Why Did NYTimes’ THE DAILY Podcast Feel Like It Had to Record a Manufactured Border Swim?

Hey, we get it. Reporting from the U.S.-Mexico border is important, especially during this government shutdown and false claims of “national emergency.” And we understand that having such an influential podcast like “The Daily” from the New York Times traveling down to report from border is a bold move. But as the following clip shows from Monday’s broadcast, recording a manufactured border crossing for the sake of “reporting” is not the way to go. You can listen to the entire podcast here, but near the beginning of the podcast, Times Mexico correspondent Azam Ahmed and “The Daily” producer Annie Brown literally recording themselves as they swim the Río Grande from Brownsville, Texas, to Matamoros, Mexico, and cross back.

We understand that this clip is just part of the bigger series, but still. Why did the show decide to lead its series with this? What was the need for this type of reporting?

wow this is awful, crossing the border is not some podcast game.

— Latino Rebels (@latinorebels) January 14, 2019

Really hard to listen to @nytimes The Daily today where @azamsahmed and Daily producer Annie Brown cross the Río Grande from Texas to Mexico and then swim back. This type of reporting serves no purpose on this topic. Extremely disappointed that NYTimes would allow for this.

— Latino Rebels (@latinorebels) January 14, 2019

Journalists are never supposed to inject themselves into a story, and the fact that “The Daily” makes it seems so, not only speaks to the privilege behind its intent, but also severely minimizes actual people who have traveled miles on an arduous journey, fleeing violence and poverty. It shifts the focus from reality to manufactured journalism for the purpose of listens and clicks, which is never wise.

It is sensationalist, exploitative and just plain wrong.

And sadly, this is not the first time this type of reporting has occurred. Who can forget when Jorge Ramos pulled off a similar stunt in 2014?

We will be really clear on this one: crossing the border is not a reporting game. Why didn’t “the Daily” use its array of resources to actually lead and feature REAL stories from the border? Why start with their own people? What message was it trying to send its listeners?

I replayed that part 3 times to see if they were joking or what. Also, the tone they used to say ‘ oh yes, I guess we just crossed the border ilegally.” Enserio????

— Maria Camila Montañez (@mariacmontanez) January 14, 2019

This is parachute reporting at its worst, and we would expect “The Daily” to recognize this and fix this.

Just remove that part of the show and offer a sincere apology. (Spare us the, “we are sorry if our reporting offended any of you” statement.) And learn from this. Be better journalists.

By the way, we asked “The Daily” host Michael Barbaro why record such a manufactured border crossing in the first place.

Here is the first tweet he shared with us.

This was our response to that:

if you are asking question, then there is more serious issue here. a manufactured border crossing with two reporters completely shifts the focus for sensationalism and exploitation. you would think you would know that? not like this hasn’t happened before https://t.co/zQbmJSaNDb

— Latino Rebels (@latinorebels) January 14, 2019

And there is more to consider:

Hi Michael, I love the Daily. But I dont think recording an American citizen in action crossing the border as he swims the Rio and hearing him what it appears to be a funny tone to say ” oh yes, we just crossed the border illegally” is what it should be at this kind of reporting.

— Maria Camila Montañez (@mariacmontanez) January 14, 2019

(h/t to @Omar_fromPR)