‘Caliphate’ podcast: public radio calls the New York Times about ‘trial lapses’

‘Caliphate’ podcast: public radio calls the New York Times about ‘trial lapses’

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A group of 24 public radio stations sent a letter to the audio department of the Times on Monday with concerns about “failures of judgment” in their response last month when the newspaper announced that the podcast “did not meet our standards for precision”. These stations broadcast “The Daily”, The Times’ main daily news podcast. The letter, obtained by CNN Business, was previously tweeted by Erik Wemple of the Washington Post.

The Times launched an investigation into the reporting process behind “Caliphate” in September, after Canadian police accused Shehroze Chaudhry of “terrorist fraud-activity”. Last month, The Times said it “found a history of misrepresentations by Chaudhry and no corroboration that he committed the atrocities he described in the ‘Caliphate’ podcast,” according to a note from the editor, and posted audio corrections. episodes.
These journalistic errors have been a black mark on The Times’ audio ambitions, led by the team behind “The Daily”. “Caliphate” won Peabody 2018 in the radio / podcast category, a prestigious journalism award, which The Times has since returned.
Monday’s letter, sent by the Association of Public Radio Program Directors, focused not on the merit of the podcast, but on the way The Times handled the consequences. He expressed three concerns. The first was in relation to “The Daily” host Michael Barbaro, who contacted other journalists in what was perceived as an attempt to try to influence his coverage of the “Caliphate” consequences. These messages were previously reported by David Folkenflik of NPR, who was among those contacted by Barbara.

The letter also said that The Times ‘decision to have Barbaro interview the Times’ executive editor, Dean Baquet, was “flawed”, in part because of personal relationship with Lisa Tobin, executive producer of “Caliphate”. Both are engaged.

The final concern was with Andy Mills, producer of “Caliphate”. The letter disagrees with the fact that Mills received “greater visibility” after the fallout, while Rukmini Callimachi, the journalist behind the podcast, was transferred. Mills produced and hosted an episode of “The Daily” that was released a few days after The Times announced the results of its investigation into the “Caliphate” podcast. The letter also linked to a story in the Washington Post about allegations of Mills’ inappropriate behavior, most of which occurred in his previous work on WNYC’s Radiolab.

Abby Goldstein, president and chief executive officer of the Public Radio Program Directors Association, told CNN Business on Tuesday that the letter was intended to raise concerns and not “draw a line in the sand” with specific demands.

“When we put the programming on the air for our audience, we are endorsing that programming. We tell our audience that we believe in the journalistic rigor of these programs and make them available to them through our largest megaphone,” Goldstein said. The letter is “really about taking responsibility for the team’s behavior”.

The Times responded to each of the concerns on Tuesday in a letter signed by Sam Dolnick, the newspaper’s assistant managing editor.

“We believe that we have dealt with what was a significant journalistic lapse responsibly. We are deeply committed to continuing to pursue ambitious audio journalism and have already begun to implement changes that will make our audio report even stronger,” wrote Dolnick.

Dolnick wrote that The Times did not believe that Barbara had to reveal her relationship with Tobin, as the conversation was seen as an “audio version” of a note from the editor, while a “responsibility interview” was granted to the NPR. He also said that Bárbaro “deeply regrets” the private messages he sent to journalists and that “the editors discussed his expectations with him in the future”.

Regarding Mills, Dolnick wrote that the Times is taking allegations of misconduct “very seriously”. As to why Mills presented the recent episode of “The Daily”, Dolnick said the episode had already been scheduled, but that the company “should have changed plans”.

The Times did not comment beyond the letter. Barbaro and Mills did not respond to requests for comment.

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