NPR Posts Bogus Headline to Attack Catholic Church

Check out the following alarming headline for a story from National Public Radio (NPR):

“Catholic Church Still Hiding Sexual Predators?”

Wow. That is a provocative and disturbing headline, indeed. The thought that the Catholic Church is “still hiding sexual predators” in 2012 is very troubling. It surely seems to be an article worth investigating.

Well, when a visitor takes in the accompanying audio and transcript, it turns out that the headline is – well – bogus.

The piece is simply an interview with Boston Globe reporter Michael Rezendes, in which he and the NPR host (Michel Martin) reflect on the ten years since the Globe’s extensive 2002 coverage of the scandals.

Nowhere in the interview does either the host or the Globe reporter even breach the topic of the Catholic Church “still hiding sexual predators” nowadays.

There is nothing. Nada. Zilch. Niete.

Go ahead. Read the transcript. Listen to the audio.

In fact, Rezendes actually comes close to asserting the opposite of what is implied in the headline. At one point, the Globe reporter opines:

“Well, I think that I would say that [Boston Sean] Cardinal O’Malley is right in that the church has done a great deal to prevent future sexual abuse by priests. Priests and laypeople who work with the church are being trained to prevent abuse, to recognize the signs of abuse. Really, quite a lot has been done, at least in the Boston Archdiocese.”

While much is made about the Church-bashing slant in places like the Boston Globe and New York Times as well, listeners of NPR should know that the radio outlet reveals a bigoted angle itself.

-- Dave Pierre is the author of the new book, Catholic Priests Falsely Accused: The Facts, The Fraud, The Stories. Dave is also the creator of TheMediaReport.com and is a contributing writer to NewsBusters.