Podcast ‘Caliphate’: Public Radio Calls New York Times On ‘Decline In Judgment’

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A group of 24 public radio stations sent a letter to The Times’s audio department on Monday with concerns about “lapse of judgment” in its response last month when the paper announced that the podcast “did not meet our standards for accuracy.” These stations broadcast “The Daily”, The Times’ main daily news podcast. The letter, obtained by CNN Business, was previously tweeted by Washington Post’s Erik Wemple.

The Times opened an investigation into the reporting process behind ‘Caliphate’ in September, after Canadian police accused Shehroze Chaudhry of ‘Hoax terrorist activities’. Last month, The Times said it had found “a history of misrepresentation of Mr Chaudhry and no confirmation that he had committed the atrocities he described in the ‘Caliphate’ podcast,” according to an editor’s note, and there were audio corrections made to the episodes.
These journalistic mistakes have been a black mark on The Times’ audio ambitions, led by the team behind “The Daily”. “Caliphate” won Peabody 2018 in the radio / podcast category, a prestigious journalism award that The Times has since returned.
Monday’s letter, sent by the Public Radio Program Directors Association, was not about the merit of the podcast, but about how The Times handled the fallout. It raised three concerns. The first involved “The Daily” host Michael Barbaro, who reached out to other journalists in what was seen as an attempt to influence their coverage of the fallout from the “caliphate”. These messages were previously reported by David Folkenflik of the NPR, who had been one of the people Barbaro contacted.

The letter also stated that The Times’ decision to let Times editor Dean Baquet be ‘flawed’, in part because of Barbaro’s personal relationship with Lisa Tobin, the executive producer of “Caliphate.” The two are engaged.

The latest concern concerned Andy Mills, a producer of “Caliphate”. The letter is about Mills getting “more visibility” after the fallout, while Rukmini Callimachi, the journalist behind the podcast, was transferred. Mills had produced and hosted an episode of “The Daily” that was released a few days after The Times announced the results of their investigation into the podcast “Caliphate”. The letter was also linked to a Washington Post story of allegations of inappropriate behavior by Mills, most of which occurred during his previous job at WNYC’s Radiolab.

Abby Goldstein, president and executive director of the Public Radio Program Directors Association, told CNN Business on Tuesday that the letter was intended to raise concerns and not “draw a line in the sand” with specific requirements.

“When we put programming on the air for our audience, we endorse that programming. We tell our audiences that we believe in the journalistic rigor of these programs, and we make them available to you through our largest megaphone,” Goldstein said. The letter is “really about taking responsibility for staff behavior.”

The Times responded to each of the concerns on Tuesday in a letter signed by Sam Dolnick, an assistant editor at the newspaper.

“We believe we have addressed a major journalistic mistake with accountability. We are committed to continuing to pursue ambitious audio journalism and have already begun to implement changes that will make our audio coverage even stronger,” Dolnick wrote.

Dolnick wrote that The Times did not believe that Barbaro should disclose his relationship with Tobin, as the conversation was seen as an “audio version” of an editor’s note, while an “accountability interview” was given to NPR. He also said that Barbaro “deeply regrets” the private messages he sent journalists and that “editors have discussed their expectations with him in the future.”

Regarding Mills, Dolnick wrote that The Times takes the allegations of misconduct “very seriously.” As to why Mills hosted the recent episode of “The Daily,” Dolnick said the episode had been scheduled earlier, but the company “should have changed its plans.”

The Times did not comment outside of the letter. Barbaro and Mills did not respond to requests for comment.

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