NPR Doesn't Confer 'Dr.' On Ph.D.s. Here's Why.
NPR follows AP style, because listeners usually identify 'Dr.' with physicians.
Longstanding NPR policy is to reserve the title of "Dr." for an individual who holds a doctor of dental surgery, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatric medicine or veterinary medicine.
That excludes those with other types of doctoral degrees, including before the Senate Judiciary Committee about her allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her in 1982 (Kavanaugh has emphatically denied the allegation).
