Public Radio East serves Eastern North Carolina by providing news, fine arts, and informational programming that challenges, stimulates, educates, and entertains an intellectually curious audience.

© 2026 Public Radio East

Public Radio East
800 College Court
New Bern, NC 28562

EIN 56-1802728
Public Radio For Eastern North Carolina 89.3 WTEB New Bern 88.5 WZNB New Bern 91.5 WBJD Atlantic Beach 90.3 WKNS Kinston 89.9 W210CF Greenville
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Join our team! Public Radio East is hiring a Financial & Development Associate.
US

Don't Refer To Maria Butina As A 'Student' In Headlines And Intros

The woman charged with being an unregistered Russian agent has been referred to in headlines and story summaries by us and others as a "student" or "graduate student."

While it has been reported that she entered the U.S. on a student visa, simply referring to her that way in headlines and introductions could mislead those who don't read or listen to the rest of a story. It makes it sound like her reason for coming to the U.S. was to get an education. That's a conclusion we shouldn't jump to.

Her name is now familiar enough to be in headlines and intros. "Russian woman" is obviously a helpful description.

Also: Lucian Kim says it's "BOO-tee-nah ."

Z�"��;4

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

US
Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.