NPR re: NYPost "bombshell": "We don't want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories"

[sabra]

Link to tweet

[onetexan]

1. Great response from NPR!

[spooky3]

2. I would like to see media using stronger and more accurate language.

“Not really a story” could mean a lot of things. I’d prefer “we don’t publicize ‘stories’ with unsupported accusations and Russian misinformation.”

[TwilightZone]

5. More accurate?

They shouldn't claim it's Russian misinformation unless they have evidence supporting the claim. Just like not reporting the "story" because they lack confirmation.

Doing otherwise would be a tad hypocritical.

[spooky3]

6. The FBI has provided evidence of Russian misinformation. However, if that doesn't convince you

then you could reword it. The point is that the original story lacked evidence and offered baseless accusations against figures involved in a critical campaign. So a more accurate statement needs to be made, not merely "it's not a story" which is something that could be said about a story about the world's largest pumpkin in Farmer Jones' backyard.

On edit: intelligence officials called it out - they said "may" and that could be said by NPR. In any case, it's not simply "not a story." It's analogous to other outlets' not correctly labeling Trump's statements as "falsehoods" when they are.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/10/20/nation/dozens-former-intelligence-officials-sign-letter-warning-hunter-biden-story-could-be-russian-disinformation/

FBI's evidence:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/giuliani-biden-ukraine-russian-disinformation/2020/10/15/43158900-0ef5-11eb-b1e8-16b59b92b36d_story.html

[TwilightZone]

7. What's more accurate than "it's not a story"?

Hey, guys, it's bullshit. Let's move on to something that actually is newsworthy.

That's their response, and I think it was perfectly appropriate. It doesn't get much clearer than that.

By the way, if you click on the link, NPR did exactly what you asked.

"There are many, many red flags in that New York Post investigation. NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik detailed most of them here. Intelligence officials warn that Russia has been working overtime to keep the story of Hunter Biden in the spotlight. Even if Russia can’t be positively connected to this information, the story of how Trump associates Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani came into a copy of this computer hard drive has not been verified and seems suspect. And if that story could be verified, the NY Post did no forensic work to convince consumers that the emails and photos that are the basis for their report have not been altered. "

[spooky3]

8. We'll have to agree to disagree. nt

[onetexan]

9. Exactly, they're calling it BS but saying it in a nice way, NPR style.

[The River]

3. Don't Worry NPR

All that junk gets covered here in General Discussion.

[marybourg]

4. +1000