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Media Matters
April 25, 2003
Listeners Still Want Their Say with NPR
By Jeffrey A. Dvorkin
Ombudsman
National Public Radio
Details. Details. Even though the war in Iraq preoccupied most of the listeners who sent e-mails, there were some other issues that pointed out errors and omissions.
Oregon or California?
Roy Sunstrom from Arcata, Calif., noted on April 8th that:
Your reporter just said that the 30,000 fish... died in the Trinity River in Klamath, Oregon, as a result of the low flow of water. Actually, they died in Klamath, California.
"SARS" not "SIDS"
Richard Ladisky from Farmington, Conn., had the following observation:
Please note that 4/9/03 both before and after 7 AM on Morning Edition, SARS was referred to as "Sudden" Acute Respiratory Syndrome. It should be "Severe" and was probably confused with SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).
"Completely (sic) Destroyed?"
Alan Gregory from Conyngham, Penn., noticed three errors in one broadcast of Morning Edition:
Twice this morning I heard redundancies. A reporter in Iraq said, "completely destroyed." Things are either "destroyed" or they are not. To say, "completely destroyed" is redundant. "Destroyed" implies "completely."
Then I heard "capitol building." A "capitol" is a "building." It is redundant to say, "capitol building."
A couple of days ago, I heard "F-15 Tomcat." The Tomcat is the F-14, flown from Navy carriers. The F-15 is the Eagle, flown by U.S. Air Force aviators.
Wounds Not Valor
Rick Copeland from Austin, Texas, has another military correction:
I was listening to your 6 p.m. news report on 4/11/2002, regarding President Bush's visit to military hospitals in the Washington, D.C., area. Your reporter said President Bush presented Purple Hearts to veterans for their valor in Iraq. Where were your editors? Someone on your staff should know that Purple Hearts are given for wounds received in battle not for valor. I thought NPR had higher standards for accuracy.
'Most' Is Not 'Least'
Listener Jesse Wolf describes himself as "NPR's Dutch uncle." Thus sympathetically fortified, Mr. Wolf then points out a frequent grammatical error by reporters:
I am impressed by your journalistic talents. But you leave me wondering why your degree(s) did not include the meaning of a degree. You do very well with words like majority and minority, but you have an unfortunate tendency to confuse most with least. For homework, I suggest you review your manuscripts. As a matter of guidance, it may be helpful for you to look up such words in a dictionary, remembering that such words have nothing to do with quality -- they are only number words.
A 'Bus Bombing' or a 'Bombed Bus?'
Lynton Gardiner of New York City points out an unfortunate description:
As a further example of a different type of insensitive speaking, an NPR reporter recently referred to the apparently accidental air attack on a bus resulting in the deaths of several civilians, as a "bus bombing." This kind of clumsy and sophomoric speaking by NPR reporters has no place on NPR news.
Best of Five or Seven?
Chuck Cox writes about the sports segment on Weekend Edition Saturday:
A reporter named Ron Rapoport made a mistake on his report last week. He reported that the first NBA playoff series was best of five. It has been changed to best of seven. Please pass that information along to him. Thanks!
Warnings
Catherine Moya is concerned about descriptions of violence that are an essential part of NPR's war coverage:
As my 2-1/2 year old starts listening to more of the world around her, I'm feeling a dilemma. Can I keep listening to NPR around her or will some of the stories be inappropriate and harmful to her? I pay attention now to any warnings you give about certain stories and turn off the radio, but the threshold for adults is probably higher than for younger ears. And not everything is able to provide a warning.
I don't watch TV news at all. I don't even let her be in the same room when my parents visit and watch it on TV. But I have been an avid NPR listener for over 10 years. I don't want to have to turn off my radio for the next 12 years. But how do I listen responsibly? Do you have any listener guidelines based on age? I've tried some other searches and don't see anything to help me maneuver the media. Can you offer any advice? Or set up a guide on the web site?
Ms. Moya's dilemma is a real one. There is much in the news that is obviously painful -- for children and grown-ups alike. But NPR producers and editors know that -- for the most part -- the NPR audience is quite sophisticated and able to handle more complicated and even uncomfortable ideas. The producers are also aware that the tolerance of the listeners to listen to those ideas varies with the time of day.
"Morning" vs. "Evening" Radio?
Producers know, for example, that listeners to Morning Edition often have the radio on in the kitchen or in the car. Often children are present in numbers that are larger than in the afternoon and evening when All Things Considered is aired. As a result the subject matter and the journalistic treatment in the mornings tends to be less harsh -- as a rule -- than in the afternoons when there seem to be fewer children within hearing range of the radio.
Saturday vs. Sunday Radio?
Some listeners have observed that there is also a difference in language and content between Weekend Editions -- Saturday and Sunday. They have wondered why stories that are deemed appropriate for Saturday morning would likely not be aired the following morning.
Even so NPR airs swear words or vulgarisms sparingly, compared to commercial radio or television. But listeners have different expectations of public radio and express their shock and hurt whenever they hear them.
In my opinion, some of that may be Scott Simon's occasionally raffish approach, compared to Liane Hansen's more companionable sound. It may simply be the cultural differences between Saturdays and Sundays as well as that indefinable alchemy of radio.
Listeners may contact me at 202-513-3246 or at ombudsman@npr.org.
Jeffrey Dvorkin
NPR Ombudsman
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