NPR Public Editor by Poynter's Kelly McBride

Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep was introducing a two-way interview Nov. 18 about the pending congressional vote on the Jeffrey Epstein files when he described the victims in the sex-trafficking case as “underage women.” To many listeners, the inaccurate term suggested that NPR was minimizing the fact that Epstein’s victims were teenage girls.

People on social media immediately criticized the word choice. That conversation came to the attention of a news executive, who instructed the Morning Edition team to re-record a portion of the introduction for the Up First podcast and subsequent cycles of the Morning Edition broadcast, replacing the inaccurate term with the word “minors.” So the error was quickly fixed.

Many people who were listening live during the 5 a.m. ET broadcast wrote to me, and to their member stations, to voice their alarm.

A powerful and politically connected man, Epstein was in jail awaiting trial of federal charges of sex trafficking a minor and conspiracy to sex traffic a minor when he died by suicide. The Justice Department case files have been a political football ever since President Donald Trump promised to release them as part of his 2024 presidential campaign. He then reversed course, saying there was nothing to release, and then reversed course again, supporting the congressional vote.

Dozens of women have come forward to publicly tell their stories of being trafficked by Epstein when they were teenagers.

Over the last two decades, journalists have improved the language they use to describe crimes of sexual assault. Style guides have encouraged newsrooms to stop using language that blames victims, excuses assailants and normalizes predatory behavior.

This is particularly true when discussing the sexual abuse of teenagers by adults. The Associated Press Stylebook and NPR’s own guidance instruct journalists to describe victims who are under the age of 18 as “children,” “girls” or “boys,” “teenagers” or “minors.”

People under age 18 are not “young women” or “young men.” And terms like “underage women” are an oxymoron.

“Not only is this terminology inaccurate, but it can downplay the gravity of the crime and minimize the role of force, coercion, threat or violence,” said Laura Palumbo, communications director of the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.

With the language so decidedly settled, and with NPR’s added layer of editorial review in place, it’s difficult to surmise how this inaccurate description of Epstein’s victims made it onto a broadcast. To get to the bottom of it, I talked to a news executive, an NPR reporter and members of the editorial review team. — Kelly McBride

Illustration by Carlos Carmonamedina

Here are a few quotes from the Public Editor's inbox that resonated with us. Letters are edited for length and clarity. You can share your questions and concerns with us through the NPR Contact page.

Teenagers are not ‘underage women’

Kristi Coulter wrote on Nov. 18: In this story, Steve Inskeep refers to teenage rape survivors as “underage women,” a fantasy classification that is not recognized by the AP style guide on which NPR bases its own style. AP prefers “girls,” possibly because that is the term that reflects reality.

Robyn Robins wrote on Nov. 18: I am disheartened by Steve Inskeep using the term “underage women” to describe the children that were abused by Epstein and his circle. There is no such thing as an underage woman. That is a child, a girl, a minor. Words matter and Mr. Inskeep bought right into the language of the predator. I expect NPR to do better. The survivors deserve better.

James Graham wrote on Nov. 19: I saw that NPR referred to Epstein Survivors as “underage women.” That’s not a thing and is gaslighting the issue. Call it like it is: GIRLS! They were not women so stop making this craziness sound sane. DO BETTER!

Michelle Knox wrote on Nov. 18: I was extremely disappointed to hear one of my favorite hosts Steve Inskeep refer to a teenager as an “underage woman” in a story about sex abuse/trafficking. I’d like to know why that phrase was chosen. AP rules say woman is for persons over 18, so why use that phrase rather than “child”? It makes no sense and contributes to people not treating these stories with the seriousness it deserves.

Elizabeth Spann wrote on Nov. 18: Steve Inskeep uses the phrase “underage women” in reference to the children Jeffrey Epstein raped. (“He was believed to have abused many underage women before his death in jail in 2019.”) There is no such thing as “underage women.” They are girls. They are children. When the phrase “underage women” is used the effect is to soften the impact of a predator’s actions. It makes it more socially palatable.

Mark Robison wrote on Nov. 18: As someone who has worked with kids who are or were victims of abuse I find it very disturbing that NPR is referring to Epstein’s victims as “underage women” when, according to the law and common sense these were children and should be reported as such. Saying they are women implies that they were able to give consent and understood fully what they were doing and what was happening to them.

