| Ozy Media co-founder Carlos Watson. Kimberly White/Getty Images |
Transparency is baked into public media. It’s one of the ingredients that gives it a different flavor from commercial media. Knowing that, media-watchers were curious to see how NPR would respond when one of its board members, Carlos Watson — an entrepreneurial founder with an impressive vision for the future of video content — found himself at the center of a cascading scandal. On the third day of the growing drama that had become synonymous with Watson’s media company Ozy, NPR began reporting on one of its own board members. By the fifth day, Watson was no longer a board member. The stories were even more intriguing because of Watson’s connection to NPR’s governing body. It’s a great example of journalistic transparency at its best: both functional and interesting to consume. A different audience question this week led to a similar result. A news consumer noticed that when reporting on migrants who are kicked out of the country, sometimes we call it expulsion and sometimes we call it deportation. What’s the difference? Read on to discover one reporter’s thoughts behind his use of the terms. Knowing his logic will likely enhance your understanding next time you hear or see these words. |
| | 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. |
|
An NPR board member resigns |
Notes from fellow journalists dropped into our email in the middle of last week: Will NPR cover the scandal involving its own board member? |
|
New York Times media columnist Ben Smith had reported some shocking details about startup media company Ozy and its CEO Carlos Watson, who had just recently been elected to a second term on NPR’s Board of Directors. Smith’s sources said Ozy executives had served up elaborate deceptions to investors and even to their own staff. Almost as soon as the Times broke the story, NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik was tweeting about it, pointing out Watson’s powerful relationship to NPR. By Wednesday, he was doing a two-way interview with All Things Considered host Ari Shapiro, describing the fallout from Smith’s reporting. He did three more stories after that, on Watson’s resignation from NPR’s board, on the company’s shutdown and a recap of Watson’s public response to the scandal. Folkenflik couldn't say for sure how he would have approached the story without the NPR connection. “Carlos Watson’s presence on the NPR board elevated his story to one that I needed to cover,” he told me over the phone. “Ozy is not a name brand widely recognized by our audience.” The governance committee of NPR’s board was set to meet Friday when Watson submitted his resignation. I asked if the committee was ready to kick Watson out, and Board Chair LaFontaine Oliver told me in an email, “There are standards and processes that must be observed regarding board membership and working through those takes time. I would only be speculating as to what would have happened if we had not received the resignation before the committee met and I don’t want to do that.” Before joining NPR’s board in 2016, Watson frequently appeared as a commentator in 2013-2014 on All Things Considered in a series called The New and The Next. Portions of that series included cross-posting content between Ozy and NPR. NPR’s board has 23 seats. Member-station managers serve in 12 of those positions (Oliver is president and general manager of Baltimore’s WYPR) along with NPR’s president and the chair of the NPR Foundation. The other nine seats are filled by members of the public. The balance is deliberately designed to preserve NPR’s dedication to public radio stations, while encouraging advice and influence from a wider sphere of notable expertise. In that context, Watson seemed to be an ideal board member. As a former MSNBC contributor and CNN host, he had experience in commercial journalism. And his company, Ozy, was creating content designed to attract younger and more diverse audiences, something NPR is also keen to do. Looking at the Times’ revelations about the company’s deceptions, coupled with Watson’s justifications and his lack of a defense, it’s clear that it would be impossible for him to retain enough trust to continue serving on a board legally responsible for NPR’s nonprofit mission. It’s also clear that it was an important story for NPR to cover. — Kelly McBride |
|
Kurt Falk writes: When does NPR use the term “deportation” and when does NPR use the term “expulsion”? In the linked article, “U.S. Begins Flying Haitian Migrants Home From Texas In Mass Expulsion,” expulsion is used for the United States removing migrants. The only time the time “deportation” is used is describing when Mexico removes migrants, not the United States. What is NPR's convention for when “deportation” is used instead of “expulsion”? |
|
There is no companywide guidance on these terms specifically, and so the words may be used differently in different stories. For example, the story you’ve linked does appear on NPR.org, but is from The Associated Press. However, there is a logical difference between the two terms. We reached out to National Desk Correspondent Joel Rose, who covers immigration, with your question via email. Rose can be heard in this September episode of the NPR Politics Podcast discussing Haitian migrants, saying, “the administration says it’s ramping up expulsion flights to Haiti and to other destinations in the hemisphere, which they haven’t specified yet.” Rose said that early on in the pandemic, the Trump administration started using a section of the public health code called Title 42 to quickly remove migrants who had crossed the southern border, and he and colleagues had to decide how best to describe the action. “The word ‘expulsion’ made sense to me because these migrants were being removed very quickly, apparently without any of the due process migrants are usually accorded, including the chance to ask for asylum or other protections,” Rose said. “I wanted to draw a distinction between this new process and what we normally think of as ‘deportation’ under our immigration laws, where immigrants generally do get a chance to contest their removal in front of an asylum officer or an immigration judge.” Because there was no legal procedure, he felt that describing this new process as “deportation” might imply a level of due process that wasn’t there. “By using the word ‘expulsion’ instead, I’m hoping to convey that this process is fundamentally different than what came before — faster, and with fewer protections for migrants,” he said. — Kayla Randall |
|
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. |
|
Readers, rejoice! Because one cannot spend too much time thinking and talking about books, NPR has a new treat: Book of the Day. It’s a curated “pocket-sized podcast” that features great reads and conversations with authors — the ones you love and the ones you haven’t heard of yet. NPR Arts Desk reporter Andrew Limbong introduces the books and the interviews, dropping in personal tidbits that add even more to the daily joy. — Kayla Randall |
|
| | 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 |
|
|
|
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. |
|
| | | | You received this message because you're subscribed to Public Editor emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002
Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy | | | |
|
|
| | |
Commentaires
Enregistrer un commentaire
Thank you to leave a comment on my site