Ethics
Survey finds ‘areas of sensitivity’ in foundation support for nonprofit news
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Most newsrooms lack clear guidelines, and funders are upfront about agendas.
"The Pub" Podcast
‘The Pub’ #24: Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven frontman says NPR is standing against artists
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The musician says public radio should get on what he sees as the right side of a matter of social justice.
Ethics
NPR clarifies its code of ethics for acquired shows
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NPR has updated its ethics handbook to clarify how it applies to hosts such as Diane Rehm, whose advocacy work prompted a review.
Ethics
NPR to update ethics code, define when personal becomes political for show hosts
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NPR is clarifying ambiguities in its ethics code about the role of talk show hosts after a flap over Diane Rehm’s participation in fundraising activities for a right-to-die organization.
Quick Takes
Baltimore paper questions underwriting practices at WYPR-FM
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A lengthy cover story in Baltimore’s City Paper said the station fails to distinguish between underwriting and editorial content.
Diane Rehm
Diane Rehm will end right-to-die advocacy
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After her husband’s difficult death, Rehm helped raise funds for an organization that supports medically assisted suicide.
System/Policy
Row over ethical conflict prompts radio station manager to resign
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After a combative online exchange with CPB Ombudsman Joel Kaplan over a perceived conflict of interest between his political aspirations and his role as president of an NPR-affiliated public station, Marshall Miles of WHDD-FM/AM in Sharon, Conn., temporarily resigned from his pubcasting job Oct. 15. Miles, who until last week ran the station that calls itself “Robin Hood Radio,” recently decided to run for a seat on the Region One Board of Education, which oversees a largely rural district in northwestern Connecticut. After local critics complained that Miles’s candidacy conflicted with his work as a pubcasting manager, Kaplan agreed with them in an online column published Oct. 10.
Programs/Content
Ombud answers watchdog’s concerns about public radio’s America Abroad
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The ombudsman for America Abroad, a monthly public radio show covering foreign policy and international affairs, has responded to criticism from the media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting regarding a recent show about developments in energy technology. In a May 31 blog post, FAIR said that the April episode of America Abroad “sounded like an infomercial” for fracking, the hydraulic fracturing process used in natural gas production. FAIR pointed out that the show was funded by the Qatar Foundation International, a philanthropy funded by the royal family of Qatar. Qatar is a leading exporter of natural gas — in 2011, it was the world’s top exporter, according to the International Gas Union. FAIR also took issue with the appearance on the show of Henry Jacoby, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor involved with a study about the future of natural gas. The MIT Energy Initiative, which produced the report, includes oil and gas companies as members, and the study’s advisory committee included representatives from natural-gas industry groups.
Programs/Content
Search for ‘truth’ results in ‘Radiolab’ apology
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An interview that went awry for Radiolab sparked an outcry from listeners and an unusual apology from a show unaccustomed to accusations of insensitivity. Current spoke with Jad Abumrad, Kao Kalia Yang and WNYC about the controversy.