This isn't laudable, it's defensive. The snafu has been covered in the NYT so there's no burying it. They are making sure their side is told by covering it themselves.
I also don't think NPR would be successful in "burying" it, but they could easily just choose to not report on it.
When the source about the Biden's bribes in Ukraine turned out to be a Russian asset, it was widely reported, including the NYT. Fox and other right news sources glossed past it. To me, that is burying the story, even though it was widely reported in other outlets.