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The Curious Listener: Perception is Reality... Or Is It?

Katie Burk
/
NPR

We all know that sometimes when you're listening to someone else, you can interpret their words to mean something other than what was intended. This happens all the time in our daily lives, and, sometimes, when we're listening to the news too.

In all of our work at NPR, we strive to be as clear and concise as possible. But sometimes our messages can still be muddled. We appreciate hearing all perspectives on our work and like to address and clarify as many concerns from our listeners as possible. Check out the exchange between our Curious Listener Claudia and NPR to see the discussion over our usage of the word "several."

Newscaster reports 'several' democrats voted with republicans on gun law. FOUR democrats voted with republicans, since when does FOUR = several? this is why our county is so mislead and misinformed - stop contributing to the problem.

Claudia
Fairfax, CA


Dear Claudia,

Thank you for contacting NPR.

We appreciate you sharing your concerns regarding an NPR newscast, however we are not certain we understand your disagreement with the use of the word "several." That word is widely defined as meaning "more than two, but not many" - which would indicate that the use of the term was accurate in the instance you are referencing.

Thank you for listening to NPR, and for your continued support of public broadcasting. For the latest news and information, visit NPR.org.

Sincerely,

Justin
NPR Audience and Community Relations
202-513-3232
www.npr.org

/ Katie Burk/NPR
/
Katie Burk/NPR

Send your questions about the inner workings of NPR, something you heard during a program, or anything else NPR-related to NPR Services. Your question and the answer might even end up on the This is NPR blog.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

George T. Gary III