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Big ups for Jasmine

July 11th, 2012 by Martha Foley

Kudos and many thanks today to Jasmine Wallace, here at NCPR this summer under internship through St. Lawrence University, for her true broadcast debut this morning during the 8 O’clock Hour.

Jasmine Wallace, at work in the NCPR web office.

Jasmine is a senior at SLU, and will be features editor for the school newspaper, The Hill News, this coming year. Her profile of Pat Curran and his wood pellet business in Massena was the capstone of a 3-part series this week on renewable and locally produced energy, and its place in the North Country economy.

You’ve heard Jasmine’s work before, in Heard Up North audio postcards from her favorite place: the stables where she keeps her horse, and where she rides most afternoons after she leaves the station. Find them here, and here.

She’s also an integral part of the web production team here, writing and editing text for news stories, finding photos, researching additional web content, and generally adding to the mix at ncpr.org.

Her piece on air this morning got her out on the road in St. Lawrence County for a substantive story, requiring a fuller range of the public media journalist’s skills: research, interviewing, writing, and in-studio voicing and production.

Great job, Jasmine! What’s next on the story list?

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Why I care about public media

March 26th, 2012 by Sarah Harris

When I was in high school I started driving a car. This was in Dallas, Texas. The car symbolized total freedom — I could go where I wanted. I could list to the music I wanted. My car was way too decrepit to handle an iPod, so what did I do? I started fiddling with the radio dial. Sometimes I listened to K104, the hip hop station. Other days I listened to Mix 102.9. And most mornings I tuned in to KERA, our NPR member station.

Of course, the vehicle was not without responsibility. Each day I was tasked with the job of chauffeuring my little sister to and from our school. She must’ve been 12 or 13 years old. I’d usually roll into the car, hair tousled, clutching a giant travel mug of tea and a piece of toast. Mary Frances would spend the morning preening, and I’d wait impatiently, starting the engine or occasionally blaring the horn.

Except on Friday mornings. Without fail, Mary Frances would be ready–backback stowed, seatbelt buckled, radio on– by 7:27 a.m., in time for Story Corps. She loved that program. I think one time it made her cry. I remember laughing with her as an Eastern European woman talked about her first Halloween in America. It was a neat thing for us to share, and I remember thinking how cool it was that my sister–who I would venture to say is not an atypical teenager–was moved by these little narratives.

Sarah Harris making public radio on Lake Champlain.

The more I learn about the public media landscape, the more I realize what a valuable resource it is. The programming informs, entertains, and inspires. We  bring you news and information about your community, and communities across the globe. And our reach is wide. I think all these things really hit home when I sold a story about ice sailing to NPR and it aired on All Things Considered. I heard from a lot of people in all parts of my life: my middle school librarian. The guy who fixes my car. The nurse from the summer camp I went to as a kid. Of course, the first person to call was my sister.

“Oh. My. God.,” she exclaimed. “You’re on NPR!” What did you think?” I asked. “You didn’t sound like you,” she immediately replied. “Well you did, but like you in pretentious-land.” Eek. My sister, like most everybody in our family, isn’t one to mince words. But I laughed. “I’ll do better next time,” I said.

And I plan to. But in the mean time, I’m making my contribution to NCPR. Because, like you, I have my morning listening rituals. They mean a lot to me, and to my little sister.

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NPR hires new top exec

October 3rd, 2011 by Brian Mann

North Country Public Radio’s main national network, NPR, has hired Gary Knell to serve as the organization’s new CEO.

Knell — who replaces Vivian Schiller who was ousted following the Juan Williams scandal — was the head of Sesame Workshop, the organization that produces the popular PBS program “Sesame Street.”

According to Knell, he hopes to “depoliticize” the conversation about NPR’s future.

“It’s not about liberal or conservative — it’s about fairness,” Knell said, in an interview with NPR. “We’ve got to make the case we’re delivering a fair service, not only in the way we do our jobs, but in the way we disseminate the news.”

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Just the facts, lady, just the facts

August 22nd, 2011 by Ellen Rocco

(Cross-posting this entry in both NCPR blogs because of the importance of the issue to our audiences, friends, supporters and all who interact with NCPR. –ER)

Recently, the NCPR news team, joined by web manager Dale Hobson, program director Jackie Sauter, and I met to grapple with an issue we talk about informally all the time.  We met to begin the process of formalizing our policies on these questions:

What distinguishes straight fact-based reporting from news analysis and opinion pieces? Further, what’s the difference between analysis and opinion? Does it matter? And, if we codify guidelines for our news team, do those guidelines apply to other station employees, including the station manager?

Okay, this may sound like incredibly insider-wonky stuff. It’s not. Not by a long shot. It’s at the heart of our trust relationship with all of you and it is integral to our capacity to do top-shelf journalism.

