Harper’s Magazine is set to recognize Katherine Maher, the CEO of NPR, with its “First Amendment Award.” This recognition comes despite her past remarks that have been critical of the First Amendment itself.
The award ceremony will take place on October 26, as announced in a press release by Harper’s Magazine. They justified their choice of Maher as the second recipient of the “James C. Goodale First Amendment Award” by highlighting her leadership during a challenging time, particularly in response to a May 2025 executive order from President Donald Trump that aimed to cut taxpayer funding for NPR and PBS.
According to the press release, “Maher has navigated the nation’s most trusted public media institution through scrutiny and challenges, including successfully contesting Trump’s executive order intended to end federal support for NPR and PBS.” Harper’s noted that Maher’s efforts contributed to a ruling by a U.S. district court against the White House, which emphasized that “the First Amendment draws a line that the government cannot cross in terms of punishing or suppressing disfavored expression.”
In March, Judge Randolph D. Moss, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, ruled in favor of NPR.
Since becoming CEO of NPR in 2024, Maher has previously led the Wikimedia Foundation, known for managing Wikipedia.
In a panel discussion held by the Atlantic Council back in 2021, Maher labeled the First Amendment as the “number one challenge.” The Daily Mail reported her saying it complicates efforts to tackle misinformation, suggesting that it poses difficulties in addressing the origins of unreliable information.
The James C. Goodale First Amendment Award is granted to individuals who exhibit a significant commitment to the ideals of free press and the protections afforded by the Constitution, as stated by Harper’s Magazine.
This marks the second time the award has been distributed, named after the former vice chairman of The New York Times. The inaugural recipient was A.G. Sulzberger, the current chairman of The Times, awarded in November 2025.
Neither Maher nor Harper’s responded to inquiries from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Trump’s executive order was seen as directed specifically at NPR and PBS as it suggested their reporting was not “fair, accurate, or unbiased.” NPR’s attorney argued in their lawsuit against the White House that this constituted “textbook retaliation.” Maher asserted that it reflected “viewpoint-based discrimination violating the First Amendment.”
The White House referenced the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, which established the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to support NPR and PBS under the premise of “impartiality.” They contended that taxpayers are entitled to expect unbiased news coverage from publicly funded broadcasting.
In the executive order, it stated, “Americans have the right to expect that if their tax dollars fund public broadcasting, they should support only fair, accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news.”
Maher has faced accusations of promoting censorship from Republican members of Congress during a 2025 House subcommittee hearing. One instance included then-Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who questioned her about previous comments on language impacting nonbinary individuals. Greene pressed Maher on who should be charged with curbing misinformation, to which Maher insisted that neither NPR, the government, nor herself should participate in censorship, identifying as a strong advocate for free speech.
Additionally, Maher has previously expressed that “our reverence for the truth might be a distraction that’s getting in the way of finding common ground and getting things done,” a point she made during a 2024 Ted Talk.
Moreover, NPR has been criticized for perceived partisan views, particularly due to its handling of the Hunter Biden laptop story before the 2020 presidential election.
