Thanks For Your Support. We'll Take It From Here
One of the questions we're most frequently asked on the NPR Ed team is, essentially, "Don't you guys get a lot of money from the Gates Foundation?"
The answer is, of course, yes.
What that question is often implying is: "Aren't you guys just a mouthpiece for the Gates Foundation's agenda?"
One of the questions we're most frequently asked on the NPR Ed team is, essentially, "Don't you guys get a lot of money from the Gates Foundation?"
The answer is, of course, yes.
What that question is often implying is: "Aren't you guys just a mouthpiece for the Gates Foundation's agenda?"
The answer is, of course, no.
In addition to the criticism that we're in the bag for Gates, or one of the many other organizations that support our work, you can pretty easily find comments on our posts saying that we're in the bag for the teachers unions. Or the opponents of the teachers unions. Or that we're too much for the Common Core. No, wait, we're slanted against the Common Core!
In other words, many people view us and our work through the lens of their own beliefs.
We can't help that. 'Twas ever thus, as they say.
The people at NPR who cover politics, or the Middle East, or any other issue face the same scrutiny.
What we can do, though, is be as clear and upfront about who and what we're reporting on as possible. The word we use for that is transparency.
At a practical level that means when we mention Gates, or other foundations or work supported by them, you're going to be seeing notes in our stories pointing out that this or that foundation "also supports NPR's coverage of education."
We know that won't satisfy everyone. When we write about research or report a story about a program or school one of our funders supports, critics are quick to seize upon that as the latest evidence that we've "sold out" ... forgotten our ethics ... been swayed by all that grant money.
I have to tell you, it just doesn't work that way.
The reporters and editors for the most part prefer not to know the details of where our funding comes from. Of course, complete isolation isn't possible, but it just doesn't affect the day-to-day decision-making. We can no more ignore a good story because it's based on work funded by Gates or the Wallace Foundation or someone else, than we can assign a story that isn't worth doing because it would make this or that foundation happy.
Our funders know that when they give NPR money, it helps pay for the reporters and producersThanks For Your Support. We'll Take It From Here : NPR Ed : NPR:
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