ANDREA SEABROOKAndrea Seabrook, NPR Congressional Correspondent, left her position at the end of July due to frustration with the daily grind of covering politicians who "lie" to her face, all day, every day.
Seabrook has become an authority on the comings and goings of daily life on Capitol Hill. She began covering Congress for NPR in January of 2003. In 2006 and 2007, she took a hiatus to host the weekend edition of NPR's newsmagazine, "All Things Considered." In that role, Seabrook covered a wide range of topics, from the uptick in violence in the Iraq war, to the history of video game music. A frequent guest host of NPR programs, including Weekend Edition and Talk of the Nation, Seabrook has also anchored NPR's live coverage of national party conventions and election night in 2006 and 2008.
It was her frustration with Congress and the devolution of the two party system that prompted her exodus. “I feel like I am, as a reporter in the Capitol, lied to every day, all day. There is so little genuine discussion going on with the reporters. … To me, as a reporter, everything is spin.” Seabrook explained to Patrick Gavin of Politico.com.
Seabrook is trying to change the way political news is reported. Her new project is DecodeDC, a website that will feature Seabrook’s blog posts and podcasts that aim to “decipher Washington’s Byzantine language and procedure, sweeping away what doesn’t matter so listeners can focus on what does.”
“We need to stop coddling lawmakers, stop buying their red team, blue team narrative and ask harder questions of them,” Seabrook says in an introductory audio clip to her first podcast.
At Hipsters for Sisters, we are so excited by the prospect of a reporter whose mission is to help us see the facts undistorted by party affiliation or affinity. We admire her ability to think for herself and her bravery in not being afraid to challenge the status quo. Apparently, we are not alone. SoundCloud, an online audio distribution platform which allows collaboration, promotion and distribution of audio recordings. granted Seabrook a fellowship to support her work. Now we’re talking!
Please visit http://www.decodedc.com to learn more, follow her blog and join the discussion.