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Laura Sullivan

Being an investigative reporter is not always easy, especially considering the fact that ones life is always on the line. This is something that Laura Sullivan has to endure in the quest to highlight the plight of the disadvantaged people especially in the special series; behind the bail bond system. Investigations initiated by Laura have indicated that two thirds of inmates in jails are petty offenders and are only there due to the fact that they can't afford bail. This situation has its own consequences as taxpayers have to pay billions of dollars to house these petty offenders. Laura Sullivan has succeeded in lobbying for a better bonds system through her award winning show; all things considered. She has also unraveled the intense corruption where those offenders with money face little consequences for their crimes, while those without have to be content with whatever offer prosecutors choose to offer them. Laura Sullivan through NPR has done a lot to put together pieces of information that point to the fact that the real dangerous criminal are not in jail

However, given the fact that Laura's reports are based on hard facts about the opposing parties in the bonding system, it is very likely that emotions will be flared up and many of those who have been interviewed might end up getting into harms way. I sincerely think that it would have been better if their identities had been distorted to not represent the actual person. Bearing in mind that those opposed to the pretrial release program are powerful and influential individuals, I think it would have been safer for interviewee's to be made anonymous so as to protect their identities. This is particularly of great concern to me as one of the people interviewed by NPR and who faced bleak options vanished and has never been seen neither heard

Steven Drummond

In recognition of the fact tat he is responsible for whatever information the public consumes on NPR, I think his editorial and management skills in the series behind the bail bond system deserve appraisal. It has been very precise and to the point and consumers actually understand where the problem is as every statement articulates specific situations in the flawed bonds system. The simple fact that he licensed the series speaks volumes of his attitude toward the less privileged. I also believe that through his experience in covering other great features, Steven Drummond has succeed in propelling NPR to greater heights and this is visible through the recent winning by NPR of the DuPont-Columbia Silver Baton Award. Although I believe that the series is very helpful particularly to the disadvantaged, i still believe that it was too direct and could have aroused hard feelings from parties unknown to them. He should have in own view, taken it upon himself as the senior editor to screen the interviewees highlighted in the series. This would have reduced considerably the occurrence of any revenge instances against the interviewees.