NPR releases statement calling Biden story 'a waste of time'
National Public Radio has announced their refusal to cover the Hunter Biden controversy that first broke on the New York Post last week.
Its public editor, Terence Samuel, explained on Thursday the outlet's rationale for not covering the story, calling it a “waste of time.”
“We don’t want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don’t want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions,” the NPR editor explained. “And quite frankly, that’s where we ended up, this was . . . a politically driven event and we decided to treat it that way.”
Why haven't you seen any stories from NPR about the NY Post's Hunter Biden story? Read more in this week's newsletter➡️ https://t.co/CJesPgmGvo pic.twitter.com/jAi7PnpbZf
— NPR Public Editor (@NPRpubliceditor) October 22, 2020
“There are many, many red flags in that New York Post investigation,” said NPR’s Office of the Public Editor, linking to reporting by correspondent David Folkenflik.
“Intelligence officials warn that Russia has been working overtime to keep the story of Hunter Biden in the spotlight,” NPR continued. “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.”
NPR has refused to verify the New York Post’s reporting, and thus cannot verify the substance of its claims of the Post’s lack of verification.
Samuel’s remarks mirror the mainstream media’s coverage of the story. Across various news networks including CNN, MSNBC, ABC, and papers like Washington Post and the New York Times, scant coverage has been given to the Hunter Biden email leaks obtained through his laptop, which were legally acquired by former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and given to the New York Post.
During Lesley Stahl’s 60 Minutes interview with Donald Trump, the President pressed Stahl for her network’s lack of coverage on the subject, to which she denied that Joe Biden and his son were in the middle of a scandal.
Stahl repeatedly stated that the story cannot be verified. When pressed for the reason why it can’t be verified despite verification from the New York Post, Stahl retorted that it can’t be verified for the simple reason that it can’t be verified.
This exchange between Trump and Lesley Stahl is insane. She repeatedly insists the Biden laptops “can’t be verified” so reporters shouldn’t talk about it.
— Anders Hagstrom (@Hagstrom_Anders) October 22, 2020
Trump asks her why it can’t be verified.
Her answer: “Because it can’t be verified.” pic.twitter.com/cf9hcSGnrm
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