the winner was going to be announced for those who had not seen the match.

However, it is NPR newscast policy to simply state the news rather than offer alerts.

Although this policy may seem more like a kill-joy, it's done in the listener's best interest. Newscasts are merely seconds long, and every second represents a reporter's opportunity to share pressing information. If time were devoted to giving alerts for every potentially spoiling story, there would be little time left for other more urgent world issues.

Furthermore, there is no general NPR policy which mandates sports "spoiler alerts." That's because NPR considers sports as news and treats it as such, by reporting it as it happens.

When I asked NPR's Uri Berliner, deputy national editor whose duties include editing sports, to comment, he said:

"Today we live in a 24/7 news cycle. We're bombarded with news on the television, on our personal devices, the internet, and on the radio. We no longer have to go home at the end of the day to get our information. Therefore it'd be unrealistic to protect every listener from breaking sports results. Plus, if time is devoted to disrupting our coverage every time we're about to announce the outcome of a game or event, where do you draw the line? We've never had a policy in place since I've been at NPR regarding alerts in our sports coverage, and I don't see one in the future due to the impracticality of such a policy."

The ubiquitous nature of news, whether it be on the radio or your co-workers at the water cooler ("Did you see the game last night?!") makes it near impossible to avoid.

And when it comes down to it, being correctly informed can be considered more vital than being surprised.

--Holley Simmons

4:40 PM ET | 06-30-2008 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

You're creating a false dichotomy here to suggest that the choice is between reporting the news and catering to a few sports fans. You can easily do both. Even in a report that is "only seconds long," it is perfectly reasonable to phrase the report as:
"At the French Open tennis tournament today, Rafael Nadal of Spain won the final..."
instead of what you broadcast, which was:
"Rafael Nadal, of Spain, won the French Open tennis tournament today..."

This would at least allow those of us who follow the sport to have a sporting chance to stick our fingers in our ears before you blurt out the result.

Things don't have to be either/or. Just a little consideration, a minor concession, could accommodate everyone's interests without turning it into a legal issue.

Sent by david warren | 10:18 PM ET | 07-01-2008

I totally agree with the previous poster. This morning you opened a story with "Blank Blank (insert actual name here) finally won a gold medal on balance beam today. I was furious! If you had said "Olympics update: The balance beam gold medal was won by Blank Blank" I would have time to shut the radio off, and I would have.

Believe it or not, some of us CAN avoid the "bombardment" of news...I work on a computer all day and actually work and don't check news stories. I have been then coming home to watch the Olympics coverage as though it is live EVEN THOUGH I KNOW IT IS TAPED FOOTAGE.

So, tonight you blew what could have been a very exciting moment for me, and all the anticipation is lost. Killjoys! It takes two seconds to switch the sentence order around.

Sent by Melissa Britton | 2:51 PM ET | 08-19-2008

Let's think for a moment about your radio audience. Sports fans don't want to hear results prior to an event's broadcast. And non-sports fans don't want to hear the results because they don't care. So, NO ONE wants to hear the results. Just stop.

Who is making this decision???

Obviously you have discussed this and made the decision to report Olympic results ahead of their broadcast without any warning to those for whom your reports will ruin their Olympic viewing experience - which I remind you we only get to enjoy for two weeks once every four years. But it doesn't make any sense.

Please listen to the sports fans on your programming team, and stop reporting Olympic results before their broadcast. The sports fans in your office are right. Listen to them.

Sent by Eric Radjef | 9:59 AM ET | 08-21-2008

I agree. I think you CAN avoid the news. I've just stopped listening to NPR news during this Olympic coverage just to make sure there are no spoilers. I know there are a few news sites that will protect you from spoilers so you just tun into that. And SERIOUSLY.

True, you only have a short amount of time to discuss the news, but come on! How many seconds does it take to warn about a spoiler? Two seconds? 3 at most? There are enough Ads on NPR that I think you can give up 3 seconds! Disappointing.

Sent by Paul Lin | 11:49 AM ET | 08-22-2008

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