Liberals Unhappy: NPR Down to One Reporter on 'Climate Change' Beat

October 29th, 2014 8:12 AM
Liberals are horrified that on paper, NPR now only has one reporter on the "climate change" beat. Katherine Bagley at InsideClimate News reports there used to be three full-time reporters and an editor on the Earth-on-fire watch. But NPR insists that it knows this is a deeply important issue, and never one in need of balance. 

NPR Staff and Audience Want Another Ombudsman That Thinks NPR Is Too C

July 13th, 2014 7:19 PM
NPR’s absentee ethics watchdog/ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos is ending his three-year term (with three items in the the first six months of 2014, one of them insisting on a ban of the word “Redskins.”) NPR is looking for someone who has a “diplomatic style that will earn the respect and trust of the public and the NPR staff and other NPR managers.” In reality, they’re not looking for…

NPR 'Listener Advocate' Tells Complaining Listeners They Don't Have 'F

September 23rd, 2013 6:56 AM
NPR ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos addressed the issue of bias, but only on whether NPR should accept “enhanced underwriting” – commercials – from Al-Jazeera America. The advocate for the listeners told them they don't have "free speech values." He basically said critics of the network are destroyers of free speech, and should stop complaining: “Whether NPR should even accept the…

Where Is NPR Ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos

June 5th, 2013 1:57 PM
Judging from the silence from the NPR ombudsman, it would appear that the taxpayer-funded radio network has solved the pervasive problems of bias and ideological monoculture that have plagued it for decades. NPR's internal media critic, Edward Schumacher-Matos, has not written a blog post since May 6 and has not been seen on Twitter since May 3, despite being called out several times by…

NPR Ombudsman Slams WashPost for Dumping Their Ombudsman, Then Trashes

March 5th, 2013 6:59 AM
The Washington Post decided to dump its ombudsman or reader’s advocate position after Patrick Pexton’s two-year contract ended. The position is “independent,” but all too often, the hiring media outlet gets every benefit of the doubt. Pexton has defended some incredibly shameless hit pieces, including the Rick Perry “Niggerhead”-on-a-rock story and the Mitt Romney “haircut bully” episode of…

NPR Ombudsman 'Loved' to Discover Republicans Get More 'Fiscal Cliff

December 13th, 2012 2:03 PM
NPR ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos has demonstrated he's not interested in the argument that NPR has a liberal bias. But he has repeatedly addressed listeners who are angry NPR favors Republicans too much, or fails to pounce immediately on leftist PR stunts like Occupy Wall Street. On Wednesday, his post began: "Arthur Price of New York City asked this provocative question: 'Is it my…

NPR 'Listener Advocate' Slams Listeners Offended by Pope Jokes; They'r

March 25th, 2012 8:13 AM
Possibly in response to NewsBusters readers who passed on our item on the string of Pope Benedict-mocking jokes on NPR's game show "Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me!" NPR ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos tells NewsBusters and other critics: lighten up, or be compared to radical Muslims. Isn't the ombudsman supposed to advocate for the listeners, not denounce them? "If we keep jokes about the pope…

NPR's Ombudsman Seeks Listener Reaction on Liberal Bias -- From Ralph

March 5th, 2012 6:27 AM
NPR ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos is just making a cartoon out of himself in trying to be responsive after the Juan Williams firing and the Meet-a-Radical-Muslim-for-Lunch scandal. He went to discuss the idea of liberal bias on NPR with....Ralph Nader. "Nader, a five-time presidential candidate, has been calling me in recent months to hold my feet to the fire, and so I went to meet with him…

Smug Incoming NPR Chief: 'I Think Critics...Don't Even Listen' to NPR

October 20th, 2011 5:09 PM
Incoming NPR president Gary Knell smugly dismissed NPR critics in an interview with James Rainey of the Los Angeles Times. "If you listen over a period of time you hear voices from all ends of the political spectrum on NPR," Knell argued. "I think a lot of the critics, by what they say, don't even listen to the service." (Dear Mr. Smug: read the NPR section of NewsBusters, with links to your…

Angry Anti-war NPR Host Acting As 'Occupy' PR Flack in DC

October 19th, 2011 4:46 PM
Matthew Boyle of the Daily Caller has a hot scoop about a National Public Radio employee aiding "Occupy" protests in the District of Columbia. "National Public Radio host Lisa Simeone appears to be breaking the taxpayer-subsidized network’s ethics rules by acting as a spokeswoman for Occupy D.C. group 'October 2011,' which is currently 'occupying” Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C.' Simeone…

NPR Ombudsman Slams NewsBusters, National Review: 'Certainly No Libera

October 18th, 2011 7:48 AM
The ombudsman at a media outlet is supposed to be an advocate for the audience, a watchdog to keep the media outlet honest. But several new ombudsmen are following a more comfortable rut: kissing the hand that feeds them, and defending the media outlet from "baseless" public criticism. Patrick Pexton is doing that at The Washington Post, and Edward Schumacher-Matos is doing the same at NPR.…

NPR Ombudsman Cries Foul on 'Ultra-Right' Label in Norway Story

August 27th, 2011 4:04 PM
On Tuesday, NPR ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos reached back to a July 26 story on the horrific shootings in Norway. Correspondent Sylvia Poggioli suggested the shooter, Anders Breivik “once belonged to the ultra-right Progress Party.” Schumacher-Matos lamented the “ultra-right” label, and asked Poggioli to explain herself. He called it "ultra-wrong." It quickly became clear that Poggioli…