NPR bans its journalists from attending Colbert and Stewart rallies

[Newsjock]

I don't recall such warnings/threats being made to anyone who was thinking of going to see Glenn Beck.

http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=192569

From: (NPR chief executive) Vivian Schiller
Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 8:58 AM
To: AllStaff
Subject: FW: NPR Journalists and political activity

To ALL NPR staff,

Please see Ellen Weiss' note to her staff below (and in particular, the reference to the upcoming Jon Stewart rally). In addition to News, the other divisions that are required to abide by the NPR News Ethics policy are digital, programming/AIR, legal and communications.

...

From: (Senior vice president for news) Ellen Weiss
Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 8:46 AM
To: News-All Staff
Subject: NPR Journalists and political activity

As we head into the final weeks of this political season, I thought it would be valuable to send out a reminder of what NPR News Ethics Policies and Social Media Guidelines are regarding political activity. These are the relevant excerpts from the full documents that can be found online.

... * NPR journalists may not participate in marches and rallies involving causes or issues that NPR covers, nor should they sign petitions or otherwise lend their name to such causes, or contribute money to them. This restriction applies to the upcoming John Stewart and Stephen Colbert rallies.

[jaxx]

1. LOL I doubt if they'll be missed.

[valerief]

22. Right. Who needs those right wingers in NPR anyway? Natl Public Republicans is what they are. nt

[immoderate]

2. It shows that Stewart and Colbert are taken at least as seriously as Glen Beck.

:rofl:

--imm

[jgraz]

3. In other news, NPR still thinks it employs "journalists"

:rofl:

[SpiralHawk]

7. NPR jumped the cred shark long ago, leaping into RepubliCorporatista arms

No one of any discernment would ever trust NPR on a political story...they have sold their soul...

[polichick]

14. I agree, and rarely tune them in anymore. nt

[w8liftinglady]

17. I still listen to the Diane Rehm show-it seems fairly balanced

http://thedianerehmshow.org/

[Recursion]

26. And Kojo, On Point, Here & Now, Fresh Air, On the Media -- but those are by affiliates

NPR only produces All Things Considered (and its children shows like Weekend Edition and Planet Money) and Tell Me More. I don't think anyone can seriously say that Tell Me More has lunged to the Right over the past few years, so I'm assuming they're talking about ATC (and, probably, the mere existence of Planet Money).

[AlinPA]

29. That made me laugh too - "journalists".

[spanone]

4. screw 'em

[hedgehog]

5. Attending as a participant is not the same as covering the event

as a reporter.

I find it reassuring that the managers at NPR thought their reporters might want to support the Stewart/Colbert rally, but had no fears about the Beck Rally!

[TreasonousBastard]

11. Of course it isn't, but don't try to reason with...

the NPR hate cult.

[tavalon]

13. I don't hate them. I just no longer trust them

I have a habit of watching and listening and discerning bias. The rightward tilt of NPR is oh so calmly subtle but it's there. And it's been there for about 6 years. I used to listen to them almost religiously but when I have to try to figure out if their gentle calming voice is propaganda, then I can find other things to listen to, like music.

[intheflow]

16. Exactly! The memo doesn't prohibit them covering the event,

just not participating in it. I shudder at the lack of reading comprehension skills in this country.

[ZombieHorde]

36. Not everyone comes to DU sober. nt

[damntexdem]

21. Nonsense -- they TARGETTED the Stewart/Colbert rallies.

And by omission, they allowed free reign at the RW rallies.

[Recursion]

27. Oh yeah... I'm sure *tons* of NPR employees were swarming to see Glenn Beck

:eyes:

[PVnRT]

34. Nonsense yourself, read it

"NPR journalists may not participate in marches and rallies involving causes or issues that NPR covers"

They can't participate in events that NPR covers. If NPR weren't covering this event, their reporters could participate in it. Get it now?

[renegade000]

25. reading comprehension win

:thumbsup:

[PVnRT]

33. Shhhhhhhhhhh

Facts like that are not welcome here.

[marybourg]

37. The Voice of Reason. Thank you. nt.

[and-justice-for-all]

6. what the hell...

"NPR journalists may not participate in marches and rallies involving causes or issues that NPR covers" is that not what they should be doing in the first place, sending in journalist to marches and rallies on issues that they cover??

"I don't recall such warnings/threats being made to anyone who was thinking of going to see Glenn Beck." me either.

