Untangling NPR’s coverage of the Portland protests

Conflict between federal agents and protesters pricked a nerve among NPR listeners. We asked why. [View this email online]( [NPR Public Editor by Poynter's Kelly McBride]( This Week's Column About halfway through July, a steady stream of emails critiquing NPR’s coverage of the Portland protests began to fill up our inbox. Most of them were complaining about bias in one form or another. But there was no one story that seemed to fall short, and the letter writers were identifying all different kinds of bias, including sympathy for protesters, antipathy toward police, too much deference to police, and too much attention to acts of vandalism at the expense of covering peaceful protests. Hoping to gain some insight, we zoomed out and looked at the overall coverage, from the moment on July 3, when President Donald Trump announced he would be tapping federal agencies to address protests, to the end of the month, when federal agencies agreed to leave protecting the court house to state and local police. And then we zoomed back in to look at the coverage again. Of course, reporters and editors covering breaking news in the moment don’t have this luxury. And Public Editors do. But it’s a reminder that news consumers crave context, even when it’s too soon for journalists to provide it. Our column this week explores how the Portland story exploded, and why on-the-ground reporting is crucial for citizens to truly understand what’s happening. ["Feds Get Out Now" sign ]( Noah Berger/AP [How The Portland Protest Story Escalated And Why News Consumers Were Frustrated]( [Read the column]( From the Inbox 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](. Interview with a titan Nicholas Marro writes: On June 29, 2020, Morning Edition included a story by Alina Selyukh called “[Bigger and Brawnier]( about Amazon and its founder/CEO, Jeff Bezos. Though Amazon and Mr. Bezos are in the news regularly, on this occasion Mr. Bezos was in the news because he was due to testify before the House Judiciary Committee in regard to their investigation into a number of internet companies and their possible anti-competitive behavior. It was noted at the top of the story that Amazon is among NPR’s financial contributors. This disclosure was appropriate. However rather than inform the public about why Mr. Bezos has been called to testify and why Amazon was under Congressional scrutiny, listeners received a Page Six-style profile of a man that used to dress in nerdy clothes but now, as his wealth and power have increased, dresses in really, really cool clothes. We agree that this felt more like a feature, and that was the intent. We spoke to Uri Berliner, a senior business editor who assigned the story ahead of the hearing. Berliner said they chose to profile Amazon and Bezos for a number of reasons including his position as richest man in the world and his first appearance before Congress. "We wanted to focus on Bezos because he's been there throughout. We also thought that his company had evolved tremendously over time, perhaps more than any of these other companies," Berliner said. "It has really changed from what it was originally." Berliner said NPR covers Amazon extensively, even more so since the pandemic. "We've covered news about Amazon very thoroughly. This was more of a feature story," he pointed out. "It was an opportunity to let our audience know more about the very powerful man who's at the helm of the company. I think our audience really responded well to this story. Sometimes learning a little bit more about personalities is interesting to our audience." There were several [other NPR news stories]( that examined [Bezos’ congressional testimony.]( — Amaris Castillo Percentages over points Michael Hart Slattery writes: Could you please tell me why the hourly newscast reports changes in stock market indices by points, rather than percentage? I’m sure you’ve been asked this before and that there’s a reason, but I ask because I find a report of the change in points completely useless. In order for the change in points to have any value, a person must know the previous close and then divide the change by the previous close. I watch the markets every day but only rarely remember what the previous close was (as I’m sure is the case with 99% of your listeners). I think a more informative approach would be to just report the percentage change and, if desired, the current level (e.g., “the Dow is up 2% at 27,000”). You’re definitely not the first person to bring this up. Here’s an [explainer]( from a decade ago about NPR’s reporting on stock market indices. NPR knows there are listeners like you who watch the markets closely every day. But the stock market indices can be reported in 5 seconds or stretched to 15 seconds, which helps newscasters finish speaking at exactly the right second, in time to break to local stations. — Amaris Castillo Oregon Governor Jonathan Kent writes: Ari Shapiro [interviewed the Oregon governor today.]