More Media Self-Flagellation
NPR is now doing the war-coverage introspection thing, too.
______
Overall Findings
• 832 reports and interviews relating to the coming war were aired by the four programs under study.
• On the newsmagazines -- Morning Edition and All Things Considered -- the plurality of reports and interviews were balanced or neutral, usually within each report.
• Commentaries by non-NPR observers on the newsmagazines were scrupulously balanced, usually on the following day.
• Commentaries sought a range of opinion -- not just the straight pro- vs. anti-war approach.
• When only one side of the argument was explored, there was a tendency in all programs to give slightly more airtime to anti-war, rather than pro-administration, points of view.
Specifics
• Morning Edition -- 281 reports. 19 percent pro-administration. 55 percent balanced or neutral. 26 percent anti-war.
• All Things Considered -- 438 reports. 24 percent pro-administration. 46 percent balanced/neutral. 30 percent anti-war.
• Tavis Smiley Show -- 47 interviews. 25 percent pro-administration. 39 percent balanced/neutral. 36 percent anti-war.
• Fresh Air with Terry Gross -- 30 interviews. 20 percent pro-administration. 40 percent balanced/neutral. 40 percent anti-war.
______
Ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin announces: "I found that the programs were exhaustive and informative in the range of ideas and topics that were addressed. But there were some less successful aspects as well."
It seems to me that rating interviews as "pro-administration" or "anti-war" doesn't really do justice to the complexity of the situation. The problem isn't that there were too many or too few anti-war voices (how, as Karl Rove says of John Kerry, do you tell the difference anyway?) -- it's that there weren't NPR reporters (or New York Times reporters, or Washington Post reporters) actually fact-checking the administration's sources. The media's failure was to rise out of its objectivity-through-ideological-balance rut. The problem isn't bias, stricto sensu -- it's lazy reporting.
Check out the whole thing at this link.
______
Overall Findings
• 832 reports and interviews relating to the coming war were aired by the four programs under study.
• On the newsmagazines -- Morning Edition and All Things Considered -- the plurality of reports and interviews were balanced or neutral, usually within each report.
• Commentaries by non-NPR observers on the newsmagazines were scrupulously balanced, usually on the following day.
• Commentaries sought a range of opinion -- not just the straight pro- vs. anti-war approach.
• When only one side of the argument was explored, there was a tendency in all programs to give slightly more airtime to anti-war, rather than pro-administration, points of view.
Specifics
• Morning Edition -- 281 reports. 19 percent pro-administration. 55 percent balanced or neutral. 26 percent anti-war.
• All Things Considered -- 438 reports. 24 percent pro-administration. 46 percent balanced/neutral. 30 percent anti-war.
• Tavis Smiley Show -- 47 interviews. 25 percent pro-administration. 39 percent balanced/neutral. 36 percent anti-war.
• Fresh Air with Terry Gross -- 30 interviews. 20 percent pro-administration. 40 percent balanced/neutral. 40 percent anti-war.
______
Ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin announces: "I found that the programs were exhaustive and informative in the range of ideas and topics that were addressed. But there were some less successful aspects as well."
It seems to me that rating interviews as "pro-administration" or "anti-war" doesn't really do justice to the complexity of the situation. The problem isn't that there were too many or too few anti-war voices (how, as Karl Rove says of John Kerry, do you tell the difference anyway?) -- it's that there weren't NPR reporters (or New York Times reporters, or Washington Post reporters) actually fact-checking the administration's sources. The media's failure was to rise out of its objectivity-through-ideological-balance rut. The problem isn't bias, stricto sensu -- it's lazy reporting.
Check out the whole thing at this link.
posted by hellisotherpeople at 8:08 AM
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