S. Dakota Indian Foster Care 1: Investigative Storytelling Gone Awry
13th August 2013
The NPR Ombudsman takes a ‘journalist’ to the woodshed.
The series committed five sins that violate NPR’s Code of Standards and Ethics. They were:
1. No proof for its main allegations of wrongdoing;
2. Unfair tone in communicating these unproven allegations;
3. Factual errors, shaky anecdotes and misleading use of data by quietly switching what was being measured;
4. Incomplete reporting and lack of critical context;
5. No response from the state on many key points.
No doubt the investigative team was driven by the history of injustices suffered by Native Americans. There is much to be outraged about. But good intentions are not enough. Specifically, there is no whistleblower, no document — no smoking gun even — to support the unmistakable allegation that for nearly the last 15 years, state social workers have been so evil as to take Indian children from their families as a way to reap federal funds for the state government. The charge is so shocking and such a potential insult to many dedicated social workers that the burden of proof should have been especially high.
NPR’s stories are biased? Not news.
NPR employee calls them on it? Now that’s news….
August 14th, 2013 at 05:39
After decades of ‘social work’ and ‘social justice’ in the USA, I would believe any evil told of social workers.
I am in a conundrum: NPR lies twenty-four hours day in all media. So, which is the lie: the original shoddy report or the ombudsman’s report?