( Mr. Shapiro asked puff questions, accepted every word she said as truth, and failed to challenge her in any way in the course of 4-5 minutes of airtime. I am a huge fan of NPR and I thought this was a forum for journalism. Whatever anyone thinks of the situation in Portland, local authorities, both the city and state, failed in to protect federal property and left that protection to federal authorities. Surely Mr. Shapiro could have asked her about her obligations as governor to protect federal property and personnel. He did not. The governor calling federal law enforcement personnel "Trumps Troops" is demeaning and deserved at least a comment or correction by Mr. Shapiro. Each piece of broadcast journalism is designed to do one or two things. In this case, the purpose was to hear an update on the withdrawal of federal agents, and specifically how Oregon State Police intended to fulfill the governor’s promise to protect federal property. We listened to this same interview and heard Shapiro challenge her when she initially failed to answer his question about protecting property. Gov. Snow absolutely did use language to score political points, including calling the agents “troops” or “Trump’s troops” four times. Politicians do that in live interviews. And interviewers have the option of calling them out, or simply correcting them. That takes up precious air time, but Shapiro could have said, “We should note, these were federal law enforcement officers, not military troops.” In the middle of the interview, Snow seemed to recognize she’d gone too far with the “troops” language. After saying it three times, she used the more accurate term, “officers.” Then, in her summary answer to Shapiro’s final question, she reverted to the polarizing and distorting term. — Kelly McBride On My Mind There’s so much content worthy of praise, criticism or just a bit of conversation. Here I share a line or two about things that caught your attention or mine. A family affair New York Times/Serial The New York Times [Introducing: Nice White Parents]( The new narrative NYTimes podcast [Nice White Parents]( has public radio fingerprints all over it. The miniseries paints a picture of the parents who fought for a racially-integrated school in the ‘60s, but never sent their kids there. Nice White Parents comes from Serial Productions. Serial’s sister company is responsible for [This American Life]( which is produced at WBEZ and distributed by the Public Radio Exchange. Last month, Serial announced a new partnership with the Times. We can’t overstate This American Life’s influence on the podcasting world, including NPR’s Planet Money. The first episode of Nice White Parents credits Gene Demby and NPR’s Code Switch, which back in February introduced [audiences]( to [some of the same voices]( who appear in the new series. It looks like new episodes are coming out on Thursdays. — Meredith Roaten A Mupp-date Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Weekend Edition Sunday [Kermit And The Gang Return In New Disney+ Show, 'Muppets Now']( You might have seen this [semi-viral tweet]( already, but we had to share this [Muppet scoop]( from Lulu Garcia-Navarro. Kermit the Frog himself stopped by Weekend Edition to talk about his new Disney+ show, “Muppets Now.” The hot gossip? Kermit and Miss Piggy have not rekindled their romance, but remain very “close friends.” Plus, if you’re feeling nostalgic, the famous frog sings one of his biggest hits toward the end of the interview. — Meredith Roaten Behind the Scenes This is how the news gets made. We want your ideas for how we can do it better. The science of podcasting a pandemic By Meredith Roaten Science reporter Emily Kwong admits she still doesn’t have a routine down for her day working remotely on NPR’s science podcast Short Wave. But she has two consistencies every day: closing her laptop at the end of the day and trying to satisfy the endless curiosity of NPR’s listeners. Kwong said during a pandemic people need explanations for many complicated things and the podcast she works on has been able to help. It’s been a challenge to recreate the conversational, fun chatter between hosts, guests and reporters with everyone at home. But Kwong is pleased with their progress. Here’s how she works from her home in Washington, D.C. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Emily Kwong works from her home in Washington, D.C. How has pandemic changed your approach to the podcast? Short Wave has really hit its stride in this time of pandemic, because the biggest story in the world that's changed the lives of every human on this planet is fundamentally a science story. It's a microbe that's tearing through the human population. Short Wave is such a new show that we had only 100 or so episodes under our belt when the pandemic began, and there wasn't a ton of precedent for what our show would be, and how we would cover a major science story like this. The biggest change I've seen for Short Wave is refining our editorial mix of how we combine science with news and bringing a scientific rigour to the stories that we do. We're not a very reactive show, we're more of an analytical show, an explanatory show — we're very driven by our curiosity. Coronavirus is so confusing, and there's so many mixed messages, a lot of those messages are getting politicized. You need science reporting to help you unpack all of that and put it in real human terms. And you need to understand how racism and inequity in our society has driven the impact of how the coronavirus. Our show seeks out those stories. How is Short Wave reacting to the large digital audience that is growing because of the pandemic? Short Wave is a show, based on a desk — the science desk. [Note: An NPR desk is a group of reporters and editors assigned to cover a topic.] So about a third of our episodes are coming from science desk reporters who are doing their reporting primarily for the [magazine] shows (like Morning Edition or All Things Considered), but more and more, we're seeing reporters start pieces with Short Wave in mind. [As opposed to starting the reporting with a radio piece in mind.]