NPR's Longtime Editor Resigns in Battle Over Biased Agenda
Longtime NPR editor Uri Berliner, who was serving a five-day suspension for blowing the whistle on liberal bias at the news organization, announced Wednesday he resigned.
"I am resigning from NPR, a great American institution where I have worked for 25 years. I don't support calls to defund NPR. I respect the integrity of my colleagues and wish for NPR to thrive and do important journalism. But I cannot work in a newsroom where I am disparaged by a new CEO whose divisive views confirm the very problems at NPR I cited in my Free Press essay," Berliner wrote in a statement published on X.
My resignation letter to NPR CEO @krmaher pic.twitter.com/0hafVbcZAK
— Uri Berliner (@uberliner) April 17, 2024
In a bombshell essay published last week, Berliner called out the taxpayer-funded outlet for losing "America's trust" by reporting news with a left-wing slant and criticized them for alleged bias during former President Donald Trump's presidency.
In an interview following the essay, Berliner specifically claimed NPR CEO Katherine Maher was incapable of directing the organization.
"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," Berliner said. "And this seems to be the opposite of that."
He called her out for several statements she posted to X calling Donald Trump "racist" in 2018 and blasting Hillary Clinton for using the terms "boy" and "girl," saying she was "erasing language for non-binary people."
Berliner's essay, which was published in the Free Press, pointed out that NPR lacked fairness and only shared a "distilled worldview of a very small segment of the U.S. population" including pushing Race and identity politics, turning a "blind eye" to Hunter Biden's laptop, and downplaying antisemitism following Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.
He said "the most damaging development at NPR" was "the absence of viewpoint diversity." And while Berliner said he previously tried to address his concerns with news leaders and Maher's predecessor, he contends his message fell on deaf ears.
However, his essay moved NPR's leadership to appoint executive editor Eva Rodriguez to be the point person to lead monthly meetings to review coverage.
Maher, who has only been leading NPR for the last month, defended the organization saying, "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."
Others within the public radio organization said they didn't want to work with Berliner any longer.
Subsequently, he was suspended Friday for five days without pay and NPR told him it was a "final warning" for violating the company's policy of working with other news organizations.
Berliner decided to walk away.
A spokesperson for NPR told Fox News after his announcement that it "does not comment on individual personnel matters."
The conflict has put a spotlight on Maher and what some call her far-left point of view.
In a recent post shared on X by journalist Christopher Rufo, Maher told the Atlanta Council several years ago that "the number one challenge" in her fight against disinformation is "the First Amendment in the United States," which makes it "a little bit tricky" to censor "bad information" and "the influence peddlers" who spread it.
EXCLUSIVE: Katherine Maher says the "the number one challenge" in her fight against disinformation is "the First Amendment in the United States," which makes it "a little bit tricky" to censor "bad information" and "the influence peddlers" who spread it.
— Christopher F. Rufo (@realchrisrufo) April 17, 2024
NPR's censor-in-chief. pic.twitter.com/0vY6hIpbmO
"This keeps getting crazier! The head of NPR hates the Constitution of the USA," Elon Musk, X's former CEO, responded.
NPR noted that "the CEO is not involved in editorial decisions."
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