NPR and breaking news

[Garrett Wollman]

<<On Sun, 12 Feb 2006 15:19:42 -0500, Scott Fybush <scott@fybush.com> said:

> I suppose that's not a very complimentary thing for someone in my shoes 
> to be saying, but even NPR's news leadership will admit that rapid 
> response to big stories isn't what they do best there.

That's not necessarily a bad thing.  Considering the resource
limitations, it's probably better for NPR to let the commercial news
services do the only thing they are still able to do well these days,
and instead provide that "sober second look" that works better in
NPR's programming style anyway.  A democratic society needs "circuit
breakers" to slow down the news cycle and provide the deeper analysis
and reflection necessary to come to correct conclusions.  

NPR is at its best when it functions like a magazine, not when it
joins the 24-hour rush to judgment.

-GAWollman