Oh, damn. A former supervisor of mine (probably my favorite supervisor), who is now head of audio at Slate, wrote an appropriately critical piece about NPR. Kudos for this, Alicia Montgomery. slate.com/business/2024/…

NPR Berliner’s complaints include that NPR is focused on ending systemic racism; that NPR allows trans people to dictate how trans people should be talked about; and that NPR doesn’t cater to ideological conservatives, or even makes them feel uncomfortable or unseen.

What this essay – and all analyses of “viewpoint diversity” that I have seen – there’s a key (and perhaps stubborn) misunderstanding of people in this country. White men in the center often assume that everyone's most important and polarizing identity is a partisan one.

But for most people, there are dozens of concerns, identities, and social locations that matter more than left versus right: class, race, gender, geography, vocation, ethnicity, disability, and sexuality among them. In fact, people are TIRED of left/right polarization.

If there’s anything to criticize NPR for in this realm, I’d say it’s the tendency to frame political discussions in terms of party politics. “Viewpoint diversity” insists on and reinforces precisely that frame, ignoring the forms of diversity that are truly still lacking at NPR.

Also: given that it’s a whole essay criticizing NPR for 'telling people how to think,” I’m fascinated that he cannot cite a single actual example of NPR actually telling people how to think. Everything has a frame, yes -- he just doesn't like the frame as much now.

His examples are all about news judgment - things that he thinks should have been covered less, or more. And yet news judgment changes depending on who is in the room, whose needs are considered. That is part of the argument for all kinds of diversity in newsrooms.

Imagine an NPR that was all about the interests of working class and poor people. Or an NPR whose stories were focused on Black and brown communities primarily. You feel me?

So me and Uri do have something in common. He’s over there saying conservatives should get more air time. I’m over here saying NPR should cater to the interests of the most marginalized and underrepresented, across the political spectrum. These are both ideological viewpoints.

It just so happens that his POV has massive institutional support and a very organized media machine behind it, saying it over and over every chance they get.

An aside, this whole argument for “viewpoint diversity” is an invention of Right Wingers who want to deploy faux objectivity to silence marginalized people. If you don’t believe me, read my book? I wrote a history of this, in a chapter ironically called “Public Radio Voice.”

My wonderful, talented colleague Kara is looking for a job. She is efficient, passionate and a joy to be around. I will miss her terribly ❤️

How international gold dealers exploited a tiny African kingdom’s economic dream icij.org/investigations… via ICIJ

USC banned its valedictorian from giving a speech at graduation for the first time in its history, citing safety concerns after she received online backlash for her pro-Palestinian views.

latimes.com/california/sto…

Breaking: I have accepted a position @NYTimes as Washington investigations editor. I'm grateful for this opportunity to work with the Washington bureau and the NYT's tremendous staff on accountability journalism. And yes, John and I are moving to D.C.

All-time Year 21 scoring leaders:

8.1 -- LeBron in the 4Q
7.4 -- LeBron in the 2Q
7.4 -- Vince Carter

LeBron this season:
- 26 PPG on 63 TS%
- 7 RPG, 8 APG

Since All-Star Break:
- 28 PPG on 67 TS%
- 8 RPG, 10 APG

For someone else, that's almost certainly a 1st-Team selection. But we've grown so tired of LeBron's greatness, people are asking if he should even be All-NBA at all.

Players to average 25+ PPG, 54+ FG% and 40+ 3P% in a season (among qualifiers for NBA's official PPG and 3P% leaderboards):

- 2013 LeBron
- 2024 LeBron

That's the full list.

ICIJ’s #PandoraPapers revealed that the Republic of Congo’s first family is no stranger to rerouting money using offshore entities.

Now, U.S. prosecutors allege a web of shell companies was used to funnel millions of dollars out of the country.

buff.ly/3UcXvwE

COMING SOON: For ICIJ’s latest investigation, 38 journalists from 11 countries investigated illicit financial flows in Southern Africa and beyond.

Stay tuned for the launch of #SwaziSecrets in the coming days. Sign up to get it delivered to your inbox: buff.ly/43YutUP