Your tax dollars and mine were used to smear the (red) state of South Dakota with the reckless claim that state social workers were kidnapping American Indian children and giving them to white foster parents so those white foster parents could collect money from the federal government. On its face, the charge is absurd, but NPR ran with it in a three-part series that aired in the fall of 2011.
The “reporter” is Laura Sullivan and almost two years later last Friday night the NPR ombudsman destroyed her story with a blistering and lengthy report that details “five violations:”
My finding is that the series was deeply flawed and should not have been aired as it was.
The series committed five sins that violate NPR’s code of standards and ethics. They were:
1. No proof for its main allegations of wrongdoing;
2. Unfair tone in communicating these unproven allegations;
3. Factual errors, shaky anecdotes and misleading use of data by quietly switching what was being measured;
4. Incomplete reporting and lack of critical context;
5. No response from the state on many key points.
After the release of the ombudsmen report, the taxpayer-funded NPR issued a statement standing by the story. In other words, there will be no retraction.
Sixteen trillion in debt, and our money is being wasted on bogus, left-wing racial smears against South Dakota.
Be sure to read PoweLine on this. Back in 2011, John Hinderaker was debunking NPR’s smear in real time.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC