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I agree with many of the comments regarding the lack of professionalism by Emily Harris.  My family and I recently moved to the Portland area from Seattle and I have been a long-time, loyal NPR listener (KUOW in Seattle) for many years.  One of the first things I do when I enter a new town is find the local NPR station on the dial.  As such, I caught this morning's show because I am automatically tuned in during my ride to work, not because I was anxious to hear from Mayor Adams and Mr. Leonard.  However, I have been following the recent local issues (related to Mayor Adams' past and the current city issues with the bridge, etc.), so I was interested to hear the interview.

I was quite appalled to hear the tone of interview – Ms. Harris demonstrated an obvious bias and lack of professionalism throughout the interview.  To be honest, I was embarrassed for her, and felt that Mayor Adams showed a great deal of restraint and dignity by not standing up and walking out of that spectacle.  Was this amateur radio hour?  Was this her idea of "hard-hitting", provocative questioning?  I am someone who is not invested in the outcome of this interview; I don't have strong feelings about Mayor Adams.  But I do have strong feelings when I hear an interview that is so inappropriate.  I was happy when I arrived to my office, where I could leave the confines of my car and tune in to the internet broadcast of a truly newsworthy broadcast on KUOW - perhaps the staff of OPB should listen in and take notes!  At KUOW the journalists know how to investigate exceptionally challenging issues and interview individuals under controversial circumstances, yet always do so in an impartial and professional manner. 

Normally I would not be driven to comment (particularly if this had been my first time encountering this type of journalism by Ms. Harris), but I have now heard her conduct a number of ‘interviews’ in this manner.  This is unfortunate and certainly not in keeping with the high level of rigor and quality that one would expect from NPR.  How disappointing. 

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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