NPR editor punished for unauthorized essay accusing network of left-wing bias

[LAUREN TAYLOR]

AS NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO, FACES BIAS ACCUSATIONS, A FIRESTORM OF CRITICISM AND CALLS FOR DEFUNDING, IT SUSPENDED SENIOR EDITOR URI BERLINER FOR FIVE DAYS WITHOUT PAY.

BERLINER, WHO HAS BEEN WITH NPR FOR 25 YEARS CRITICIZED THE ORGANIZATION IN AN ESSAY FOR THE FREE PRESS, CLAIMING NPR’S COVERAGE REFLECTS THE VIEWS OF A NARROW LEFT-LEANING SEGMENT OF THE U.S. POPULATION.

THE SENIOR EDITOR CLAIMED THE NETWORK HAD ‘LOST AMERICA’S TRUST’ BY COVERING NEWS STORIES WITH A CONSISTENTLY PROGRESSIVE BIAS — A POINT CONFIRMED BY ALL SIDES MEDIA WHO RATES AGENCIES ON THEIR MEDIA BIAS.

THE ORGANIZATION SUSPENDED BERLINER FOR NOT GETTING THE PROPER APPROVAL TO DO WORK FOR OTHER NEWS OUTLETS, WHICH THEY SAY IS REQUIRED BY ALL NPR JOURNALISTS.

[URI BERLINER]

“I got so frustrated with what I saw was the sort of the lack of different perspectives in our coverage that I decided to look at voter registration. And what I found was 87 registered Democrats on our editorial staff, zero Republicans.

[LAUREN TAYLOR]

THE ORGANIZATION HAS FACED SIMILAR ACCUSATIONS FOR YEARS. IN 2011, NPR’S OWN RESEARCH SHOWED THAT ABOUT 37 PERCENT OF ITS LISTENERS IDENTIFIED AS LIBERAL OR SOMEWHAT LIBERAL, WHILE ONLY 26 PERCENT IDENTIFIED AS CONSERVATIVE OR SOMEWHAT CONSERVATIVE. In 2023 67 percent identified as liberal and 11 percent identified as conservatives.

BERLINER’S OP-ED PIECE — RENEWING ACCUSATIONS OF LIBERAL BIAS AT NPR — DREW ATTENTION TO THE NETWORK’S LEADERSHIP. 

NPR’S CHIEF EXECUTIVE, KATHERINE MAHER, WHO WAS APPOINTED EARLIER THIS YEAR, NOW FACES SCRUTINY FOR PAST SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS THAT CRITICIZED FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP AND SUPPORTED LIBERAL CAUSES. THIS IS MAHER’S FIRST ROLE IN LEADERSHIP AT A NEWS ORGANIZATION AND SHE ASSERTS ‘EVERYONE IS ENTITLED TO FREE SPEECH AS A PRIVATE CITIZEN.’

N-P-R SAYS MAHER HAS UPHELD THE NETWORK’S CODE OF ETHICS SINCE SHE WAS APPOINTED AND THAT ITS CEO IS NOT INVOLVED IN EDITORIAL DECISIONS.

ON MONDAY NPR ANNOUNCED THEY WOULD HOLD MONTHLY MEETINGS TO REVIEW THEIR NEWS COVERAGE BIAS.