> If NPR was a real news organization, they would never have repeated, broadcast, or printed that statement.

That statement was provided by a DOT spokesperson as the explanation for the changes. As a real news organization, NPR was right to repeat the statements provided by the DOT so that their listeners (and readers) can know what the administration's views are. To do otherwise would be to hide facts from their listeners.

if a government spokesperson provided that statement 20 years ago the story would be about the unhinged partisan DOT spokesperson, what maniac hired them, why hasn't the whole office been fired yet, and how a bizarre grievance-based policy ever got out the door in the first place. Now the media gets crazier stuff than this on an hourly basis and they just shrug.