Sunday, November 30, 2008

Should NPR Run Funding Credits from the Department of Homeland Security?

[Since November 10, National Public Radio news programs have been running what are in effect paid ads for the controversial E-Verify program. Complaints from outraged listeners caused NPR to address the issue in a column.]

by Alicia C. Shepard, NPR Ombudsman
November 25, 2008

“Support for NPR comes from NPR stations, and the Department of Homeland Security, offering E-Verify, confirming the legal working status of new hires. At D-H-S dot gov slash E-Verify.”

Whenever NPR's Talk of the Nation dips into the topic of immigration, the national call-in show's telephone board lights up like a Christmas tree.

Immigration is an especially hot-button topic. So it's not surprising that when NPR began running a funding credit on Nov. 10 for the Department of Homeland Security's E-Verify program, my office heard from listeners and a few concerned public radio station managers. [...]

Read the full article, with readers' comments:
http://www.npr.org/ombudsman/2008/11/should_npr_run_funding_credits.html#email

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