Nina Totenberg is a legal-affairs correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) and has worked for the media outlet since 1975. ¹ Her work has been criticized for left-of-center bias, and Totenberg had a notably close relationship to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the longtime icon of the legal left, though she also had a personal friendship with the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia.

Early Life

Born in New York City in 1944, Totenberg is the eldest daughter of political activist Melanie Totenberg and acclaimed concert violist Roman Totenberg. After graduating from high school in New York, Totenberg attended Boston University to major in journalism but left during her second year as she “wasn’t doing brilliantly.” ²

Journalism

Early Career

Totenberg began her journalistic career working for the Boston Record American. She then became a reporter for the Peabody Times in Massachusetts, before moving to Washington, D.C., in 1968 to become the editor of Roll Call, a weekly newspaper that covers Capitol Hill. ³

She then joined the National Observer, where she began her reporting on the Supreme Court. She was fired for plagiarism in 1972 after she wrote a story using quotes by members of Congress without crediting the original publisher of the quotes, the Washington Post. ⁴

National Public Radio (NPR)

Totenberg joined National Public Radio (NPR) in 1975 and wrote her first widely recognized story in 1977 by reporting on secret deliberations of the Supreme Court concerning three high-profile persons associated with the Watergate scandal which ultimately forced President Richard Nixon (R) to resign. ⁵

Controversy

Anita Hill Reporting

Totenberg also reported on sexual harassment charges against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas in 1991. Thomas was accused by Anita Hill, who was invited to provide background information on the nominee as she was an attorney-advisor at the U.S. Department of Education when Thomas served as Assistant Secretary of Education. Hill claimed in an affidavit to the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by then-U.S. Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) , that Thomas began to have conversations of a sexual nature with her. According to a transcript of Totenberg’s report for NPR on the subject, Hill alleged that after discussions on work, the conversation would turn to his “sexual interests.” Hill added that after a few months the conversations stopped when Thomas had a girlfriend but continued after he became the head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Hill went to work as his assistant. Hill also noted that he never physically touched her or threatened her job. ⁶

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Thomas’ nomination beginning on September 10, 1991. Hill first mentioned the allegations to the committee on September 12, according to Biden. The committee then suggested that the FBI investigate, and Hill agreed to be interviewed on September 23. Three days later the FBI completed its investigation and submitted its report to the Senate Judiciary Committee. George H.W. Bush White House Deputy Press Secretary Judy Smith said in a statement that “The White House reviewed the report and determined that the allegation was unfounded.” ⁷

Totenberg reported on the allegations on October 6, 1991, after she received a copy of the FBI report. ⁸

Comments About Jesse Helms

Nina Totenberg has been criticized for her comments about then-U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) in 1995. On the political television program Inside Washington in 1995, Totenberg and other guests were discussing a proposal by the North Carolina senator that Congress should reduce the amount of money spent on AIDS research. While referring to Helms, Totenberg said, “I think he ought to be worried about the—about what’s going on in the good Lord’s mind, because if there’s retributive justice, he’ll get AIDS from a transfusion or one of his grandchildren will get it.” ⁹

While speaking to NPR reporter David Folkenflik in 2010, Totenberg called her comments “dumb,” adding that the backlash she received due to her remarks has taught her “a lesson about being careful,” and that she has not “said anything that stupid on the air in 15 years.” ¹⁰

Although she made the remarks in 1995, critics of NPR accused the media outlet of hypocrisy after it terminated its contract with pundit Juan Williams in 2010 after he made allegedly anti-Muslim comments on “The O’Reilly Factor,” a Fox News show. When asked if he blamed Muslims for the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Williams responded by claiming to be a civil rights advocate, but went on to state, “When I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.” ¹¹

Allegations of Bias

Totenberg has been criticized multiple times for having a bias towards politicians and lawyers who are reported to be her personal friends. NPR received a letter from a listener of the NPR Politics podcast in 2016. The author noted that as a reporter covering the Supreme Court, it is Totenberg’s job to “present a dispassionate and unbiased account of that court’s decisions and of its members.” Due to her friendships with members of the institution she reports on, the author believed “it is a serious breach of journalistic ethics for Totenberg to befriend members of the Supreme Court and still present herself as a neutral observer of their behavior.” ¹²

The Christian Science Monitor had expressed a similar sentiment in 2010 when it mentioned that Totenberg’s wedding to H. David Reines in 2000 was presided over by then-Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, adding that Totenberg and Ginsburg were “old friends, dating from Ginsburg’s days as a Rutgers law professor.” ¹³

According to an article by the Washington Post, Totenberg and Ginsburg had been friends since the 1970s, and both families shared “dinners and celebrations together.” The article also noted that NPR and Totenberg rarely disclosed their close friendship during Ginsburg’s life. ¹⁴

In 2022, Totenberg will publish Dinners with Ruth, a personal memoir of her friendship with Justice Ginsburg. ¹⁵

While her friendship with Ginsburg was reportedly particularly close, she also maintained a personal friendship with conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, about which she spoke on the NPR Politics podcast after Scalia’s death. ¹⁶

Disputed Reporting

In January 2022, Totenberg claimed in her reporting that despite knowing that Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor “did not feel safe in close proximity to people who were unmasked,” fellow Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch refused to wear a mask. Sotomayor was “the only justice to wear a mask on the bench” since the justices resumed in-person arguments in October 2021, the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. ¹⁷

