Last Updated on April 16, 2024
National Public Radio suspended Uri Berliner, a senior editor, after he criticized the outlet for a left-wing bias that he believes is hurting its quality of journalism.
Berliner reportedly has more than 20 years at NPR under his belt. He was suspended last week for five days without pay, according to the outlet on Tuesday.
His suspension followed his publication in The Free Press last week, which argued that “those who listen to NPR or read its coverage online” are receiving “the distilled worldview of a very small segment of the US population.”
According to The Hill, the heads of NPR told Berliner, a veteran journalist at the outlet, that he failed to secure approval for outside work with another news entity. Such is customary for journalists, but it is strange how Berliner did not think of it himself. Even at that, this is a minor offense but may carry more weight depending upon the content matter.
A NPR spokesperson told The Hill that it “does not comment on individual personnel matters, including discipline … [it] expect[s] all of our employees to comply with NPR policies and procedures.”
What is that deranged racist sociopath ranting about today? I truly do not understand.
— Katherine Maher (@krmaher) May 14, 2020
Critics of NPR responded to its actions against Berliner, citing social media posts of its CEO Katherine Maher referring to former President Donald Trump as a “racist,” cheering Democrats and underscoring the Black Lives Matter riots. Berliner had criticized Maher’s posting in an interview with NPR’s David Folkenflik, too:
We’re looking for a leader right now who’s going to be unifying and bring more people into the tent and have a broader perspective on, sort of, what America is all about. And this seems to be the opposite of that.
I love NPR and feel it’s a national trust. We have great journalists here. If they shed their opinions and did the great journalism they’re capable of, this would be a much more interesting and fulfilling organization for our listeners.
In a staff note following Berliner’s essay, Maher pushed back on the claims, desperately trying to defend the journalistic integrity of the outlet:
In America everyone is entitled to free speech as a private citizen. What matters is NPR’s work and my commitment as its CEO: public service, editorial independence, and the mission to serve all of the American public. NPR is independent, beholden to no party, and without commercial interests.
Later, NPR stated that Maher is “not involved in editorial decisions.”
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Former President Donald Trump even responded to the criticism of Berliner’s piece, saying the outlet should be defunded. NPR is reportedly a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization with nearly 800 public radio stations in the US. It has a wide berth of channels, typically targeting well-adjusted left-wingers and the “apolitical.” That said, it may be hard to defund or much less “correct” bias.
