NPR’s Supreme Court correspondent Nina Totenberg has apologized for a mistake that sent shockwaves through the media landscape. On Tuesday morning, Totenberg reported that Justice Samuel Alito was retiring, but it was later revealed that this was an error.
What Happened
Totenberg explained that she had rushed out of the courtroom after the opinion announcements and misheard a statement from Chief Justice John Roberts about upcoming retirements. She assumed that Justice Alito was retiring and reported it to her editor, who then published the story.
Totenberg took to the airwaves to apologize for the mistake, calling it the ‘worst professional mistake’ of her over 50-year career in journalism. She read out a text of her apology to Justice Alito, saying ‘there are no words to adequately apologize for today’s error in reporting your retirement. It was entirely my fault.’
The incident has sparked speculation about whether Totenberg had some advance knowledge that Justice Alito was considering retirement. However, Totenberg did not address this during her apology.
NPR’s editor-in-chief, Thomas Evans, said that the organization has systems in place to avoid such mistakes and that they would learn from this incident.
Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.
