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Media Matters
June 12, 2003
Listeners' Suggestions... and Suspicions
By Jeffrey A. Dvorkin
Ombudsman
National Public Radio
Many public radio listeners have heard a promo from the Ombudsman. I ask people to let me know how they think NPR is doing... what we get wrong or right and what NPR may be missing.
Listeners regularly come up with a variety of suggestions for stories they want to hear on the radio:
From Frank McDonough:
Your story "Women Music Producers: Series Explores Reasons Why Female Producers Are a Rare Breed" missed one very important record producer: Sylvia Massy Shivy. She's produced platinum records for hard rock bands such as Tool and Powerman 5000. She's worked with legendary producers such as Rick Rubin and artists ranging from Johnny Cash to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. She owns her own recording facility in Northern California... Just thought you should know.
From Kristine Shields:
I was amused to hear your astonished commentary about a tiny village in Wales finally getting wired "into the grid." There are still many places in the United States that are not "in the grid." I think of the Amish community in Conawango, N.Y., as one example. That community and the other Amish communities throughout this country would be a really good story.
From Regina Sewell:
Whatever happened to the whole "energy problem" in California and the West Coast? What's up with Enron? What's happening about regulations of corporate accounting and accountability? What do we know about the Bush-Cheney energy policy commission? The connection between Cheney's company and Haliburton and the war in Iraq and the aftermath... How did so little emphasis get put into who helped build Saddam's power base?
European journalists seem to be asking where the weapons of mass destruction are... what is NPR doing to find these answers and what such answers might mean either way?
What about the impact of the Freedom of Information Act?
Dubious Polls and Dubious Reporting
Like Ms. Sewell's e-mail, increasingly there are anxious and angry e-mails over the reporting of polls. Specifically they refer to NPR's reporting of these early days of the next general election campaign and the race for the nomination for president among Democratic Party contenders.
On Morning Edition on Monday June 9, correspondent Mara Liasson responded to Bob Edwards' question about the failure of the administration to locate weapons of mass destruction:
EDWARDS: Is this a political problem for the Bush administration?
LIASSON: Not with the American public, it isn't. Polls show that most Americans feel the war was justified whether or not weapons of mass destruction are ever found. But some Democrats are raising questions of credibility. Yesterday Senator Carl Levin, who was an opponent of the war, said that, 'the nation's credibility, as well as the president's, is on the line.' He said if the weapons are not found it's going to make it harder for the U.S. to lead in the war against terrorism.
Many listeners took exception to the reference that "polls show that most Americans feel the war was justified."
Polls Credible and Incredible
The polls may be accurate or they may not. But many listeners find that polling goes against their own political instincts and experiences. It is too easy for journalists to dismiss these deep and powerful impressions as "unscientific" and "emotional" as some do.
It may be the preponderance of attitudes among many NPR listeners, but a lot of people say that they just don't trust the polls. They also don't trust the media -- including NPR -- whenever these polls are reported.
It should be stated that NPR does some of its own polling on national issues in conjunction with the Kennedy School of Government and the Kaiser Family Foundation. These polls are a useful tool, in my opinion, for NPR journalists to do original journalism based on a solid appreciation of the issues that concern Americans.
Other polling is much less reliable.
How Good Are The Polls?
So-called "national" polls are often anything but. Most of the people who are contacted are in the major urban areas on both coasts. Only a small percentage of respondents are contacted in other parts of the country.
Five years ago, many pollsters reported from national samples of more than 2,200. Today, polling organizations say that they can provide an accurate snap-shot with a sample size of 700.
Good polling is time-consuming and expensive, so often political polls are done quickly and on the cheap. They are called "omnibus" polls and they ride along behind market research on new product launches. At the end of these polls, a political question is added on.
Some of the questions may be designed to elicit a specific response: "Are you still concerned about terrorism?" These are called "push-polls" and are used to influence public opinion more than to reflect it.
Increasingly pollsters are finding that it is getting tougher to obtain reliable polls. Telemarketers have made political phone questionnaires increasingly difficult. Pollsters are also finding that voter intention is more volatile than ever before. Even worse, pollsters find that people will tell them one thing, but believe -- and vote -- another.
The effects of these questionable polls are to deform -- rather than inform -- our national political life. Some social scientists even blame the low voter turnout in the United States as a side effect of polls that declare the election over even before the vote.
Who's Winning? It's Too Soon to Say…
In last Monday's Morning Edition, Mara Liasson also referred to a Democratic presidential hopeful as being opposed to the war in Iraq:
LIASSON: But interestingly only one of the major Democratic candidates running for president has been critical and outspoken. On Saturday Bob Graham said that information was 'politicized and manipulated.' But other candidates, like Dick Gephardt, say they are certain the weapons of mass destruction will be found eventually. Of course, Bob Graham was an opponent of the war; Dick Gephardt was a supporter.
Many listeners like Barbara Heywood objected:
It is disappointing that the "mainstream" media evidently now includes NPR in ignoring the candidacy of Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) who has been regularly calling the Bush administration on its many illegal actions. Please do not join the corporate media in deciding which presidential candidate is newsworthy.
Ms. Heywood is right. NPR has an obligation and an opportunity not to play that game. Many of the horse-race polls that deal with the popularity of the president or of other politicians are less valuable and in my opinion, are frankly meaningless this long before an election.
A far better service to the listener is to follow the suggestions of the listeners and make sure that the ideas of ALL the candidates -- even those third party candidates who seem unlikely to win -- are presented fairly on NPR.
Listeners may contact me at 202-513-3246 or at ombudsman@npr.org.
Jeffrey Dvorkin
NPR Ombudsman
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