The phrase “underage women” was added to the script during a late revision by the Morning Edition staff. The standard Morning Edition workflow on two-way interviews looks like this: The staff from the show asks a reporter on the news desk for a two-way interview. Because the reporter has the expertise, she works with her editor to write an introduction and questions for the hosts to read during the interview.

In this case, the first version of the script was written on Nov. 17 by congressional correspondent Barbara Sprunt and then handed to the Morning Edition team.

“I wrote a script, alongside my editor, the night before. As sometimes happens, the show adjusted the intro,” Sprunt told me.

When the editorial review team examined the script, some time before 9 p.m. the night before, a reference to additional victims had been added, but it did not include the phrase “underage women," deputy managing editor Luis Clemens told me. He was the member of the editorial review team who signed off on what he believed to be the final draft of the script.

The Morning Edition staff reports to Eric Marrapodi, NPR vice president for news programming. When a script is substantially revised, he said it is supposed to go back to editorial review.

“Any piece of content like that has the potential to go through three different people in terms of workshopping it, in terms of editing it, in terms of smoothing it out, making sure that it’s up to date with the latest information,” he said.

By 5 a.m. the next morning, Sprunt’s introduction had been reworked again, this time adding the inappropriate description of the victims. Marrapodi said the staff was trying to ensure that victims’ voices are present whenever appropriate.

After it aired, someone outside the NPR news division alerted Marrapodi to the conversation that was taking root on social media. “I went back and checked and I realized that yes, this is a problem and we worked with the team to fix it as quickly as possible.”

Inskeep recorded a new version of the introduction, which is what listeners of Up First and the later airings of Morning Edition heard. Later that day, the NPR standards editor sent out an email reminding the staff of guidance that was issued in 2019: “When accusers or alleged victims are under 18, do not refer to them as ‘women’ or ‘men.’”

Marrapodi said it is impossible to tell who from Morning Edition actually inserted the inaccurate words into the script.

“As the executive in charge of the show, I am responsible for ensuring that process is working across teams. I am accountable for this one and take responsibility for it," Marrapodi said. "We are talking with our teams and taking steps to ensure our process is working effectively across the board.”

It is reassuring that NPR quickly fixed the error. And it is discomforting that it happened in the first place. It’s also problematic that the final script was not seen by editorial review. Marrapodi said the staff at Morning Edition are working on ensuring last-minute changes to scripts are reviewed in the early morning hours before the show airs, to prevent slips like this.

The inaccurate language gave listeners a reason to doubt NPR’s ability to cover child sex trafficking. That’s unfortunate. All other NPR reporting on this issue, including work that appeared on Morning Edition, points toward newsroom competency. — Kelly McBride

The Public Editor spends a lot of time examining moments where NPR fell short. Yet we also learn a lot about NPR by looking at work that we find to be compelling and excellent journalism. Here we share a line or two about the pieces where NPR shines.

The book guide we love is back

NPR’s Books We Love is back for our joyful perusal. This year’s edition of bite-sized reviews features around 380 titles, all hand-selected by NPR staffers and trusted critics. The interactive guide is aesthetically pleasing, with the option to see the book covers in a grid pattern or in a traditional list. You can have fun scrolling until you see a title that intrigues you, or you can choose a more intentional approach and use the filters to help you narrow your options by genre or category. “For Art Lovers” and “It’s All Geek to Me” are some of the fun category options. Drill down even further by clicking multiple categories for books that don’t fit easily into a box. A bonus: Some books have accompanying links that point you to coverage of the title by NPR and member stations. Now in its 13th year, Books We Love proves NPR is committed to serving the book nerds among us. — Amaris Castillo

The Office of the Public Editor is a team. Reporters Amaris Castillo and Nicole Slaughter Graham and copy editor Merrill Perlman make this newsletter possible. Illustrations are by Carlos Carmonamedina. We are still reading all of your messages on Facebook, Instagram, Threads and from our inbox. As always, keep them coming.

Kelly McBride
NPR Public Editor
Chair, Craig Newmark Center for Ethics & Leadership at the Poynter Institute

Kelly McBride
Public Editor

Amaris Castillo
Poynter Institute

Nicole Slaughter Graham
Poynter Institute

The Public Editor stands as a source of independent accountability. Created by NPR's board of directors, the Public Editor serves as a bridge between the newsroom and the audience, striving to both listen to the audience's concerns and explain the newsroom's work and ambitions. The office ensures NPR remains steadfast in its mission to present fair, accurate and comprehensive information in service of democracy.

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