Roy Blunt: “in a report already mentioned today on Morning Edition, NPR implied, as we have already heard, that a conservative…”

“in a report already mentioned today on Morning Edition, NPR implied, as we have already heard, that a conservative group, the Traditional Values Coalition, was involved in the anthrax mailings to the Senate because they disagreed with two members of that body on a religious issue. The first amendment to the Constitution of the United States establishes the freedom of the press, forbidding the Congress to make any law abridging the right of the press to speak freely. I, like all of us, am a true believer in the Constitution and what it stands for. However, I believe that with this freedom comes responsibility, the responsibility of the press to report accurately and in an unbiased manner the facts of an issue. This trust is compounded in the case of public television and public radio in that they receive taxpayer dollars to fund part of their operations. On the morning of January 22, NPR broke their contract with the American people by reporting hearsay as fact. They did their fellow journalists and their listeners a grave disservice. In this case, the United States taxpayers did not get what they paid for. This report was completely inaccurate and irresponsible. As I have stated, the press has a responsibility to report the facts, not unproven accusations.”