Wednesday, February 6, 2002

NPR's anthrax 'story' a poisonous 'guilty until proven innocent' lie

Traditional Values Coalition has just sent the following letter to National Public Radio President Kevin Klose asking for a complete retraction and apology for a story that aired on Jan. 22 that inaccurately linked TVC to the anthrax letters sent to two U.S. senators. TVC is considering legal remedies against NPR for this story.

Dear Mr. Klose:

National Public Radio's on-air statement of Jan. 29, 2002 regarding the Traditional Values Coalition is insufficient.

The Traditional Values Coalition hereby demands an immediate retraction and apology for the story aired by National Public Radio during the "Morning Edition" program of Jan. 22, 2002. You must make it clear that it was National Public Radio's mistake. In that story, your report stated and otherwise inferred that the Federal Bureau of Investigation considers the Traditional Values Coalition a suspect in the anthrax mailings to Capitol Hill.

That, of course, is a lie. Your reporter, David Kestenbaum, offered no facts to support his "story." Mr. Kestenbaum contacted our Washington office to inquire whether the FBI had contacted us "yet." Of course, we advised him that under no circumstances should NPR disseminate such false inferences and information. It is the sort of "guilty until proven innocent" tactic which National Public Radio deplores regularly when covering foreign governments on its news programs, but then hypocritically turns around and commits to further its own agenda.

By any journalistic standards, your accusation concerning us is an outrage. Without a single fact to support your accusation and without a single person to even speculate that your accusation is true, you have accused the Traditional Values Coalition of a heinous crime against our fellow Americans and one of our nation's most cherished institutions, the Congress.

Is this a standard reporting practice for National Public Radio? Why was the Traditional Values Coalition singled out for this scurrilous attack? Who made the decision to single out the Traditional Values Coalition and, without any basis in fact, accuse us of a terrible crime? How often does National Public Radio engage in such dishonest reporting? What will the management of National Public Radio do, in the future, to safeguard against such a deliberate abuse of the First Amendment protections for the press?

National Public Radio has a longstanding reputation for liberal bias, but this incident exceeds simple bias. It is a malicious act designed to destroy the good reputation of the Traditional Values Coalition and the more than 43,000 churches that are members of the Coalition.

We and our lawyers are exploring our available legal remedies regarding the damage that NPR has done to our organization. We are determined that NPR be forced to adhere to the same journalistic standards that other media organizations are required to follow.

Your report has done serious harm to our reputation and to the truth, and we will expect your immediate and unqualified retraction and public apologies. Absent that, we will not hesitate to take the necessary steps to address this deplorable situation.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, Chairman

[The Traditional Values Coalition is an interdenominational public policy organization comprising more than 43,000 churches across the continental United States and Puerto Rico. For more information, contact Sharone Carmona at 202-547-8570. TVC's Web site is www.traditionalvalues.org.]

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