What's it like to report on Congress?

Civics 101

NHPR

History, Government, Society & Culture

4.2 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 21 May 2024

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today on Civics 101 we talk about truth, bias, and objectivity in reporting. I visited with Barbara Sprunt, reporter at the Washington desk at NPR, who told me what it's like to cover Capitol Hill. Barbara told me about her schedule, what to listen for when interviewing members of Congress, and what she says to accusations of political bias. Support our public radio show today and you can get our new misinformation/disinformation tote bag! Click here to take a peek at it. CLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro. Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey!
0:03.0	Hey!
0:04.0	Sorry, I'm a little burned it down otherwise.
0:07.0	Please.
0:08.0	Can I carry something?
0:10.0	You've got like all things considered over here, morning edition over here.
0:15.0	I come in to the office like a couple times a week because it's really the only time I get to see everyone here who doesn't work on the hill.
0:22.0	But when Congress is in session, I'm usually on the hill.
0:25.0	You're listening to Civics 101, I'm Nick Capediche,
0:30.0	and today we are talking about what it's like to report on Congress.
0:35.0	And yes, Hannah's voice is still barely audible after recovering from the flu.
0:42.0	So this bird's flying solo.
0:44.8	What do you think about that?
0:48.2	No other host today, nobody on the microphone.
0:58.0	And you know what, I'm going to say it, it's probably for the best. Because in our episodes, one of us usually explains something to the other person, like that's our format, right?
1:05.2	And this episode is about journalism.
1:08.0	And how the heck would I explain journalism to Hannah McCarthy, one of the finest journalists I know. So it's going to be all right.
1:16.9	We at Civics 101 all went to Washington, D.C. for a week this spring. And I was slightly nervous going into the underbelly of the National
1:25.3	Archives or you know visiting the Australian embassy. But this building was the one I was
1:31.6	most nervous to enter and I don't really
1:34.4	understand why. Maybe you can figure it out and explain it to me later. This
1:37.8	building is the headquarters of NPR National Public Radio.
	...

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