| | Here are a few quotes from the Public Editor's inbox that resonated with us. You can share your questions and concerns with us through the NPR Contact page. |
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Stop calling it ‘labor shortage’ |
Suzanne Loosen writes: Please stop parroting the term "labor shortage” in your news coverage. It's inaccurate and misleading. There is no labor shortage. There is a shortage of jobs with dignity. There are plenty of available workers. There is a shortage of jobs that pay a living wage. If an organization can't pay a living wage and provide basic human dignity to workers, then it doesn't have a viable business model. |
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“Labor shortage” is a complex term that borders on jargon. NPR has indeed used it in its reporting — here’s one story about workers quitting in record numbers, and another use of the term in this headline that appeared over an episode of The Indicator podcast from Planet Money. It turns out the NPR Business Desk has been questioning this term as well. In an email, Chief Business Editor Pallavi Gogoi told me her team had a deep discussion about this very topic and decided not to use the phrase “labor shortage” in its coverage, effective last week. She said there are still millions of people who are unemployed, adding that the team has found in its reporting that employers say there’s a shortage, “so if we do use the phrase we will attribute it.” “It is true that the labor market is going through a disruption, as jobs aren’t going filled and many fast food places are offering hundreds of dollars in signing bonuses and are still finding it hard to hire,” Gogoi said. “Even those who have jobs are quitting … by the millions. American workers are going through a reckoning, saying ‘no’ to low pay and to bad working conditions.” Gogoi said the desk has recently launched a series of stories that examine what she described as a moment of upheaval in the American workplace right now. The special series is titled “Help Wanted: Where Are The Workers?” It’s also worth noting that, however you feel about the term, NPR.org does have a “labor shortage” tag on some stories. Gogoi said that’s mostly meant to help readers find stories through search terms and “labor shortage” is one of them. — Amaris Castillo |
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George Moss writes: The annual Reuters Institute [Digital News Report 2021] came out. … It polled public trust in the news media among 46 countries. U.S. news media ranked last of the 46 countries in the poll. … Google search showed no reports about the poll in NPR or other major U.S. news media. Does NPR have an ethical responsibility to report the bad news about itself? |
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We reached out to NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik via email with your question. As NPR’s sole reporter covering the news business full time, he works on stories that reflect critically on NPR and other news outlets. In covering NPR, he’s reported on budget shortfalls, a sexual harassment scandal and, most recently, drops in radio listenership during the pandemic. Outside of NPR, he’s focused on many media organizations, including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Vanity Fair, ABC News, Bloomberg News and Fox News. Here’s what he said about the survey: “The Reuters Institute survey is reputable and helpful. But I see it as offering data points and insights that can be incorporated into other coverage rather than requiring a story.” To answer the broader question, he continued, “it is absolutely NPR’s responsibility to report the bad news about itself and the media.” Living up to NPR’s mission and values in reporting includes “reporting bad news about our industry and ourselves, when it’s legitimately news,” he said. Whether or not major national outlets produce individual stories on the Reuters report, we think it’s worth a look for news reporters and news consumers alike. — Kayla Randall |
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Did Trump get more airtime than Biden? |
David White writes: Hi, during the Trump presidency, I wrote to you (sorry I can't find it) about how NPR had such numerous sound bites of Trump. It was usually hateful, false stuff. I enquired why you did not give Biden equal time. NPR’s response was "We give precedence to the actual President." Biden is now the Actual President, he actually gives numerous news conferences — yet I hardly hear any words from our current President Biden. How about giving him the same airtime that you gave to Trump's lies and misinformation? |
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Every president has a unique approach to running the White House, including the press room. I reached out to Shirley Henry, chief Washington editor for NPR News, who told me in an email it’s not possible to compare the coverage by sound bites without a data analysis. She said that the Washington Desk and White House team have been covering the new administration with the same vigor and reporting strength. “Our reporters also use a lot of sound from the White House press secretary, who represents the views of the president, and briefs the press with more regularity than Trump’s press secretaries did,” Henry said. NPR’s White House reporting team is actually larger now than it was during the Trump administration after Asma Khalid and Scott Detrow joined the fold after the election. “The two presidents are very different, and my impression is that President Biden was not in front of reporters or television cameras as much as his predecessor, especially in the beginning of his administration, and that was partly by design — to show a contrast with Trump, and because this new White House wanted to send a message that it wasn’t about the president so much as it was about the American people,” Henry said. “There is also more discipline and control around this president in terms of the White House communication strategy, so he may not make as many press appearances, tries to stay ‘on message’ and therefore may not make as much ‘news’ when he speaks.” — Amaris Castillo |
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The Public Editor spends a lot of time examining moments where NPR fell short. Yet we also learn a lot about NPR by looking at work that we find to be compelling and excellent journalism. Here we share a line or two about the pieces where NPR shines. |
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Finding joy during a pandemic |
A loom. A CD of a grandfather’s tai chi/qi gong lessons. Watching a sapling grow. These are just some of the items and activities that have brought NPR readers joy during the coronavirus pandemic. Inspired by a photo project from anthropologist Paula Zuccotti, Goats and Soda, NPR’s global health and development blog, brought us a moving collection of first-person vignettes from audience members, with pictures. Each story, though unique, is deeply resonant because it speaks to the ways in which some of us have managed to find delight over the past year and a half. And most importantly, this was an opportunity to engage with the insightful NPR audience and continue covering COVID-19 in a meaningful way. — Amaris Castillo |
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Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images |
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Will the global pandemic crisis ever be over? How will we know? That’s the subject of a July digital piece by NPR reporter Laurel Wamsley, and it’s an important read that gets to the heart of those questions and many more. Of course, nothing is certain. As the story says, the nature of a pandemic means there’s no set-in-stone metrics for its end. And even if the emergency is officially declared over, many of its effects will continue. More than a year into this crisis, it was helpful to read a current exploration of what our futures might look like. — Kayla Randall |
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| | The Office of the Public Editor is a team. Researchers Amaris Castillo and Kayla Randall make this newsletter possible. Illustrations are by Carlos Carmonamedina. We are still reading all of your messages on Facebook, Twitter and from our inbox. As always, keep them coming. Kelly McBride NPR Public Editor Chair, Craig Newmark Center for Ethics & Leadership at the Poynter Institute |
Kelly McBride, Public Editor |
| | Amaris Castillo, Poynter Institute |
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The Public Editor stands as a source of independent accountability. Created by NPR's board of directors, the Public Editor serves as a bridge between the newsroom and the audience, striving to both listen to the audience's concerns and explain the newsroom's work and ambitions. The office ensures NPR remains steadfast in its mission to present fair, accurate and comprehensive information in service of democracy. Read more from the NPR Public Editor, contact us, or follow us on Twitter. |
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