An anti-abortion source's talking points left one listener wanting a follow-up
It's no secret that many sources in news reports have practiced talking points. Often, experts who contribute their voices to daily journalism have perfected the art of phrasing their views in slightly coded or opaque language, designed to gloss over a legitimate critique. These might be politicians, businesspeople or advocates for controversial laws. It seems that anybody likely to be interviewed repeatedly by news reporters hires a public relations coach to help them wiggle out of answering hard questions. One listener wrote to us frustrated by a particular interview in a recent story about Texas women facing agonizing choices thanks to that state's new limits on abortion. They wanted a follow-up question to a comment from a supporter of the new legislation in response to hearing one woman's experience.As advocates for accountability journalism, we want journalists to ask tough questions and get real answers. As we talked with NPR National Correspondent Sarah McCammon about her story, we learned that getting solid answers is just one part of the challenge. As you'll see when you read ourWe got some good insight on how off-putting it would be to dismiss the real pain people feel as they fill their tanks, and learned how NPR's Business Desk has covered gas prices alongside inflation reporting.