According to Totenberg, Chief Justice John Roberts “in some form” requested the other justices to wear masks while appearing in person. Totenberg reported that Gorsuch refused to wear a mask, and that his “continued refusal” “meant that Sotomayor has not attended the justices’ weekly conference in person, joining instead by telephone.” ¹⁸

In a joint statement released by the Supreme Court, Sotomayor and Gorsuch stated, “Reporting that Justice Sotomayor asked Justice Gorsuch to wear a mask surprised us. It is false.” The statement added, “While we [Sotomayor and Gorsuch] may sometimes disagree about the law, we are warm colleagues and friends.” ¹⁹

In a separate statement, Chief Justice Roberts stated, “I did not request Justice Gorsuch or any other Justice to wear a mask on the bench.” ²⁰

Despite the apparent discrepency, Totenberg wrote in a Twitter post on January 19, 2022, “NPR stands by my reporting.” Totenberg’s NPR report also stated that the outlet “stands by its reporting” as of January 21, 2022. ^{21 22}

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6. “Transcript of Nina Totenberg’s NPR report on Anita Hill’s charges of sexual harassment by Clarence Thomas Transcript.” Jewish Women’s Archive. Accessed January 21, 2022. jwa.org/media/transcript-of-nina-totenbergs-npr-report-on-anita-hills-charges-of-sexual-harassment-by-0.
7. Liptak, Kevin. “The FBI did investigate Anita Hill’s accusation, and it took 3 days.” CNNPolitics. April 26, 2019. Accessed January 21, 2022. edition.cnn.com/2018/09/19/politics/anita-hill-clarence-thomas-allegations-timeline/index.html.
8. Liptak, Kevin. “The FBI did investigate Anita Hill’s accusation, and it took 3 days.” CNNPolitics. April 26, 2019. Accessed January 21, 2022. edition.cnn.com/2018/09/19/politics/anita-hill-clarence-thomas-allegations-timeline/index.html.
9. Folkenflik, David. “Totenberg On Helms Comment: ‘It Was A Stupid Remark.’” October 26, 2010. Accessed January 21, 2022. www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2010/10/26/130838719/totenberg-on-helms-remark-stupidest-thing-she-s-said-on-tv.
10. Folkenflik, David. “Totenberg On Helms Comment: ‘It Was A Stupid Remark.’” October 26, 2010. Accessed January 21, 2022. www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2010/10/26/130838719/totenberg-on-helms-remark-stupidest-thing-she-s-said-on-tv.
11. Folkenflik, David. “NPR Ends Williams’ Contract After Muslim Remarks.” NPR. October 21, 2010. Accessed January 21, 2022. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130712737.
12. Totenberg, Nina. “When Is A Friendship A Conflict Of Interest?.” NPR. February 26, 2016. Accessed January 21, 2022. www.npr.org/sections/publiceditor/2016/02/26/467813499/when-is-a-friendship-a-conflict-of-interest
13. Totenberg, Nina. “When Is A Friendship A Conflict Of Interest?.” NPR. February 26, 2016. Accessed January 21, 2022. www.npr.org/sections/publiceditor/2016/02/26/467813499/when-is-a-friendship-a-conflict-of-interest.
14. Farhi, Paul. “Nina Totenberg was close friends with Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Was that a conflict for NPR?.”  Washington Post. September 22, 2020. Accessed January 21, 2022. www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/nina-totenberg-ruth-bader-ginsburg/2020/09/21/ed34868a-fc1b-11ea-8d05-9beaaa91c71f_story.html.
15. Totenberg, Nina. Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships. S.l.: SIMON & SCHUSTER, 2022.
16.  ^[1] Totenberg, Nina. “When Is A Friendship A Conflict Of Interest?.” NPR. February 26, 2016. Accessed January 21, 2022. www.npr.org/sections/publiceditor/2016/02/26/467813499/when-is-a-friendship-a-conflict-of-interest.
17. Totenberg, Nina. “Gorsuch didn’t mask despite Sotomayor’s COVID worries, leading her to telework.” NPR. January 18, 2022. Accessed January 21, 2022. www.npr.org/2022/01/18/1073428376/supreme-court-justices-arent-scorpions-but-not-happy-campers-either.
18. Totenberg, Nina. “Gorsuch didn’t mask despite Sotomayor’s COVID worries, leading her to telework.” NPR. January 18, 2022. Accessed January 21, 2022. www.npr.org/2022/01/18/1073428376/supreme-court-justices-arent-scorpions-but-not-happy-campers-either.
19. Hurley, Lawrence. “U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sotomayor, Gorsuch deny rift over masks.” Reuters. January 19, 2022. Accessed January 21, 2022. www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-supreme-court-justices-sotomayor-gorsuch-deny-rift-over-masks-2022-01-19/.
20. Hurley, Lawrence. “U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sotomayor, Gorsuch deny rift over masks.” Reuters. January 19, 2022. Accessed January 21, 2022. www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-supreme-court-justices-sotomayor-gorsuch-deny-rift-over-masks-2022-01-19/.
21. Totenberg, Nina. “Gorsuch didn’t mask despite Sotomayor’s COVID worries, leading her to telework.” NPR. January 18, 2022. Accessed January 21, 2022. www.npr.org/2022/01/18/1073428376/supreme-court-justices-arent-scorpions-but-not-happy-campers-either.
22. Totenberg, Nina. “NPR stands by my reporting.” Twitter. January 19, 2022. Accessed January 21, 2022. https://twitter.com/NinaTotenberg/status/1483924382460399619?cxt=HHwWhsC-oaPX-pcpAAAA.