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I am Edward Schumacher-Matos, the outgoing NPR ombudsman, AMA! (self.IAmA)

submitted by schumachermatos

I am the outgoing NPR ombudsman. I am the public editor and advocate for the listeners. Ask me about NPR coverage, media ethics and the journalism industry today.

My Proof: https://twitter.com/SchumacherMatos/status/496730810985508864

Update:* That's all for now folks! It was great chatting with you. If you have more questions, feel free to post in my Open Forum each month, reach out via the NPR contact form or Twitter. Thanks!

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[–]MarijuanaMajority 6 points7 points  (5 children)

What do you think about how the New York Times drug tests journalists for marijuana, particularly in light of the paper's bold position in favor of legalization? And does NPR have a similar policy?

[–]schumachermatos[S] 6 points7 points  (4 children)

The NYT does? I used to work there. First I have heard of this. I am opposed to drug testing. NPR does not test.

[–]karmanaut 3 points4 points  (1 child)

They're holding their own AMA in a few minutes if you want to ask them about it.

[–]MarijuanaMajority 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely planning to do so :-)

We already got their former executive editor to weigh in earlier today:

http://www.mediaite.com/print/bill-keller-finds-it-increasingly-difficult-to-defend-ny-times-for-drug-testing-writers/

[–]MarijuanaMajority -1 points0 points  (1 child)

Thanks. Please consider signing the petition asking them to stop this testing: http://change.org/NYTdrugtests

And here's some coverage of the fact that the policy exists, just so you know we're not making it up:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/04/nytimes-drug-testing_n_5648259.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/27/new-york-times-pot-legalization-drug-testing_n_5625164.html

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2014/07/28/the_new_york_times_and_marijuana_the_paper_supports_pot_but_still_drug_tests.html

[–]schumachermatos[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting! Thanks.

[–]TurdLog 6 points7 points  (3 children)

As an 18-year-old news freak, I have to ask:

What steps do you think the organization and the industry should take in making 'reading the news' more popular in today's society, especially with the youth? Though widely heralded as one of the most consistent sources of news, NPR still could be getting a lot more publicity than it does today.

[–]schumachermatos[S] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

If you mean to say that it should be attracting more young people like you, I think that everyone in NPR would agree! The web site skews younger and keeps getting more and more innovative and cutting edge. But it doesn't and shouldn't use "click bait" to try to attract a young audience just to attract it. If you have ideas on what NPR could be doing, I am happy to pass them on.

[–]TurdLog 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the answer -- I do agree that "click bait" is counterintuitive in bringing the younger generation in getting involved with current events.

With that said however, what do you think about linking NPR more closely to civic education programs (sponsorship perhaps)? This past year, I took part in a national program on the Constitution called "We the People: The Citizen & the Constitution" and found your work invaluable.

[–]nn123654 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would say to keep innovating on technological fronts. I actually started listening to NPR due to it's mobile apps and ended up transitioning to local radio due to the ease of use and data/battery savings compared to streaming content over mobile internet. NPR has done a good job of keeping up with technologies and maintaining principles such as Responsive Web Design on it's website and should continue to create and provide interactive web content for it's stories where possible.

[–]masstermind 5 points6 points  (1 child)

How do you balance journalistic integrity with neutrality bias? That is, how do you determine whether to give two sides of an issue equal credence, versus omitting or qualifying one side because it is objectively less meritoriously?

[–]schumachermatos[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

There is such a thing as false equivalence. NPR's guiding ethic is not "balance," in the sense that you present two sides as equal in their merits. Often factually they are not. Our responsibility is to give listeners and Web readers the correct facts and context. There might still be two opinions on how to interpret the facts, or which ones to give more weight to. NPR's responsibility is to allow listeners to hear those opinions, especially if they have influence. Wacko or irrelevant opinions can be disregarded. What is wacko is a judgment call. The guiding principles are fairness, independence and impartiality in making decisions.

[–]Cornslammer 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Do you think it's appropriate for NPR's online publication--as a part of its high-quality news organization--to cover major events in the Two-Way blog format? For example, today's story on the cease-fire in Gaza seems very flimsy compared with, say, the New York Times' very complete story on the matter.

Also, if you ever see Tom and Ray Magliozzi, could you thank them for being my introduction to a happy lifetime listening to public radio when I was very, very young? Thanks.

[–]schumachermatos[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The Two-Way is a breaking news blog that gets regularly updated throughout the day. Its meant to be informative but to the point, until the correspondents weigh in with bigger stories. Compared to the NYT, NPR is more selective in what it covers in detail.

