NPR to create “Backstop” editors to review all the public broadcaster’s journalism prior to release
Some NPR employees are reportedly feeling angst about a new group of six senior editors — called the “Backstop” — who will be charged with reviewing all of the public broadcaster’s journalism prior to release, reports Inside Radio
Acting Chief Content Officer, Senior VP and Editor in Chief Edith Chapin outlined plans in a memo to NPR’s staff. “We will be hiring six senior editorial positions — a Managing Editor, two Deputy Managing Editors, and three Senior Editors to staff this team across shifts,” she wrote. “The Managing Editor overseeing the team will report to me in my capacity as Senior VP and Editor in Chief, with a dotted line to Collin Campbell, Senior VP Podcast Strategy and Franchise Development. The Backstop team will work in collaboration with the Managing Editors and DMEs who run the day.”
Chapin said that while NPR creates “great journalism” across more platforms than ever before, changes are needed with all of editorial staff now together under one division.
“We need new structures that enable us to see across the entirety of our journalism and think about our overall coverage strategically. We encourage audiences to evaluate our coverage based on the full depth and breadth of our content — particularly our approach to covering complex and ongoing stories — and we need to ensure that we too are looking at our coverage as a whole,” she wrote in the memo. “Some of our next steps will be straightforward enhancements of existing processes, while others will introduce new workflows to better match best practices for a journalism operation of our size and reach.”
“The latest NPR turmoil comes against the backdrop of an essay published in The Free Press by now-former Senior Business Editor Uri Berliner, who outlined allegations of bias at NPR, saying its left-leaning newsroom skewed the news, reports Inside Radio.
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