It's one thing for NPR's Scott Simon wrongly to scold Senator Barack Obama for supposedly accusing Senator John McCain of planning to inject race into the Presidential campaign (Obama actually said the "Republicans" would do so - the whole thing was ably diaried here and here).
But apparently Mr. Simon wasn't willing to give equal time - or any time - to those who took issue with his characterization.
Like many people, I didn't much care for Simon's twisting Senator Obama's words (in his June 21, 2008 "Simon Says" segment), and my tiny little mind reeled at the idea that a supposed journalist at NPR couldn't understand the difference between "McCain" and "Republicans," especially after 2004's Swift Boat fiasco. I even wrote to NPR (within ten minutes of hearing Simon's little rant, in fact). I won't reprint the whole thing here, but among my points I made the following:
We are far beyond the day - if it ever existed - when a Presidential campaign consists of just candidate vs. candidate. When Senator Obama referred to "Republicans," he meant just that - the entire Rovian machine of smear tactics and cheap-shot artistry that springs up around a candidate, not just the candidate himself.
Later that week I received a nice enough, if somewhat formulaic, note from NPR Services staffer Michelle:
Thank you for contacting NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday.
We regret if 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 both criticism and praise, and your thoughts will be taken into consideration.
Thank you for listening to Weekend Edition Saturday, and for your continued support of public broadcasting. For the latest news and information, visit NPR.org.
(For the record, I don't consider programming to "not meet my expectations" merely because someone disagrees with me. I actually hope that I do hear someone who disagrees with me. What didn't meet my expectations was Scott Simon's inability correctly to comprehend standard spoken English as uttered by a presidential candidate.)
Naturally, I wanted to hear just how my thoughts would be taken into consideration. Weekend Edition Saturday usually sets aside a couple of minutes to read a few listener comments. When I first drafted this diary, I thought it was every show; I held off because a look at the rundowns of previous WES programs showed that it's more like every other show, sometimes every third show. And, okay, I'm just narcissistic enough to want to hear if my deathless prose makes it on the air - I'd had a letter read on "Weekend Edition Saturday" a decade or so ago, so I figured I was due (even though I rarely write to NPR).
As I say, usually they run listener letters every second or third program. And I couldn't help but think that there were more people upset about this commentary than I. So I listened. And I checked. And you know what?
From the date of broadcast, June 21, to now, there have been no listener comments aired on "Weekend Edition Saturday." None. Nada. Zip. Zilch. They last ran listener letters that day, in fact. Following which Simon scurried out of town for two weeks. But in the last four programs, they have neglected to air even one listener comment. Here are the links to the program rundowns so you can verify my figures:
June 28, 2008
July 5, 2008
July 12, 2008
July 19, 2008
Now, NPR and Mr. Simon may argue that other news precluded airing listener comments. Yes, I'm sure the story about the Wrigley Field-themed cemetery for dead Chicago Cubs fans (like Mr. Simon, except for the dead part) was deemed crucial to the national dialogue, as was the previous week's disquisition on the prevalence of left-handed U.S. presidents, or the minute they devoted to Sen. Patrick Leahy's cameo in The Dark Knight. So I suppose "there were bigger stories" is one explanation.
The other, of course, is that Scott Simon can dish it out, but can't take it when hundreds, for all I know thousands, of angry listeners call him out on a shoddy commentary that misrepresents the words of the presumptive Democratic nominee. Well, Simon Says what he's going to say, and hears what he wants to hear, and doesn't hear what he doesn't want to hear (like listener criticism). But NessMonster Says: Scott Simon, you are a big fat coward, and if you can't get a story or a commentary right, and you don't have the guts to admit your mistake, at least have the guts to air listener criticism.