We all miss Tom and Ray! The re-runs are great, though.

[–]nn123654 2 points3 points  (1 child)

NPR got much criticism over terminating Juan Williams employment over comments made on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor". This was used by many republicans as an example of a Democrat favoring bias in NPR Media Coverage. Was there ever an NPR investigation over this matter and if so what conclusions and recommendations were drawn? Has NPR implemented or made any changes since that incident?

[–]schumachermatos[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Many heads rolled because of what everyone agrees was the mishandling of Juan Williams. It all happened before my time.

[–]PacoBongers 1 point2 points  (1 child)

What's the most difficult part of your job?

[–]schumachermatos[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Getting reporters and editors to understand that they, too, have to be held publicly accountable, and to understand that we all--the audience--understand and appreciate that human mistakes can happen and that honest judgment calls have to be made.

[–]trc14 2 points3 points  (2 children)

What has been your favorite NPR story so far?

[–]schumachermatos[S] 4 points5 points  (1 child)

No one favorite. There are great "driveway moment" stories every day that keep you glued to the radio, even after you get to your destination in a car or have to leave to do something else. This morning I caught up on an All Things Considered story in a series on men. This one was about men crying in movies, and focused on Tom Hanks movies. I read the transcript on line. The story was good, but the comments from listeners made me misty!

[–]qweez 2 points3 points  (1 child)

You wrote media ethics: Since ethics is a field of philosophy everything is controversial. How do you pick your paradigms, or premises to do media ethics?

Or what is the most important rule (if there are any) in NPRs media ethics? How is it really applied? Maybe you could just talk about media ethics a bit?

[–]schumachermatos[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Every profession has its ethics that are professional rules, as opposed to moral philosophy. NPR has a whole handbook for ethics, and so it would be too much to go into detail on this. But if there are two guiding principles, they are independence and fairness.

[–]Frajer 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Is there a policy in place for plagiarism and have you ever needed to use it?

[–]schumachermatos[S] 6 points7 points  (1 child)

Strong policy against plagiarism. I have had only one transgression, but it was by an intern from Afghanistan whose culture did not see plagiarism as bad. He did not know NPR's policy, and so was not fired, as someone normally would be.

[–]schumachermatos[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Here's what the NPR handbook says about attribution: http://ethics.npr.org/tag/attribution/

[–]Ajaxcat1984 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Are there any stories you wish could get covered more? Or are you pretty happy with NPR's coverage overall?

[–]schumachermatos[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

There is so much that I wish would be covered more, but there is only so much time for each radio show and sacrifices are made everyday. If I have any complaint, I agree with the many listeners who complain that there is too much political news. But all of the news media has been drawn into the polarization of today. Its hard to avoid.

[–]thumbtax 2 points3 points  (1 child)

How were you introduced to the industry? Did you just stumble into it? Did you know from early on that you wanted to work in journalism?

[–]schumachermatos[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I liked to write and I liked public affairs. Working in government seemed to stultifying. I got a night time job part time on the copy desk at the Boston Globe when I was a student in intl relations at the Fletcher School, Tufts. I was bitten, and went to work as a part time reporter for the Quincy Patriot Ledger and have been in the business ever since. I teach journalism at Columbia U, but never took a course myself.

[–]Shouldbeworking22 3 points4 points  (3 children)

What is an ombudsman? I know i can look it up, but I'd rather hear it form you

[–]schumachermatos[S] 7 points8 points  (2 children)

I am the public editor and advocate for the listeners. I respond to listener complaints and write independent reports on NPR coverage. My position is designed as an extra set of eyes on NPR coverage to help maintain standards, as well as to create trust and rapport with our audience.

[–]bgeller 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Who do you report to within NPR? (if anyone)

[–]aresef 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nobody. That's the point of having an independent ombudsman. NPR can't fire ESM just because what he concludes doesn't toe the company line. It's in his contract.

[–]LeeStranahan 3 points4 points  (4 children)

Based on your controversial rebuttal to NPR's piece on problems with South Dakota & Lakota Indian foster children, you obviously were given access to state officials that your reporters were denied. Was the recent removal of documents about the Mette Rape Scandal from the NPR site influenced by South Dakota?

[–]schumachermatos[S] 4 points5 points  (3 children)

Please forgive me, but this is the first that I have heard of a removal of documents from NPR's site. The child rape case, moreover, was never a subject that came up when I did my report.

[–]LeeStranahan 3 points4 points  (2 children)

I sent an email to your office through the NPR site about the Mette Rape case and I've tweeted at you about it several times. Documents about it were removed from the NPR site two weeks ago.

