Reporters should know that politicians do not always say what they think. That is why good reporters never claim to know what a politician actually thinks, they only know what they say and do.

NPR badly misled its listeners this morning when political correspondant Mara Liasson said that Republicans see taxes on the wealthy as penalizing “job creators” [sorry, no link yet]. Actually, Ms. Liasson does not know how Republicans see these taxes, nor is it plausible that all of them see taxes the same way.

The correct way for a reporter to discuss this issue is to say that Republicans “say” that taxes on the wealthy are penalizing job creators. The party has clearly decided that this is a clever way to defend their position, Liasson and NPR have no way of knowing whether Republicans actually adhere to this view. They should not pretend otherwise.