In Alicia Shepard's defense of the Zinn offense, she writes,
After the flood of emails, I asked Sweeney to take another listen.So it was NPR Managing Editor David Sweeney who green-lighted sicking the attack dog Horowitz on Howard Zinn. Searching NPR for David Sweeney doesn't produce the usual bio. Perhaps he's too new on the job? Or too much of a spook for words?
He agreed the Horowitz quote is harsh in tone. "That doesn't undermine the legitimacy of using his point of view," said Sweeney.
Googling "Sweeney NPR" finally led to this facebook pic of Sweeney.
According to a story in Webnewser, Sweeney was promoted last May:
By the way, the comment at the Webnewser site is quite interesting.NPR Looks to Hire a Digital News M.E. As More Leadership Changes Are Announced (5/13/09)
David Sweeney is assuming the position of Managing Editor. David will direct the daily editorial process -- determining which stories will be covered, how and by whom. The desks; Foreign, Washington, Science, National and the Newscast unit will all report to him. David's reputation as a clear decision-maker and the manager who anticipates everyone's needs will be invaluable as we work to streamline communication and coordination and help shows and online get what they need. He will initially work a Tuesday-Saturday schedule to cover the start-up of the Newsdesk and will report to Dick.
"Dick" is Dick Meyer, who was also shuffled in during the NPR management shakeup last May. He was plucked from CBS to become the Executive Editor of NPR news. I guess that's what Alicia means about NPR being a Main Stream Media organization.
So Sweeney answers to Dick Meyer who answers to Kinsey Wilson, a brilliant investigative journalist (heh) who cut his teeth at that muckraking outfit, USA Today.
From 2000-2005, Wilson was Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of USATODAY.com. He expanded the mission and staffing of the site, developed third-party partnerships and led the staff through coverage of major news events including the disputed 2000 presidential election, the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, the Iraq War and Hurricane Katrina.Yeah, remember all the ground-breaking exposes about those issues in USA Today?
Who does Kinsey answer to? Hard to tell. I invite the reader to go to Muckety and see if you can figure this behemoth out.
4 comments:
The Muckety map list Vin Weber as a director, but a search of NPR has no mention of Weber. Weber's wiki bio notes that
He briefly was a commentator on National Public Radio the following year about developments in Congress after the Republicans took control of the House, providing commentary on the "revolution" he had helped create. Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting reported that Weber frequently offered his opinions on NPR about health care issues, but never revealed that he was paid lobbyist for several health insurance giants.
It's reported that he was made to quit congress in the wake of the House Banking Scandal...something that was laughably benign, given the real bank scandals we've experienced since, but, strangely enough, was trumpeted by Weber's pal Gingrich in order to oust Democratic representatives and take control of the House in 1994. Weird.
Another Person of Interest in the Muckety Map is John A. Herrmann Jr. who is listed as both a Senior Managing Director of the now defunct global financial-services firm and one of the 6 public members of the Board of Directors of NPR. This begs the question, are there private members?
The NPR page lists him now as Vice Chairman, Lincoln International,whose web site assures the gentle reader that it is
Independent
- Owned and operated by our partners
- No conflicts of interest
- Long-term relationships based on trust
Isn't that nice?
oops
Another Person of Interest in the Muckety Map is John A. Herrmann Jr. who is listed as both a Senior Managing Director of the now defunct global financial-services firm, Lehman Bros, Inc.
I should reference my comment here: http://nprcheck.blogspot.com/2010/02/its-time-for-interesting-comparison.html
NPR to Stations: Avoid Saying '46 Million Americans' Are Uninsured from the Business and Media Institute (Advancing the culture of free enterprise in America.)
The Business & Media Institute exposed the error of many journalists in July 2007 when everyone from politicians, to Michael Moore to major broadcast and print media were claiming that there were between 40 and 50 million uninsured Americans.
Those claims were incorrect because (at that time) the Census was reporting 46.577 million people uninsured in America – including nearly 10 million in the “not a citizen” category.
Apparently Sweeney is someone who picks up the phone when BMI calls and then relays BMI's directives to all the stations and news desks.
It seems that BMI is yet another of the many heads of the industry (Agency) lobbying group that includes (with some overlap) Creative Response Consultants and Swiftboat Veterans for Truthiness, or whatever.
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