Overview
- NPR published an article by veteran correspondent Nina Totenberg that said Justice Samuel Alito was retiring and removed it minutes later after the Supreme Court’s Public Information Office denied any announcement.
- The network says Totenberg misheard a remark about retirements and that previously prepared 'prewrite' copy was mistakenly posted and broadcast, prompting on‑air and written apologies from staff.
- The false report went live on NPR’s site for about five minutes and was carried longer by some member stations, allowing the story to spread across social media and other outlets before retractions followed.
- Totenberg read a written apology to Alito on air and called the episode the worst professional mistake of her career, while NPR’s editor‑in‑chief and public editor outlined steps to examine newsroom workflows.
- The episode highlights risks in rapid‑publish practices: newsrooms routinely prepare prewritten obituaries or retirement pieces, and a broken verification step can produce wide ripple effects with political consequences if a vacancy were real.