If you’re not following, or just don’t see why you should care, think NPR and Juan Williams. That episode became a debacle because NPR’s policies regarding news vs. analysis vs. opinion were either not clearly stated or inadequately communicated and/or enforced. And, clearly, NPR failed to impress upon Juan that those distinctions had to apply in all of Juan’s work–whether in his work for NPR or at any other media or public appearance.

The problem is further complicated in the world of access to information on digital platforms. For our NCPR team, in the early days of maintaining a robust web presence, we tended to be more casual when we wrote for the web, sometimes abandoning the rigorous neutrality we have applied for decades to our broadcast news and information. You know–new medium, everyone is jumping in, let’s experiment, etc.

The digital world may be changing on a daily basis, but it is firmly established as a part of most of our lives–including as a source used by many people to get the news.

Standards are standards. News is news. Period. Regardless of platform.

Our basic guidebook is the NPR Code of Ethics (which itself is currently being revisited and refined by NPR staff for final Board approval). Now, we are working on an NCPR code of ethics and practices to make sure our standards are clear in all of the real life situations faced by our staff.

Until we share the final document with you, here are the key points that came out of our conversation:

1. We must clearly define the differences between news, news analysis, and opinion/commentary–so all on staff and the general public understand those differences.

2. NCPR news team members and other staff (yes, including the station manager) may not do public opinion or commentary pieces–on NCPR platforms, in other media, or at public events. That’s a fact of life for journalists and those who work at serious news organizations.

3. NCPR reporters with expertise on a particular issue or news beat may be asked to provide analysis, both on the air and on digital platforms. It is understood that this analysis is designed to advance public understanding of the topic rather than to promote a personal opinion.

I’d love to end this entry right here, but it would be dishonest to do so without admitting to having personally crossed the line into opinion pieces on several occasions–on the air and online. Specifically: regarding the issue of gay marriage (most recently, here) and on the air I know I did a piece about the US invasion of Iraq at the onset of that war.

So this leads to the further philosophical question: if one believes something is inherently a black and white issue (no pun intended, but the example we used in our conversation today was the violent mistreatment of black Americans in the South during the civil rights movement of the ’50s and’60s) is there a place for putting the news organization on one side of the fence (in the example given, this would mean openly opposing the Jim Crow laws). Of course, the problem is: who gets to decide what those absolute good/bad issues are?

Well, I’m done with opinion pieces on anything controversial. I may tell you that I prefer yellow corn to butter and sugar corn, but you won’t hear my opinion on whether or not we should grow corn for fuel. But, I may ask you your opinion. That’s a good job for us–convening the community conversation about…anything.

Again, once we’ve completed our ethics code, we’ll share it with you. In the meantime, we’d love to hear your opinions on all of this.

Here are some links to other discussions of this issue which you may find interesting:

Slate, from about 5 years ago.

Baltimore Sun, from last fall after the Juan Williams firing.

Wikipedia, on objectivity in journalism.

Wikipedia, on ethics and standards in journalism.

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Friday Five: Big Tupper, the Bruins, and gone fishing in Waddington

April 22nd, 2011 by Brian Mann

Web guru Dale Hobson has the day off, so I’m cooking up the list of five NCPR stories and blog posts that you might have missed this week.  These aren’t ranked by public interest, just my picks.

1.  Financial questions about Big Tupper resort.  4/22

2.  Bruins practice (and chill) in Lake Placid on way to playoffs.  4/21

3.  Decoding Adirondack hermit Noah Rondeau’s secret scrawl.  4/20

4.  Is Waddington the US’s ‘ultimate’ fishing destination? 4/19

5.  What does the Census tell us about Adirondack communities? 4/21

Have a great weekend everyone…

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Does your brain want symmetry?

April 20th, 2011 by Brian Mann

The groundbreaking public radio show Radiolab is back on the air with new episodes, with the next installment this afternoon at 1pm.

One of Radiolab’s most influential and breathtaking productions, explored the nature of symmetry and the ways we humans react to that phenomenon in nature.

That episode inspired a very cool new video.

Check out more videos by the producers of this work here and be sure to tune in this afternoon at 1pm.

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Friday Five: NCPR stories and blog posts that sparked this week

April 15th, 2011 by Brian Mann

It is Friday and that means three things here at NCPR.  Todd Moe plants his flag on the best day of the work week, that’s one.

David Sommerstein fires up the Beat Authority, that’s two.  And it’s time for a fond, nostalgic look back at the week’s most visited stories, compiled by NCPR.org guru Dale Hobson.

Here’s what you missed, from 4-wheelers to inmate tallies.

1.  Morning Read: 4-wheeler “Snirt” rally in Tug Hill-Lewis County draws fire 4/13

2.  Obviously, Democrats lost the budget show down 4/9

3.  Morning Read:  Inmate debate roils political map 4/11

4.  Lake Champlain bridge on schedule, “several million dollars” over budget 4/8

5.  Major Adirondack Park employer expands in Saranac Lake 4/12

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Friday Five: The week’s most visited NCPR stories and blog posts

April 8th, 2011 by Brian Mann

So what did you miss this week from NCPR?

