NPR Ombudsman Presents 'Promise and Perils' of Internet Age

An “ombudsman” is charged with handling concerns about an organization. In Alicia C. Shepard’s case, that means answering public complaints about the news.

 

Shepard, ombudsman for National Public Radio in Washington, D.C., comes to Utah State University Oct. 4-5 to discuss the state of the news in the Internet age. Her topic, “The Perils and Promise of Social Media,” is the first 2010-2011 Morris Media & Society Lecture at the USU Performance Hall, Tuesday, Oct. 5, from noon-1:15 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

 

Shepard, a veteran journalist, author and educator, will discuss the perils of social media for student and current journalists schooled in traditional professional values.

 

There’s definitely an up-side to social media such as Facebook, blogs, texting and Twitter, but some of the downsides threaten credible journalism, Shepard said.

 

As National Public Radio ombudsman, Shepard is responsible for bringing transparency on NPR’s journalistic decision-making for listeners. She responds to queries and comments from listeners, writes a blog, appears on NPR programs to discuss listener concerns and provides guidance on journalism practices to NPR member stations, such as Utah Public Radio.

 

“I see my job as explaining NPR to listeners, and listeners to NPR,” Shepard said.

 

As part of her visit, Shepard will meet with students in the Department of Journalism and Communication at USU, be interviewed on “Access Utah” on Utah Public Radio and participate in a variety of events for students and the public.

 

Shepard will explore several ethics questions in her speech and class sessions, including guidelines for journalism sites (such as NPR and USU’s Hard News Café) as well as individual bloggers, whether there are journalistic ethics on the Web and how to ensure that online information conforms with ethical standards of journalistic responsibility.

 

“At the end of the day, our most important asset as journalists is our credibility,” Shepard said. “It doesn’t matter how great a writer, on-air personality or reporter you are if you don’t have credibility.”

 

Shepard was named National Public Radio’s ombudsman in 2007. Previously, she was a writer on journalism issues for American Journalism Review for nine years, and more recently wrote for Washingtonian magazine, Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Newark Star Ledger and The Washington Post while working on a new book on Watergate journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

 

That book, Woodward & Bernstein: Life in the Shadow of Watergate (2006), chronicles the lives of the two journalists during and after their landmark investigation. Shepard also is co-author of Running Toward Danger: Stories Behind the Breaking News of 9/11 (2002), about how journalists covered the tragedy and the public roles they played. She also wrote Narrowing the Gap: Military, Media and the Iraq War (2004).

 

She is on the boards of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards, the Fund for Investigative Journalism and the Organization of News Ombudsmen.

 

Shepard’s appearance at USU is co-sponsored by Utah Public Radio and the Department of Journalism and Communication’s Morris Media & Society Lecture Series, with financial support from the USU Provost’s office.

 

Other Morris Media & Society Lecture Series events include: Oct. 21, Reed Cowan and 8: The Mormon Proposition, a USU alumnus, Cowan, a TV news anchor in Miami, brings his Sundance documentary about gays, same-sex marriage and California’s 2008 Proposition 8 campaign to campus with screening and discussion at Eccles Conference Center, 7 p.m.; Nov. 4, Anne Garrells, National Public Radio’s war correspondent, brings her eye-witness accounts of Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo and more to USU with “Bearing Witness — One journalist’s take on covering the world,” USU Performance Hall, 2-3:30 p.m.

 

• USU Department of Journalism and Communication 
• USU College of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Utah Public Radio, Access Utah interview with Alicia Shepard

Contact: Ted Pease, Journalism & Communication Department: 435-797-3293; Nora Zambreno, Utah Public Radio: 435-797-3138