[grace0418]

8. I think that's actually encouraging that NPR wasn't concerned about any of their

staffers attending the Glenn Beck rally as a supporter.

[Recursion]

15. My guess would be people weren't sure if a spoof rally counted as a rally

And this memo clears it up

[Wickerman]

19. Please, do not bring intelligent discussion

to this good old thrashing of NPR.

I think you cleared up the issue here. Nice work.

[valerief]

23. Who says it's a spoof rally? It's more a spoof of a spoof rally.

It's like a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman. It's the Victor/Victoria of rallies. It may seem like it's not a real rally but it's really a real rally, and NPR knows it. It's a real-live anti-teabagger rally.

[tavalon]

10. Well, this is ostensibly comedy

But I've seen Jon step out of that role amazingly in the past and I've seen Colbert doing it in front of the Senate. I don't know quite what to expect from this thing but it's likely to be very different from what anyone really thinks. And NPR is scary because they often sound so reasonable that it's easy to miss their rightward tack unless you are careful.

[Motown_Johnny]

9. FOX should cover this (hint hint)

[tavalon]

12. Mehtinks they didn't really want that spread around

Damn those internetz!!!!

[Recursion]

18. Why not? NT

[damntexdem]

20. Screw NPR.

Ethics policy, my ass. Even if equally applied to events across the political spectrum, this is a violation of journalists' rights. That it would be applied only to comedy-based rallies, albeit put on with political intentions, just makes the "policy" that much more ludicrous.

No donation from me this year, NPR!!!

[gulliver]

24. They'll probably cover it. They just won't "participate."

If NPR journalists "participated," it would blow their credibility. NPR rocks lately...very informative and interesting. Also, because NPR is reality biased, it is a great antidote to Fox "News."

[nolabear]

28. Both the headline here and in the original are misleading. They can attend.

It appears they can even cover the event. They just can't participate in a partisan fashion. I have to chuckle a bit because the fact of the memo implies that they'd like to.

[SoCalDem]

30. It's not surprising.

They twist themselves into pretzels ...trying to be non-partisan... yet they have NO problem inviting every right-leaning person they can find, as a "critical voice"..

they will not be missed

[NYC Liberal]

31. Can't attend the "John Stewart" rally, but what about the JON Stewart one?

;)

[PVnRT]

32. Interesting, how many respondents to the OP

read only the OP's headline, and not the actual words in the post.

Hint - "participate" is not the same thing as "cover as a reporter." In fact, NPR basically says they will be covering the rally when they say that reporters cannot participate in rallies being covered by NPR.

Massive, massive reading comprehension fail. Unrec.

[CoffeeCat]

35. There is nothing wrong with this...

I was a journalist. It is typical for news organizations to
tell reporters to to avoid political activity.

Journalists are supposed to be unbiased. They are hired to
report all sides of a story. If a journalist is politically
active--signing petitions and attending rallies--these behaviors
can demonstrate bias. This puts into question the credibility of the
reporter and the news organization.

Would it not bother you if Anderson Cooper hosted tea-party rallies
at his home and signed numerous petitions that urged Congress to complete
the PNAC agenda and start war with Iran?

I applaud NPR for trying to keep professionalism and objectivity alive and
well in the field of journalism. There's so little of it left today.

Please note that we are only seeing one piece of correspondence from NPR on
this issue. As stated in the email, NPR reporters are aware of this policy.
The higher ups aren't preventing reporters from attending only left-leaning events
and signing left-leaning petitions--they discourage all political participation.

[Brickbat]

40. While what you say is true,

I am a journalist and I disagree that there is "nothing wrong with this."

I refused to sign our newsroom's policy and our guild fought the policy. We weren't even supposed to have political signs in our yards -- our let our partners put them there.

If Anderson Cooper hosted tea-party rallies, we'd know where he stood, and we could decide whether his work stood on its own or not.

People believe all sorts of shit about whether journalists are biased either way or not -- might as well take away some of the mystery, and let the work speak for itself.

[Brickbat]

38. The vast majority of newsrooms have policies that forbid newsroom employees' involvement in

political action.

[Rex]

39. OH I SEE...they have to stiff Ol' PhilKen7 but can participate in Jons rally!

That other John is a touchy cretin and really, no one would ever participate in his rallies because he holds them in the mens bathroom.