NPR is the latest media outlet to respond after receiving scrutiny from their audience regarding coverage of presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders.
This comes just one day following a blog post from The New York Times‘ Public Editor responding to angry readers announcing she will perform a content analysis of Sanders’ coverage.
The segment triggering outrage was on Joe Biden’s potential run, with Mara Liasson closing her piece saying, “There are many Democrats who think it would be good for Hillary Clinton because she’d have a serious opponent… Right now, she’s basically running against herself and her problems.”
NPR Audience & Community Relations has apologized to listener Colleen Shaddox via email saying the “running against herself” reference “was intended to mean that her campaign is being buffeted in large part by issues related to things she’s done – including using a private email server.”
The comment in question came after Liasson was asked when Biden needs to make a decision, she responded by going on to question whether his third presidential run would be good for the Democrats saying “the party wants competition.”
Even though it’s unclear how NPR drew the conclusion that Lisson was actually talking about Clinton’s email scandal rather than the Democratic Party wishing Clinton had some competition, this goes to show the huge outlets like NPR and the Times rely on the public’s satisfaction.
While we await Sullivan’s findings, Sanders supporters can at least celebrate another small victory in the quest to end the Bernie Blackout.
Note from Editor: Many of you pointed out that this was hardly an apology, and I tend to agree with you. I’ve updated the title of the article to reflect this fact, by placing the word ‘apologizes’ in quotations. It remains to be seen what NPR will do to rectify their (lack of) coverage.
