The credibility of NPR

With an hour-long drive to work every other day, I soak a lot of National Public Radio while in my car. I download about seven weekly podcasts and my home radio is set to 90.5 FM, the Austin affiliate station.

Occasionally, I visit the NPR Web site, which is why I’ve chosen it for this assignment.

I am usually impressed with what work NPR does, so I have pretty high expectations of them. NPR is a nonprofit organization that produces news, talk and entertainment programming. NPR has a partnership with noncommercial independent radio stations — about 800 — that provide much of their own local programming. Unlike most news Web sites, NPR relies on donations instead of advertising. It can come from individuals or major corporations, and I have yet to see any sign of favoritism that NPR shows toward donors.

NPR easily has the best, most credible news site for a radio organization. Like any other news organization, it covers anything from breaking news to features. The main story Monday evening was about Iran’s president making a controversial visit to Columbia University.

The stories are fair and unbiased. They’re straight news reporting without the author’s opinion, unless the opinion is clearly labeled so. NPR also offers analysis and perspective from reputable journalists like Daniel Schorr and Ted Coppel.

As far as its radio shows go, Terry Gross, host and co-executive producer of Fresh Air, is the most skilled interviewer I’ve heard. She is almost always prepared with a wealth of information about her subject and an arsenal of insightful, provocative questions. She is evidence of the quality and fairness NPR aims for in its radio and Web programming.

NPR subscribes to the Associated Press, so it has a news feed on the right part of its site that keeps readers updated on breaking news.

From the Web site’s homepage, you can scour programs, stations, transcripts and archives. NPR does a good job of making its information accessible. You can also click on most of the stories for an audio version.

The look of NPR’s Web site is clean, navigable and somewhat stylish. There aren’t nonfunctional links or pictures that won’t load on the page. The NPR Web site has a consistent style. Everything is organized in a clear manner. The news stories are in the news section, the music stories in the music section, etc.

What especially makes NPR is that is has an ombudsman, the public’s representative to NPR. Reputable news sources need ombudsmen to look out for readers and ensure that news publications are reporting fairly and accurately.