NPR Covers Why It Hasn't Covered Downing Street Minutes

NPR's "On the Media" this week covers the media's coverage, or lack thereof, of the Downing Street Minutes.

Go here to listen. The transcript will be available there on Tuesday.

On The Media interviews the USA Today reporter who covered the USA Today's lack of coverage. He suggests the US media was reluctant to cover this story because of fears that the document might not be authentic, and because editors thought they already knew this information and weren't sure it was important. After the host grossly misquotes the famous line about "fixed around the policy," the reporter offers the excuse that "fixed" might not mean "manipulated." The host asks about my request, quoted in the USA Today, that this get the coverage Michael Jackson and Paris Hilton do. The reporter suggests that this is a reasonable request but that advocates and readers don't always understand the necessary "checks and balances."

NPR's own lack of coverage is not actually discussed.

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--David Swanson