Statement sent to Romenesko from Dow Jones corporate communications senior director Ashley S. Huston
As NPR’s ombudsman, [Alicia] Shepard is not in a position to know about the sourcing of articles in The Wall Street Journal. Her comments that the Journal’s article was “unsourced” and “thinly sourced” are erroneous, and we were surprised that she didn’t give us an opportunity to set her straight or comment before she published those strong words. The Journal’s article was based on solid reporting and was appropriately sourced by people familiar with the findings of the Department of Transportations analyses. In addition, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was given the opportunity to comment on our report, but chose to decline to do so. The NHTSA has not contacted us to allege any errors in our coverage.