Here are the Top Five stories and blog posts, in terms of people clicking through our website to check them out, according to digital guru Dale Hobson.

1.  Ogdensburg waits to find out if state prisons will be spared.  April 5th.

2.  Big growth for Adirondack Park’s biggest community.  April 5th.

3.  North Country looks for state budget fallout.  April 4th.

4. What is it about Plattsburgh and (no) respect? April 4th.

5.  Lessons from ‘The Town That Food Saved’ April 4th.

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The reform that NPR needs: pledge drives

April 7th, 2011 by Brian Mann

First, let me say that last week’s NCPR pledge drive was pretty great.  For all the jokes about coffee mugs and tote bags, these fundraisers are an essential part of public radio.

They are an opportunity to connect directly with the people who use and care for the work North Country Public Radio does, and it also allows us to talk and think out loud about our mission.

(We’re also incredibly grateful, by the way.  These are hard times for a lot of folks, and we exceeded our goal by crazy amounts…)

But the news of late at NPR hasn’t been quite so happy.

After the recent spate of scandals and kerfuffles, NPR is in the process of hiring its two most important executives, the CEO who will drive the whole ship and the top manager for the news division.

My hope is that the NPR board will hire these folks from inside the public broadcasting culture.  They should be people who know the ethics, the mission, and (yes) the business model of public radio.

Regardless of where they come from, I have a wildly idealistic vision that these new executives will implement an important reform:  requiring that NPR staff take part in pledge drives.

I don’t mean that the network itself should hold on-air pledge drives, swapping swag for $40 or $80 pledges.

I mean that NPR executives, editors and reporters should each spend a week out of every year “on assignment” at public radio stations around the country helping out during membership drives.

A lot of the network’s brilliant reporters come to NPR from outside public radio.  They’re newspaper folks, or former magazine writers.

Joining in a drive like the one we had last week would allow them to learn first hand about the intimate, intense connection between our audiences, our stories, our music, and our programs.

This partnership would also re-enforce the important relationship between far-flung public radio stations, like NCPR, and the network based in Washington DC that shapes so much of our programming.

It is especially important for NPR’s new top-shelf executives to have a chance, every year, to listen to the voices of listeners on the telephones, praising, complaining, demanding and inspiring.

They should fill out pledge forms for $10 and $20 gifts.  Because that’s where the deep muscle and endurance of public radio resides.

NPR’s leaders should also have the experience — yes, again, every year — of going on the air and articulating what it is that is different, powerful, and necessary about public media.

The truth is that pledge drives are humbling.  They are exercises in brutal honesty.  They are a major source of revenue.  And finally, most importantly, they are a direct tap-root into the spirit of what we do.

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Sunday Opinion: Ski helmets, Libya and newspapers in transition

April 3rd, 2011 by Brian Mann

Happy Sunday to everyone and thanks again for your generosity, pushing NCPR well over our $210,000 goal for last week.  I think you’ll like some of the ambitious things we’re able to do with your support.

Now on to a wrap-up of this weekend’s opinion pages.  The Plattsburgh Press Republican is endorsing the idea of requiring skiers to wear helmets, something the industry has resisted.

Opponents of government intervention — the same people who didn’t want to be forced to wear seat belts or be told they can’t talk on cell phones while driving — will say the decision about whether to risk their life should be up to the individual skiers.

But some people need help making the right decision because they are willing to take the risk of turning an enjoyable day on the slopes to something tragic.

The Watertown Daily Times embraces the idea of a limited US role in Libya, as NATO forces take a lead there.

Secretary Gates told Congress that there would not be any “boots on the ground” in Libya “as long as I’m in this job.” But the nature of U.S. weaponry raises some questions about that commitment…

Limiting a U.S. role is important to protect against “mission creep” that will put American troops at risk in an open-ended American commitment.

In the Glens Falls Post Star, managing editor Ken Tingley thinks out loud about what it means to transition from being a traditional paper-and-ink newspaper to a web-integrated media company.

We have become that multimedia company that we only dreamed about a few years ago and can now deliver news and advertising in a variety of ways that suit our readers’ tastes.

It is an exciting time to be in the information business, but I wouldn’t blink, you might miss something.

And in a nod to tradition the Adirondack Daily Enterprise is reminding readers that their spring break competition is underway again, with people urged to photograph themselves with the newspaper in exotic locales.

Readers are curious where their Tri-Lakes neighbors go over the winter or spring and love seeing them on location – posing, as always, with a copy of the Enterprise.

The contest is extremely popular, mostly because it’s a dose of positive energy during mud season.

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