Michigan Radio broadcasts hundreds of stories, interviews, and commentaries every week (anyone care to tally them up? - my guess is around 600 pieces in one week).
Whether these pieces come from our local reporters, NPR's reporters, NPR shows, shows from American Public Media, Public Radio International, or the BBC, it's impossible to keep up with ALL the stories coming over the airwaves.
Each Friday, I'll offer up a few stories that either I heard, my colleagues and friends heard, or pieces that YOU found interesting (you can add them in the comments section below).
Here are a few pieces that are worth checking out... in case you missed them:
Rebecca Williams caught a piece on NPR's All Things Considered last week from reporter Tamara Keith.
Finding the Path Toward Employment in St. Louis tells the story of Ray, Brian, Jennifer, Randy, Casaundra, and Annica.
All are one of the 14 million Americans without work, and NPR plans to follow them as they search for jobs.
Their stories give you sense for what unemployed Americans are going through - whether they're long-term unemployed or not.
Ray Meyer is one of the five people profiled. He had a 30-year career in banking before losing his job. From the report:
In his last job, he was a regional manager. But like so many small banks, the one he was working for ran into financial trouble. Since then, he's been on 25 job interviews, but none of them panned out. Still, he says, every time he went on an interview, it felt so good to put on his banker's clothes again. "When I have my shiny little shoes on, and I'm ready to go to an interview, I feel like I'm on the top of the world," Meyer says. "Isn't it sad?"
Was a segment on WNYC's "On The Media" (OTM) about how NPR mistakenly reported that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was dead after the shooting in Tucson.
OTM reports that the environment of "the 24-hour news cycle can lead journalists to sacrifice accuracy for speed."
NPR later corrected the report and apologized to Giffords' family and to listeners saying they "deeply regret [the] error."
The executive editor of NPR News, Dick Meyer, spoke with Host Bob Garfield about the mistake and about NPR's sourcing policy.
Garfield gives an example of how media outlets like CNN and USA Today "have been way out in front with the wrong information."
It reminds me of the post news director Vincent Duffy put up on the importance of being right rather than first (that post was inspired by the more innocuous reports of a fired football coach).
And in case you missed it... the Co-Inventor of Uncle Milton's Ant Farm died this week at 97.
Milton Levine once said that he'd "never step on an ant" because they "put three of my kids through college."
NPR's All Things Considered Host Melissa Block talked with Milton Levine's son, Steven who described how his Dad started a toy company after coming home from World War II. He'd heard of the coming baby boom and figured there was money to be made.
The idea of the Ant Farm came about in 1956. Steven Levine said the idea came from "formicariums" - a new word for me - basically a sort of terrarium made to study ants.
Steven Levine said his Dad worked long hours, just like the ants he sold.
So what stories did you catch on Michigan Radio that you'd like to share with others?
