NPR YouTube Debate Analysis

Here's my angry missive to NPR for a segment of their debate coverage:

Your analysis of the YouTube debate on Morning Edition July 24 left listeners with a very serious misunderstanding of what actually happened.

Talking to Steve Inskeep, commentator James Kotecki said he thought it was great that they had the Reverend Reggie Longcrier in the audience for a follow-up to see if Senator Edwards had actually answered the question. The Rev. Longcrier said "Not like I would have liked to have heard it."

When pressed for why the answer had been inadequate, he said he wasn't really paying attention.

HE ADMITTED HE DIDN'T HEAR THE ANSWER.

"I didn't quite get some, some people were moving around and I didn't get all of his answer."

Watch it for yourself:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=x_jpGUl7IBA


When you put a guy barely out of college in front of a national audience to analyze a presidential debate (and I understand why you did it given the format of this candidates' forum), you owe it to us to make sure he's got the facts straight. When he doesn't it's the host's job to set the record straight.

As a longtime listener I expect more of NPR.

Their response (at least they did respond) was one of those non-apology acknowledgments, "I'm sorry if you were offended..."

Thank you for contacting NPR's Morning Edition.

We regret that our programming has not met your expectations. We strive to offer the highest quality of news and information available.

Listener feedback helps us to accomplish this goal.We welcome praise, as well as criticism, and your thoughts will be taken into consideration.

Thank you for listening to Morning Edition, and for your continued support of public broadcasting. For the latest news and information, visit NPR.org.

Sincerely,
Alan
NPR Services
(in a bold move, he included his phone number, which I have edited out here)