If you had to pick one public radio show that you’d think would be completely free of entanglement with politics, you might well pick “World of Opera.” World of Opera is, not surprisingly, a show about opera: each program consists of an introduction, and then a full-length opera, usually a recording of a live performance from one of the world’s major opera houses. The show, which has been on the air for over 20 years, has been produced by North Carolina-based WDAV for almost two years (it was previously produced by NPR). The unlikelihood of such a show getting mixed up in politics is reflected in NPR’s Code of Ethics, which in the course of discussing freelancers, says:
There will be instances where provisions of this code are not applicable to an outside contributor. For example, a freelancer who primarily does arts coverage, for example [sic], may not in some situations be subject to the prohibition on making contributions to political campaigns…. There may be instances in which the type of programming [by independent producers] may not demand the application of a particular principle in this code.
Which brings us to Lisa Simeone, the host of World of Opera. Simeone has worked in radio for a long time, and she has appeared on various NPR programs over the years, including as the host of Weekend All Things Considered for a while. She is not now (and, I believe, never has been) employed by NPR, nor by WDAV: she is a freelancer engaged by WDAV to host World of Opera. So, to recap: Simeone is a freelancer for WDAV, an independent classical music station in North Carolina. WDAV produces World of Opera, which Simeone hosts. NPR distributes World of Opera, but has nothing to do with its production, and it doesn’t pay Simeone.
Simeone is also involved in the Occupy movement. She recorded a video in which she forcefully makes the case for why she is participating in the October2011 protest that is occupying Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC, and she may have had other involvement as well – the reports on this are a bit sketchy. Needless to say, she does her protesting on her own time.
However, that’s not good enough for NPR. When NPR learned of Simeone’s involvement with Occupy, it announced that
We’re in conversations with WDAV about how they intend to handle this. We of course take this issue very seriously.
Ah yes, very seriously indeed. Harumph harumph. Now, before we get further into the story, let’s get one thing very clear: plenty of NPR employees who report on politics express their opinions in public all the time. NPR political correspondent Mara Liasson also works as a commentator on Fox News (where she says things like this and this). The insanely-highly-paid Saturday Weekend Edition host Scott Simon publishes op-ed pieces. Simeone has certainly chosen a less conventional means of making her opinion known. But, on the other hand, she neither reports on politics nor is employed by NPR.
Anyway, the discussions between NPR and WDAV went on for a couple of days, and then WDAV made its position clear:
Ms. Simeone’s activities outside of this job are not in violation of any of WDAV’s employee codes and have had no effect on her job performance at WDAV. Ms. Simeone remains the host of World of Opera.
So, Simeone got to keep her job. End of story? Nope.
NPR will no longer distribute World of Opera, an NPR spokeswoman said in a statement sent to its member stations Friday evening…. Dana Davis Rehm, senior vice president for communications for NPR, said the decision to change the arrangement came “from different views about the role of a program host.” She said NPR believes hosts “represent NPR regardless of the type of program they host.” As such, they are barred from any political activity….
Simeone said previously she was “puzzled” by NPR’s concerns about her involvement in the protest group.
“I’ve never brought a whiff of my political activities into the work I’ve done for NPR World of Opera,” Simeone said in an email to David Folkenflik. “What is NPR afraid I’ll do — insert a seditious comment into a synopsis of Madame Butterfly?”
She also told The Baltimore Sun she felt NPR was treating her differently.
“This sudden concern with my political activities is also surprising in light of the fact that Mara Liaason reports on politics for NPR yet appears as a commentator on FoxTV, Scott Simon hosts an NPR news show yet writes political op-eds for national newspapers, Cokie Roberts reports on politics for NPR yet accepts large speaking fees from businesses,” Simeone said.
Rehm said NPR does not “see a valid comparison.” She said those are “entirely different situations.” She said Simeone was being an activist, which is “quite different” from what host Scott Simon does.
Why, yes! Totally different situations, obviously. Being an “activist” involves making your opinion known by, you know, being active, and doing stuff, whereas writing your opinion down or saying it on a TV show is different. It’s … quieter, I guess, and much more polite. Activists are just so awfully rude, and sometimes they are smelly too.
It remains unclear exactly why NPR did what it did. Yes, the NPR code of ethics has a provision stating that “NPR journalists may not participate in marches and rallies involving causes or issues that NPR covers, nor should they sign petitions or otherwise lend their name to such causes,” and clearly Simeone did that. But (a) it is unclear why that provision (as well as the one barring political contributions) is in there while reporters are clearly permitted to make very public declarations of opinion on matters they cover as reporters (the Liasson and Simon examples); (b) as noted above, the code expressly contemplates that some “NPR journalists,” specifically, freelancers who only do arts coverage, might be exempt from those provisions, and Simeone is clearly such an “NPR journalist”; and, most oddly, (c) NPR’s spokesperson “said the network didn’t need to cite the code in its decision to drop the show because its position on hosts’ political activities was ‘even more fundamental.'” Ah – so it’s not relying on its ethics code for this decision. Then what, exactly, is it relying on? That has not been explained.
You know, if NPR is looking for a way to erode whatever support remains for funding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (and yes, I know that CPB does not directly fund NPR, but CPB does fund local stations that supply much of NPR’s funding), this seems like a very promising road to go down. They royally screwed up with Juan Williams, they were humiliated when James O’Keefe caught an NPR executive making embarrassing comments, and so now they drastically overreact at the merest hint of controversy, to the point where they drop a show about opera, of all things, because its host got involved with a protest movement. One begins to wonder if there’s anything that NPR management can do right.
I appreciate how WDAV (which will continue to distribute World of Opera on its own) handled this situation, so I tossed a few bucks their way. If you’re similarly inclined, you can do so at this link.
Christopher says
Just like I didn’t understand why Keith Olberman was disciplined by MSNBC for political contributions awhile back. Maybe disclosure is appropriate in some contexts, but I’d be more concerned if candidates were giving money TO journalists in the hopes of getting favorable coverage. To me it just fundamentally seems wrong that an employer can tell an employee what to do with their own money or their own words on their own time.
kbusch says
I suspect NPR is now hyper-sensitive to how things appear to Congressional Republicans.
And how fair are Congressional Republicans? One is reminded of Texas. History texts there are required to highlight the history of the conservative movement. The state constitution disqualifies atheists from elective office.
On some elementary matters of fairness, the modern Republican can be completely blind.
gregd says
ahh, yes, the republicans again! They sure are insidious little buggers are’nt they?! They must have their A game going since they obviously had a hand in getting the screws turned on an obscure Opera program on NPR.