Washington, DC] - Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) announced an unprecedented commitment from National Public Radio (NPR) to examine alleged bias in its coverage of the Middle East conflict. Sherman obtained an agreement last month directly from NPR President Kevin Klose for NPR to survey and analyze all segments about the Middle East in NPR programming during June and July of this year.

Sherman, a member of the House International Relations Committee and its Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, is an avid NPR listener. Several of NPR's recent reports on events in the region struck Sherman as biased.

"My impression from countless hours of listening to NPR programs is that there is a serious imbalance in NPR's coverage of the Middle East. I'm certainly not the first to have raised this concern," Sherman said. "It is imperative that NPR responds to concerns about bias with a comprehensive and transparent study that will help to settle this question once and for all. I am pleased that Kevin Klose has given this matter the serious attention it deserves, and I look forward to working with Mr. Klose to make NPR an even better source of news for the American people," Sherman said. 

The new study, which will be overseen by Kathy Dole, NPR Vice President of National Affairs, and verified by independent media experts, will examine the amount of air time given to interviewees and commentators on both sides of Middle East conflict. Rather than simply identifying the ethnicity of the speakers, the new study will assess the positions these speakers take on whether the policies of the Israeli government toward the Palestinians are fair and appropriate.

Congress passed an amendment to the 1992 Public Telecommunications Act that instructs public broadcasting programming supported with public money to maintain "strict adherence to objectivity and balance in all programs or series of programs of a controversial nature."

Matthew J. Farrauto
Press Secretary
Office of Congressman Brad Sherman
1524 Longworth Bldg.
Washington, DC 20515
Direct Phone: 202/226-8434
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