. That's a change in format, and it gives reporters a chance to have their work live in another home. When you have only four minutes on Morning Edition, you have to cut so much tape, you have to cut another angle and a little nuance, whereas in the podcast realm there’s more space and time to go into the things you can't always on a show, because you have to stay within the parameters of the clock. What’s been personally challenging for your work day? I really miss taping in person. I miss the chemistry with Maddie Sofia, Short Wave’s host, and our guests and reporters. And also the chance to be truly collaborative. When me myself and I are here, maybe I don't want to bother someone when I'm home alone, or it doesn't occur to me to reach out to them as readily as I would if I was sitting right next to them. And some of our more complicated episodes, I think that I miss doing them in person because then it's a process all of us can go through together. Rebecca Ramirez, one of our producers, has “nonsense” scheduled on our calendar twice a week. Our team and a few of our colleagues will join to chat about nonsense, whatever it is, to recreate that feeling in the office of spontaneity and camaraderie. Maybe you talk about work, maybe you just talk as humans. And I can't always make the calls, but I love them because it brings back some of that office chatter that is so much a part of doing our work. Favorite Short Wave episode? I love how Short Wave has managed to stay the joyful kind of zany show that it's always been. We did a piece last week about how [butterflies can detect light on their genitalia]( and how butterflies, some male butterflies, have tiny heartbeat structures on their wings. And we did a show the week prior about [flying snakes]( and a few weeks before that about [a set of dinosaur bones found in Morocco](. We've been able to continue to tell stories with curiosity about the world and give people inspiration, something other than despair and confusion. Having emotional diversity in your reporting is really important. A lot of news stories have emotional similarities, like rage, despair, confusion. There's more to the human experience than that, and we really want to represent the breadth of that experience. Our show is very intentional about booking a diverse range of voices, featuring BIPOC scientists and researchers in particular. We want to tell science stories, and also challenge and interrogate science itself and show how it intersects with society in profound ways. How do you do your job and maintain your sanity when there is so much bad news? During this pandemic, I’ve had people close to me diagnosed as positive. You need to know that you can step away from it all and should be able to with the support of the colleagues. What's helped me is when I can be really honest with my colleagues about what's happening. There's nothing worse than having to hide that you're in crisis. What are your favorite ways to de-stress? I'm just spending as much time outdoors as humanly possible. I'm talking walks in Rock Creek Park. I'm talking camping, hiking, walking, running, swimming. I have access to a pool, which is also cool. I've been doing so much physical activity outdoors. That has been truly life saving -- just to move my body and see other people moving their bodies from a six-foot distance. I was completely obsessed with the [Salt Fat Acid Heat]( Netflix series when it came out. I watched it twice. I thought it was brilliant. The host is Samin Nosrat, and what I love about her is that — like a good scientist — she cares about methodology and why things are the way they are. And so I started reading her [cookbook]( and cooking recipes in those categories. So I had a salt week, a fat week, an acid week, a heat week. And I've been making some amazing meals that have been so delicious and made me feel so proud that I'm providing for myself and my family. You can follow Short Wave [here](. The Public Editor’s office is really a team and we’ve added a new member. Amaris Castillo started this week as a writer and researcher at the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership at Poynter. She’s worked for six years in local news, in both Florida and Massachusetts. She joins Kelly and Meredith Roaten, who recently graduated from George Washington University and is currently on temporary assignment at the NPR Public Editor office. Courtesy of Meredith Roaten and Amaris Castillo Kelly McBride NPR Public Editor Chair, [Craig Newmark Center for Ethics & Leadership at the 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](