[KARAH RUCKER]

T.V. RATINGS AND TRAFFIC TO NEWS WEBSITES – IS SIGNIFICANTLY DOWN IN RECENT YEARS. 

THE DECLINE IN MAINSTREAM NEWS COINCIDES WITH RECENT POLLS SHOWING MOST AMERICANS BELIEVE THE MEDIA IS BIASED.

AND NOW – SOMEONE **WITHIN THE MEDIA – IS BLOWING THE WHISTLE ON WHAT HE SAYS IS BIAS AT HIS **OWN EMPLOYER – NPR.

AND NPR – IS FIRING BACK.

URI BERLINER IS A SENIOR REPORTER AT NPR.

HE PUBLISHED THIS PIECE FOR THE FREE PRESS TITLED “I’VE BEEN AT NPR FOR 25 YEARS. HERE’S HOW WE LOST AMERICAN’S TRUST”.

THE PIECE PUBLISHED WITHOUT NPR’S KNOWLEDGE.

IN IT –

BERLINER SAYS “AN OPEN-MINDED SPIRIT NO LONGER EXISTS WITHIN NPR.

AND NOW – PREDICTABLY – WE DON’T HAVE AN AUDIENCE THAT REFLECTS AMERICA.”

HE GOES ON TO SAY THE TRUMP ELECTION EXACERBATED THE ISSUE. 

“Like many unfortunate things, the rise of advocacy took off with Donald Trump. As in many newsrooms, his election in 2016 was greeted at NPR with a mixture of disbelief, anger, and despair. (Just to note, I eagerly voted against Trump twice but felt we were obliged to cover him fairly.) But what began as tough, straightforward coverage of a belligerent, truth-impaired president veered toward efforts to damage or topple Trump’s presidency.” 

BERLINER WENT ON – IN A 2 THOUSAND WORD ARTICLE –

NOT HOLDING BACK AGAINST HIS **CURRENT EMPLOYER AND HOW HE BELIEVES NPR HAS LOST “VIEWPOINT DIVERSITY”

AND BECAUSE OF IT – HAS LOST VIEWERSHIP, REVENUE, AND TRUST. 

CERTAIN POLLS BACK SOME OF HIS GRIEVANCES.

A HARRIS POLL CONDUCTED THIS YEAR SHOWS 

3 OUT OF EVERY 10 LISTENERS FOUND NPR TO BE “TRUSTWORTHY.”

BUT NPR HAS ALREADY RESPONDED TO THE SCATHING CRITICISM FROM WITHIN ITS OWN NEWSROOM.

NPR’S EDITOR IN CHIEF RELEASED A STATEMENT SAYING

I and my colleagues on the leadership team strongly disagree with Uri’s assessment of the quality of our journalism and the integrity of our newsroom processes. We’re proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories.

WHILE NPR’S EDITOR IN CHIEF SAYS THE NEWS THEY REPORT MEETS THE “HIGHEST EDITORIAL STANDARDS” –

THERE ARE “MEDIA WATCHDOGS” THAT **RATE A NEWS ORGANIZATION’S BIAS.

THEY PERIODICALLY SAMPLE NEWS STORIES FROM A NEWS OUTLET –

AND THEN RATE THEM BASED ON WHETHER THEIR COVERAGE, WORDING, OR STORY SELECTION HAS A LEFT-LEANING OR RIGHT-LEANING BIAS – OR IF THEIR REPORTING IS FAIR AND DOWN THE MIDDLE.

“ALL SIDES” IS ONE OF THOSE MEDIA WATCHDOGS.

THIS IS HOW NPR IS RATED ON THE “BIAS METER”.

ALL SIDES SHOWS THEIR NEWS COVERAGE DOES HAVE A LEFT-LEANING BIAS.

WHICH **WOULD ALIGN WITH SOME OF THE POINTS URI BERLINER MADE IN HIS OP-ED.

BUT COMPARED TO OTHER NEWS OUTLETS – LIKE MSNBC –

NPR IS NOT **AS LEFT-LEANING.

ALLSIDES RATES MSNBC AS A FAR LEFT NEWS OUTLET.

AND ON THE OTHER END OF THE SPECTRUM –

ALLSIDES ALSO RATES NEWS ORGANIZATIONS FOR HAVING A RIGHT-WING BIAS.

SUCH AS FOX NEWS.

AND THEN THERE IS OUR NEWS ORGANIZATION.

STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS.

AFTER ALL SIDES REVIEWED OUR STORIES –

THEY FOUND WE DELIVER THE NEWS WITHOUT A LEFT-LEANING **OR RIGHT-LEANING BIAS.

WHICH ALIGNS WITH OUR MISSION. 

DELIVERING UNBIASED. STRAIGHT FACTS. FOR OUR VIEWERS.

THE BIAS METER GIVES AN AUDIENCE A GOOD IDEA OF WHAT SORT OF NEWS THEY WILL BE CONSUMING FROM A GIVEN OUTLET –

AND A RECENT SURVEY SHOWS NPR IS ATTRACTING A MORE LIBERAL CROWD.

ONLY 11 PERCENT OF THEIR LISTENERS SAY THEY ARE CONSERVATIVE.

WHILE 67 PERCENT SAY THEY ARE LIBERAL.

THIS IS A DRASTIC CHANGE FROM 2011 –

WHEN 26 PERCENT OF LISTENERS WERE CONSERVATIVE AND 37 PERCENT WERE LIBERAL.

NPR IS ONE OF MANY EXAMPLES WHERE ITS AUDIENCE IS LARGELY A LIBERAL ONE –

CONSUMING LIBERAL NEWS.

AND FOR CONSERVATIVE OUTLETS LIKE FOX – ITS AUDIENCE IS LARGELY A CONSERVATIVE ONE.

WHICH MEANS –

AMERICANS AREN’T GETTING THE MOST DIVERSE NEWS.

BUT WITH S-A-N  –

WE DON’T REPORT WITH A POLITICAL LEAN.

SO YOU CAN FORM YOUR OWN POLITICAL OPINIONS FROM THE PRESENTED FACTS IN OUR NEWS STORIES.