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Reporting on Haiti: Not Deep Enough for Some Listeners
March 3, 2004
By Jeffrey A. Dvorkin
Ombudsman
National Public Radio
Listeners this week expressed much concern about NPR's coverage of the crisis in Haiti. Some of the e-mails insist that NPR failed to present a comprehensive picture of the crisis, and instead focused on reports of street fighting and looting from Haitian cities and towns.
Eric Mosley writes to say that NPR, and other news organizations, have missed the real story:
Current media reports on Haiti almost uniformly quote U.S. State Department and political opposition sources, without substantiation of their assertions and without publishing any response from anyone in the Haitian government or their supporters. The reported statements are so full of internal contradictions that it is hard to believe any responsible journalist could write them or that any responsible editor could publish them, and yet that is exactly what has been -- and is -- happening.
Sandra Malone is also concerned that NPR's focus on the story is too narrow:
In your reports about Haiti, you gave the impression that the people just wanted Aristide out or that some were rioting for the hell of rioting. NPR gave no context, no rhyme or reason, or cause for the effect, while other news outlets said that this was a U.S.-backed coup. Please treat your listeners like the curious, widely informed people that we are.
Mosley and Malone are right as far as Morning Edition and All Things Considered (weekdays) are concerned. Both programs benefited from some strong reporting from Cap-Haitien and Port-au-Prince by Martin Kaste and Gerry Hadden. Yet the programs themselves seemed to avoid any contextual reporting, with some notable exceptions.
Balancing Hard News With Context
On All Things Considered, Michele Kelemen did some excellent reporting on the diplomatic struggles that were being fought at the State Department. Her interviews with Congressional Black Caucus leader Elijah Cummings and James Dobbins of the Rand Corp. gave important perspectives on the failures of both the Aristide government and the failures of U.S. policy. Dobbins' description of U.S. policy as going from "partisan intervention... to partisan disengagement" gave a valued overview. Dobbins was also interviewed by Liane Hansen on Weekend Edition Sunday. But Kelemen's excellent reports seemed overshadowed by the frequent "bang-bang" reports from Haiti.
Comparing Coverage Weekdays and Weekends
Some of the most interesting contextual reporting happened on Talk of the Nation, Weekend Editions Saturday and Sunday and on Weekend All Things Considered. Over the weekend, the story was changing hourly, but those programs still were able to bring some thoughtful interviews with experts who were able to put events and policies into perspective.
But the most interesting interviews, in my opinion, were on The Tavis Smiley Show, where Jesse Jackson put an interesting perspective on the overthrow of the Aristide regime. The program also interviewed two journalists with expertise on Haitian events that weren't heard anywhere else.
NPR Online pulled all of these various interviews together in one place where interested listeners could delve more deeply into the story. Curiously, of all the stories on Haiti produced by NPR (and taken together, they were very strong), only the interviews from The Tavis Smiley Show were left off the Web site -- a disservice to the listeners, in my opinion, who should be able to hear these valuable interactions between Tavis Smiley and his guests.
Other Issues: Pedophilia -- Not Homosexuality
A report aired by NPR on the Catholic Church's report on the sexual abuse of minors by priests referred to the acts as homosexual. The Rev. Ann Fontaine wrote to say:
I was appalled that (your reporter) called the abuse by priests predominately homosexual. Men abusing 11- to 15-year-old boys is pedophilia, not homosexuality. By referring to these acts as homosexual, (NPR) reinforces the lie in the public mind that homosexuals, gay men, are also pedophiles.
That report occurred in an hourly newscast. It was changed for the next hour and in all subsequent reports on this issue. It would be useful to at least put a correction on the Web site.
"Percentages, Odds and Ongoing"
Bill Campbell III wrote with some issues involving NPR's (mis)use of language:
This morning in (a) report on alternative treatments to heroin addiction (you) referred to a 15-percent success rate for methadone treatment and attempts to "improve those odds." The statistic... quoted was a percentage, and while percentages and odds are mathematically related, they are not the same. The writer should have said, "improve that percentage." Later (the reporter) referred to something as "unopprtune." The proper word is "inopportune;" even my high school-senior daughter knew this.
In everyday American English there is a deplorable tendency to use the (repugnant) construction "on a basis." Please
discourage NPR's writers from using this construction. Ever. If they wish to say that something happens daily, they should say that it happens daily, not,
"on a daily basis." If they mean that something is ongoing, they should say that it is ongoing, not that it happens "on an ongoing basis." If someone provides services as needed, your writers should say that they supply services as needed, not, "on an as-needed basis."
On Campbell's point, the reporter did use "unopportune." The transcript has corrected this mistake, as the editor should have.
On the use of the term "basis," Campbell is right; it seems to have reached a new level of overuse. Time for editors and hosts to "blue pencil" this expression.
"Got Elvis?"
Finally, some NPR listeners' heads were scratched after hearing CBS' Dan Rather in a recent Democratic debate. He asked whether a candidate has enough "Elvis" to get elected. Mr. Rather's often obscure Texas locutions are known and even occasionally admired in broadcasting circles. But it moved listener Nancy Johnson to write:
I was sleepy this morning but not sleepy enough to miss Morning Edition crediting Dan Rather with the analysis that Kerry might not have enough "Elvis" to get elected. The actual originator of this is Molly Ivins, who wrote an entire column about the field of Democratic candidates some months ago, and whether any of them had any Elvis. Dan Rather just pilfered the idea... Don't your news writers keep up on what is out there?
Listeners can help us keep up on what is out there and on NPR by calling me at 202-513-3245 or by e-mail at ombudsman@npr.org.
Jeffrey Dvorkin
NPR Ombudsman
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