Former NPR Editor-in-Chief Edith Chapin (left) and Director of the Andrea Mitchell Center Jeffrey Green (right) spoke at the Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics on Oct. 7.
Credit: Matthew Quitoriano
The Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy and the Penn Political Review co-hosted a talk with former National Public Radio Editor-in-Chief and Chief Content Officer Edith Chapin on Oct. 7.
The event, which was an hour long and attended by about 50 Penn community members, included a moderated conversation and question-and-answer session. Topics focused on Chapin’s personal experiences as a journalist and her thoughts on the recent funding cuts made to public broadcasting by the second administration of 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump.
Chapin’s told The Daily Pennsylvanian that she was motivated to come to Penn because of her constant enthusiasm “to talk about what’s going on in the world of journalism.”
Jeffrey Green, a professor of Political Science and director of the Andrea Mitchell Center, moderated the conversation. He told the DP that his goal was to give Chapin the “chance to reflect on her career as a journalist, on radio as a medium, and on specific challenges that the media in general is facing regarding decreasing trust that American citizens have in the media.”
The talk followed a monthslong planning process involving the Andrea Mitchell Center and PPR, a student bipartisan political journal. College junior Graham Owens, the interview editor for PPR, organized the event.
Owens stressed the importance of Chapin’s perspective in an interview with the DP.
“We are in a very interesting time regarding media freedom — and the potential limitations of free press and protections of it,” Owens said, adding that he hopes the event can serve as a “starting point for more conversations” among the Penn community and that community members “take some inspiration from [Chapin’s] outspokenness, her leadership, and try to apply that to their own every day.”
Chapin began the event by sharing her personal experiences as a journalist during world-changing events such as the Soviet Union’s collapse, the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and Hurricane Katrina. Before joining NPR, she spent 25 years with CNN and received a Peabody Award in 2005 for her coverage of Hurricane Katrina.
Chapin then spoke about growing distrust towards the media and potential steps to rebuild that trust.
“You need to show your work, and take the audience along the reporting process and behind the curtain,” Chapin said.
Chapin also discussed the legacy that she hopes to leave on the world of journalism — including her focus on the safety of reporters, emphasis on collaboration within the workplace, and efforts to add an increased layer of editing to the journalism process at NPR.
During the Q&A portion, the event audience raised questions about the impact of the Trump administration’s defunding of public broadcasting. In July, the House approved a $1.1 billion cut in funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which rescinded all federal support for NPR, PBS, and their member stations.
Chapin emphasized that the largest repercussions were felt by the local member stations rather than NPR as a national organization.
“I don’t want to say that it has no impact on NPR as a national organization, but it was less than or roughly 2% of NPR’s budget, whereas for a member station, their individual allotments from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting could be anywhere from 5% to 50%,” Chapin explained during the event.
College first year Jessica Katz told the DP that the event helped highlight that “the role of media is really to build trust with everyone who reads it.”
This event also brought in attendees from the greater Philadelphia community. Temple University first-year student Mikea Hines discovered the event while researching for her journalism class. Hines told the DP that the talk was “very informational” and mentioned that she was “surprised” that many young people showed up as a demographic that is not “really involved with what’s going on in our community.”
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“I hope that this is going to be the transition into what comes next,” Hines told the DP. “Now, everybody is just worried about the same topic because a lot of times we’re all worried about something different.”
Following the event, there was a brief reception when attendees could speak to Chapin one on one.
“Let’s focus on preserving local journalism,” Chapin concluded at the end of the event. “Let’s preserve what matters in communities and just no longer have it be a political fight.”
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