|
Media Matters
Feb. 7, 2003
When Does a News 'Special' Become Ordinary?
By Jeffrey A. Dvorkin
Ombudsman
National Public Radio
Last Saturday morning at 9:38am ET, newscast anchor Nora Raum stopped in the middle of her regular newscast to tell listeners that there were unconfirmed reports of trouble on the space shuttle Columbia.
Within moments, the usual banter of Weekend Edition Saturday changed to somber reporting as Scott Simon assumed the role of news special host.
For the rest of the day, NPR News went into a concerted and focused series of reports and analysis from reporters in the field in Texas, Cape Canaveral and Washington, D.C.
'Gold-Standard Coverage'
For many listeners, the reports by Simon, science reporter Joe Palca, hosts Neal Conan, Steve Inskeep, Liane Hansen and Ira Flatow were examples of how live radio should be done. While there was some conjecture about what happened, it was quite restrained, often poignant and always backed up by solid science reporting.
Listener Claudia Farb expressed her appreciation this way:
"Thank you for your excellent coverage of this terrible tragedy. I have listened all day and your reporters and staff have done an outstanding job of providing information, background and biographies.
Thank you once again for providing coverage that is head and shoulders above the conventional media outlets. NPR sets a gold standard for news coverage that is rarely attained by other radio standards, and almost never by TV. Scott Simon, Joe Palca and Steve Inskeep should be commended for the super job they did."
From Mary Laroche:
"Your coverage of today's events is much appreciated. My local station (KOUW) stayed with WESAT all morning as well as the Talk of the Nation coverage. The knowledge, professionalism and dedication of your program hosts, reporters, and staff are apparent every day. They outdid themselves today, providing coverage that enabled listeners with the opportunity to cope with this tragic event. Thank you."
But What's Not Getting Covered?
By late Saturday and on Sunday a certain edge of concern began to creep into some of the listeners' e-mails. Specifically, while many acknowledge that the loss of the shuttle was indeed a national tragedy, some listeners reminded NPR that their main concerns were not about the shuttle but still about the impending war with Iraq.
They asked if the coverage was inadvertently obscuring other important national issues, simply because there is a high level of consensus about the shuttle story but very little national agreement about Iraq:
From E. Harlan:
"Since the disaster happened yesterday, I have heard about little else on NPR. While I realize it was a tragedy, I do not agree that it is more important than everything else going on in the world. Maybe it is a welcome distraction for those tired of thinking of the possible war with Iraq or our distressed economy."
From Robert Ashford:
"I also feel the shock and sadness surrounding yesterday's events but please. I don't think I can stand to have this event regurgitated and dissected for another twenty-four hours. I'll be listening to the BBC for the next few days because, contrary to the apparent belief at NPR, there are other things going on in the world."
Of the approximately 200 e-mails I received (and many more to the programs), about half were to praise and the other were to ask NPR not to forget the other issues before the country.
I think that NPR did not forget its obligations over the weekend. The shuttle story was big news and millions of listeners were grateful to NPR for conveying the information and the emotions.
NPR has an important role to play in providing breaking news. But listeners who worry that NPR is becoming an all-news network may be sensing a change in direction. NPR is evolving rapidly into a radio news service that, along with its commitment to context and explanatory journalism, is increasingly capable of going live when events warrant.
'We Interrupt this Program...'
Going live to cover breaking news was not, it must be admitted, something that NPR did often or well in the past.
Part of the problem can be found in the enormous technical and logistical effort required to notify nearly 700 stations to switch over to special programming from NPR in Washington, D.C. NPR, unlike other broadcasters is not a network. It is a program provider. Each station links to NPR for its regularly scheduled programs. To break away from that pattern is complicated and fraught with difficulties.
Other networks can flip a switch and all their stations will be taking the same program. At NPR, notification can be a lot more ad hoc. All stations receive an advisory on a machine located in the station's main control area. Some of these machines have flashing lights, or bells. Some transmit a voice message. Some do not. If a station is not staffed on the weekend, then the advisory to switch to NPR can go unnoticed.
Much of that ungainly system is disappearing thanks to new technology. Last Saturday's special had many member stations joining NPR than would have even a few years ago.
In the past, notifying the stations for a "breaking news special" was such an enormous task that many NPR producers were reluctant to end the special too soon. They worried that some new development would emerge and the effort to pull the stations together again would be overwhelming.
That may be one reason why the special continued beyond what many listeners felt was its natural informational life span.
'We Now Return to Regular Programming...'
In a perfect world of specials, NPR could say to the listeners that "we now return to regular programming, but we'll be back in an instant should events warrant." But the system is not there yet.
For now, NPR can still provide a valuable service in its special news reports, but in my experience, someone inside NPR needs to play the role of "dedicated listener" every time there is a special to make sure that the program is still serving the needs of the listeners more than the program producers.
Listeners may contact me at 202-513-3246 or at ombudsman@npr.org.
Jeffrey Dvorkin
NPR Ombudsman
|
