A Word From Our Sponsor
By Katy Reckdahl
A paid message of gratitude from Kuwait raises a few eyebrows for NPR listeners.
Earlier this spring, listeners tuned to WWNO 89.9 FM heard a curious underwriting credit during the local broadcast of Morning Edition: “Support for NPR comes from the state of Kuwait, in memory of the 10th anniversary of Kuwait’s liberation. On the web at KuwaitthanksAmerica.org.”
A call to NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C. revealed that the message, timed to air a decade after the Persian Gulf War began in late February 1991, had been purchased from NPR (National Public Radio) by the Kuwait Information Office within the D.C.-based Embassy of the State of Kuwait. And it seems that plenty of NPR listeners heard the credit during the 10 days it aired on U.S. public radio stations such as WWNO. Network listeners, in outraged letters, email messages and calls, opposed the underwriting because of Kuwait’s “horrendous human rights record” and its treatment of women. Ombudsman Jefferey Dvorkin describes it all as “an interesting response both inside and outside NPR.”
For his part, Dvorkin wrote an online column (www.npr.org/inside/ombudsman) on the topic, concluding that, despite “an extensive firewall” between the journalism and underwriting department, NPR had “made an error in judgment by accepting underwriting from Kuwait.” Underwriting messages such as this, according to Dvorkin, could erode listeners’ sense of trust in NPR, especially since Iraq and Kuwait are frequent topics within NPR news coverage.
Kuwaiti Embassy spokesperson Dr. Shafeeq Ghabra doesn’t understand the outcry. Personally, says Ghabra, he “really admires NPR” and thinks that the network was perfect for their promotional campaign, particularly because NPR news is carried worldwide via Armed Forces Radio and other overseas broadcasters.
In addition to the NPR underwriting, the Information Office also purchased full-page newspaper ads in the New York Times, the Washington Post and Stars & Stripes. And on its special Web site is a link to an extensive Kuwaiti Information Office site, which dispenses general information about Kuwait, starting with the basics: audio for the Kuwaiti national anthem “Al-Nasheed Al-Watani,” descriptions of its weather (hot and dry for most of the year), and data about its governmental structure (a nominal constitutional monarchy headed by an emir and a prime minister).
The site also addresses a few more thorny issues: the extent of Kuwait’s dependency on oil (petroleum accounts for 95 percent of Kuwait’s exports and 75 percent of its government revenues) and the status of its women. Although “rights for women is an issue, as it is in many countries around the world,” Kuwaiti women, who should be able to vote in the 2003 elections, are free to drive cars and dress as they please.
Ghabra says that the site is an indication that Kuwait is trying to be honest and open with America. Incidentally, emphasizes Ghabra, Louisianans might take special note that “Kuwait is not an oil country alone — we are human. Yes, we rely on oil, but this is not our message. Our message is to say thank you, you are a friend, a good solid friend, and we are your friend.”
Locally, the campaign registered not even a blip with WWNO listeners. Membership manager Cynthia Marshall reports the station received no complaints about the topic, or about underwriting in general. “The only call we’ve ever received is about our Lucky Cheng credit,” she says. “An old lady asked, ‘What does “wait staff in drag” mean?’” .
CORRECTIONS: In our April 10 cover story, “The Mystery of the 364th,” we failed to include Southern University in New Orleans as a sponsor of the February symposium “Double Victory: Fighting on Two Fronts.” In fact, Southern University co-hosted the symposium, which occurred in part due to the urgings of Tommye Myrick, the director of the African and African-American Center at Southern University. Also in our April 10 issue, in our Arts & Entertainment cover story “New Tricks,” we misspelled the name of Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré Chairman of the Board Michael Arata. On the cover of the same issue, we misspelled the name of photographer Debbie Fleming Caffery. Gambit Weekly regrets the errors.
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