How did you get access to South Dakota officials that your reporters were denied?

[–]schumachermatos[S] 5 points6 points  (1 child)

I will look into the documents.

The officials came to me with their complaints. All I did was listen, and then check them out.

[–]LeeStranahan 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Did you suggest to the officials that they speak to the reporters?

[–]ningrim 2 points3 points  (11 children)

As far as I can tell, David Brooks is the most right leaning contributor at NPR.

Yet he was an Obama supporter in 2008 and is often highly crticial of conservatives.

38% of the country self-identify as conservative. How well do you think their views are represented at NPR?

[–]schumachermatos[S] 2 points3 points  (10 children)

Brooks is just a once-a-week contributor. Conservative voices are heard in the stories. I get more complaints that NPR is too conservative instead of liberal. I am not saying it is, but this is to give you an idea of how others see bias at NPR.

[–]Centrist_gun_nut 0 points1 point  (7 children)

I am not saying it is,

So, in your opinion, what would you say? The fact that you receive lots of complaints from liberals isn't surprising if the vast majority of NPR listeners are liberal, and that doesn't really reply to OP's question anyways.

I'm a huge fan of NPR's efforts to report the news in a neutral way, but OP's question notes that it seems like the vast majority (or entirety) of regular commentators are liberal, as are many of the 'big name' reporters (eg. Nina Totenberg). Do you dispute that?

[–]schumachermatos[S] 4 points5 points  (4 children)

NPR has almost no political commentators now, aside from Brooks and EJ Dionne. The Juan Williams episode in part contributed to the pull back from commentators, and in part reflected that NPR was already doing so when he was fired. Your comeback on the audience is the standard response I get and is commonly believed, but audience surveys show that the audience is in fact fairly evenly divided.

[–]Centrist_gun_nut 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Do you have a link to said audience surveys? The only one I could find quickly, by Pew in 2012 showed only 17% Republican vs 43% Democrat. See here.

I don't just mean commentators; the political views of high-profile correspondents are not always a secret. I'm not saying NPR doesn't take steps to ensure neutrality but I think bias complaints are a deflection.

NPR has, what, several hundred employees in the DC headquarters. How many do you seriously think voted for McCain/Palin? If that answer is "probably not many" how does that effect (or not effect) reporting?

[–]MacroNova 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Why do the voting patterns of the correspondents matter if there isn't on-air bias?

[–]Centrist_gun_nut -1 points0 points  (1 child)

I'm trying to ask if, as ombudsmen, he's aware that they're nearly all liberals, and thus get an answer to OPs question about what they do to mitigate that. I think the "we get complaints" answer is a deflection.

[–]MacroNova 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your phrasing assumes that NPR correspondents are nearly all liberals instead of wondering if they are mostly liberals. You don't have any evidence for that assumption.

[–]MacroNova 2 points3 points  (1 child)

The fact that you receive lots of complaints from liberals isn't surprising if the vast majority of NPR listeners are liberal

And thinking that the majority of NPR commentators are liberal isn't surprising if you're a right winger.

[–]Centrist_gun_nut -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Googling found me this which is why I decided there were probably many more liberal listeners. I didn't just assume.

[–]ningrim -1 points0 points  (1 child)

I would question the efficacy of the pretaped interview or story.

The reporter is in control of what the audience hears from their interview subject, and can even provide their own narration.

How often does NPR do a live unedited interview of a conservative?

[–]schumachermatos[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The live talk shows produced by NPR--Talk of the Nation and Tell Me More--were cancelled in the last year as more resources were put into the Web site. Here and Now, produced by WBUR in association with NPR, does live interviews with all sides. Liberals and conservatives are treated the same on the NPR news magazine shows.

[–]karmanaut 1 point2 points  (3 children)

What are your best practices for ensuring that the reporting is done neutrally?

[–]schumachermatos[S] 3 points4 points  (2 children)

NPR has a good ethics handbook, an excellent standards and practices editor in Mark Memmott, and a strong internal culture dedicated to neutral journalism. That said, mistakes can be made, or judgment calls can be debated. That's why we also have an ombudsman.

[–]schumachermatos[S] 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Here is the link to the NPR ethics handbook, if you're interested. http://ethics.npr.org/

[–]karmanaut -1 points0 points  (0 children)

That is interesting, thanks!

[–]IcecreamStPete 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi Edward, nice to meet you!

What is your personal favorite NPR or affiliate radio show, and did you ever get to meet Marian Mcpartland?