After calling for reforms at NPR (NPR Must Fix the Problem and Set a New Tone) -- a reform opportunity suddenly possible by the leadership vacuum caused by Ellen Weiss' resignation -- I was invited to participate in an East Coast public radio talk show during which I speculated on the forces coming to bear on NPR these days.
Where We Live 01-10-2011
"Where We Live" is produced by Connecticut Public Broadcasting and WNPR in Hartford. John Dankosky is the show host and station news director (and a colleague). This show focused on NPR being in the news twice in the previous week: 1) after mistakenly reporting the death of Gabrielle Giffords during the early moments of breaking news of the shooting, and 2) with the resignation of Ellen Weiss upon announcing the results of the investigation into Juan Williams' firing. I came in during the last quarter hour when the focus was on Weiss' departure.
In my early West Coast haze, I may have speculated a bit too far in trying to tie these tectonic shifts to the fault line that cracked open between NPR News SVP Weiss and NPR CEO Vivian Schiller. After I got off the air, I had an email exchange with Weiss and while I won't divulge the exact contents of that personal conversation I do feel the need to say that she felt I may be "embarrassing" myself with my theories.
I will verify other reports about Ellen's startling departure -- it was forced, not coincidental, and viewed by her as disproportionately harsh (relative to her principled banishment of loose-cannon Juan Williams).
I may be "embarrassing" myself with my theories.
But back to my embarrassing theories. They may be off-base when it comes to the specific narrative of the Williams-Weiss incident, but I believe they explain some of the meta-dynamics of the behavior at NPR and explain the challenges we all face in pulling for the survival and long-term success of the NPR system.
The point I was trying to make on the radio is that the leadership of NPR finds itself pressed upon from multiple directions.
In some cases, NPR must resist the pressure -- such as that from conservative critics in congress who would punish the network for the Williams' firing or for the far vaguer accusations of liberal bias. (This is no small matter, as severe cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the mechanism by which congress appropriates its $450 million, would savage local stations directly.) This is the biggest pressure of the moment.
In other cases, NPR must find a way to release the pressure -- such as that from critics in the communities of color who see the Williams' incident through a diversity lens and note the dearth of black and latino personnel in prominent positions at NPR. (See NPR Exec Resigned, But Did a Mindset?) And of course there are other interest groups and stakeholders who have legitimate demands on NPR.
Here is where I questioned the degree to which Ellen was viewed as a defender of the old medium. But I shouldn't have.
The fundamental forces squeezing Vivian Schiller and her leadership team primarily include the need to grow NPR into a digitally distributed network -- while, at the same time, maintaining and growing its highly respected radio news service. Here is where I questioned the degree to which Ellen was viewed as a defender of the old medium. But I shouldn't have. In all appearances and in all accounts, Ellen faced this fact fully and worked collaboratively with NPR's new media leader Kinsey Wilson. Still, there is a lot of iceberg below the level of leadership where a vast traditional radio staff is colliding with a rapidly growing digital platform staff, trying to merge but unavoidably clashing too. The forces are real but no one is to blame unless they object to progress.
I'm particularly interested in adding to the pressure growing from another direction. This is the push (and pull) from NPR's member stations. The 350 or so stations provide the largest share of network revenue through a dues-paying structure. For these dues, they get high quality programming and a diverse array of other benefits and services (such as advocacy in Washington, the satellite distribution system, training and conference support, etc). As I wrote earlier, I'm especially keen on NPR News forging a new editorial alliance with station newsrooms to bolster and advance both the local and national coverage.
(On this national-local relationship, I should offer some extra credit to Vivan and Ellen and Kinsey and others for two pilot projects that offer promise in this direction. One is the Argo project that is sponsoring bloggers at stations to dig deep content "verticals" on a specific topice. The other -- still in the works and funded by the Soros Foundation -- would install a pair of reporters in state capitals.)
Add to all of the above the economic stress of the recession (which forced major cuts to staff and programming), NPR's construction of its new DC headquarters, and the sheer intensity of being a global, daily high-quality news operation on an expanding array of platforms, and you get the grinding progression of a leadership and a staff and a vast system of stakeholders doing God's mission while generating frictions and spark and occasional casualties.
That's my mental map of NPR. I hope it isn't too embarrassing.
