NPR Doesn’t Care About Truth

One signal aspect of the current historical moment is that prominent liberal news sources–the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, and, here, National Public Radio–no longer make any pretense of being objective journalists. They are left-wing activists, and proud of it. When they are shown to be wrong on the facts–the Russia collusion hoax is perhaps the most notorious instance, although just one of many–they are unapologetic. They served their masters, and were proud to do so.

What prompts this reflection is National Public Radio’s fake news about the U.S. Supreme Court, as recapped by John Nolte. NPR claimed to have a scoop, based on a single anonymous, and obviously highly political, source:

On Tuesday, NPR ran a now-debunked story claiming Chief Justice John Roberts asked all nine members of the Supreme Court to wear masks. Per NPR, Roberts’ request was at the behest of Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor. The 67-year-old leftist justice was worried about the omicron surge with respect to her personal health problems. NPR then claimed that conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch is such a mean and terrible person, he refused to mask up, which forced Sotomayor to work remotely.

It turns out that none of that is true. All of the people involved–Sotomayor, Roberts and Gorsuch–publicly denied it in writing:

Both Justice Sotomayor and Gorsuch released the following statement:

“Reporting that Justice Sotomayor asked Justice Gorsuch to wear a mask surprised us. It is false. While we may sometimes disagree about the law, we are warm colleagues and friends.”

Then the Chief Justice himself issued a statement: “I did not request Justice Gorsuch or any other Justice to wear a mask on the bench.”

So there you have it: three Supreme Court justices, the very people involved in the “news story,” say it is false. The single source remains anonymous. One might think that the least NPR could do is tell us who spread the rumor and why NPR considered that person to be credible.

But no. NPR has doubled down; this is its statement:

NPR stands by its reporting.

What is incontrovertible is that all the justices have at once started wearing masks — except Gorsuch. Meanwhile, Sotomayor has stayed out of the courtroom. Instead, she has participated remotely in the court’s arguments and the justices’ weekly conference, where they discuss the cases and vote on them.

That pattern continued Wednesday as the court heard arguments in a campaign finance case brought by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

Note that the facts NPR cites in “standing by” its reporting do not in any way support that reporting. NPR has apparently abandoned the assertion that Chief Justice Roberts asked the justices to wear masks. It also doesn’t pretend to support the claim that Sotomayor requested such an order, or that she is working remotely because Gorsuch doesn’t wear a mask. In other words, NPR “stands by its reporting” without defending a single fact that it falsely asserted.

To NPR, the facts are simply irrelevant. Like the New York Times, the Washington Post, et al., it is a mouthpiece for the Left, and will shamelessly assert falsehoods if they support the Left’s narratives.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses