National Public Radio’s recent mistreatment of former employees raises obvious questions. What exactly are we taxpayers paying for here?
It’s true that they don’t have the ability to do public relations.
Uli Berliner, who worked at NPR for 25 years, was influenced by a more than 3,500-word essay he wrote in which he argued that the publicly funded network had abandoned journalistic integrity in favor of left-wing ideology. He resigned last week. He also claimed that the network no longer tolerates dissent and blocks anything that does not strictly adhere to its progressive tenets.
Mr. Berliner’s criticism has not been well received by NPR. A staff of at least 50 people and a newly anointed CEO (a figure indistinguishable from the satirist’s idea of the typical white, wealthy liberal woman) completely ignored his concerns, and his integrity attacked Sa. Prior to his resignation, NPR also suspended Berliner.
NPR’s response to Berliner’s criticism is a textbook example of what not to do in such a situation. Executives are simply proving their point about their company’s collective consciousness trends and intolerance of opposing views by turning a publicly embarrassing incident into a weeks-long affair.
But then again, if you’re relying on Congressional legislation to keep the lights on, prudent business management probably falls low on the list of general considerations.
“Back in 2011,” Berliner wrote in an article published April 9. free press“NPR’s audience was a little left-leaning, but still similar to America as a whole. 26% of listeners identified themselves as conservative, 23% as moderate, and 37% as liberal.” .”
Furthermore, he added: “By 2023, the picture was completely different: only 11 percent described themselves as very or somewhat conservative, 21 percent were moderate, and 67 percent of listeners , said they were very or somewhat liberal.” It wasn’t just conservatives that we lost. Moderates and traditional liberals were also losing ground. ”
In claiming that NPR has sold out its journalistic principles for the benefit of the left, Berliner points out three news cycles in particular that he claims NPR got very wrong: Russiagate, COVID-19. origin, and pointed to Hunter Biden’s laptop.
He has a point on each point.
NPR pursued the Russian collusion scandal with all the might of a staunch religious zealot, but abandoned the story with little explanation after the climactic release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
The Biden laptop incident involved a global influence operation involving Ukrainian business interests, Chinese citizens and the White House, and when first reported by the New York Post, NPR I didn’t even try to investigate the story.Instead, NPR Public Editor Kelly McBride In 2020, we explained:: “We don’t want to waste our time on stories that aren’t really stories, and we don’t want to waste our listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just a distraction.”
Speaking of wasting readers’ time, NPR later assigned three reporters to sign off on a more than 800-word report detailing the thumbs-up emoji’s alleged racially problematic legacy. I will do it.
Also,2021, NPR claimed that “The Laptop story has been discredited by independent investigations by U.S. intelligence and news organizations.” Nothing like that has ever happened before or since.Actually Hunter Bidenlater confirmedthat the laptop in question is real and belongs to him.
Regarding the origins of COVID-19, NPR reported in 2020 that “scientists” had “debunked” the theory that the virus arose from a lab leak. . They weren’t doing any of that. That the lab leak theory had been “debunked” was just an accepted statement at the time among journalists looking to score points against Republican lawmakers. There is now a growing scientific and intelligence consensus that this virus is likely the product of a laboratory accident. This theory has always been serious and legitimate. NPR dismissed this proposal during the presidential campaign simply because a Republican congressman suggested it first.
NPR’s response to Berliner’s criticism was not what one would expect from a major news organization in a similar position. Typically, when journalists publicly criticize their employers for betraying journalism’s primary goal of serving the public interest, journalistic news organizations at least try to appear introspective. There is usually some chin-stroking or a public statement from a previously unknown media executive vowing to “do better” and “listen more.”
Not so at NPR, and the reaction to Berliner is much like its reporting: one-sided, tone-deaf, flippant, and extraordinarily arrogant. The only thing missing from the group’s reactions is the breathy staccato that is prevalent throughout the on-air show.
NPR’s new CEO Katherine Maher, who had never worked a day in a newsroom before joining NPR, responded to Mr. Berliner’s criticism with righteous indignation and wrote a detailed critique of Mr. Berliner. ignored the organization’s reporting.
Wednesday, Berlinsubmitted a letter of resignationHe explained that he could no longer work in a newsroom that was “scorned” by a divisive and partisan CEO like Maher.
About 50 NPR staffers subsequently sent a letter to Mr. Maher and editor Edith Chapin condemning Berliner and calling for a public censure of “.”factual inaccuracies and omissions;” states in the essay.
“Mr. Berliner’s public comments make his colleagues’ jobs even more difficult and cause harassment,” the employees wrote. “For every person who may publicly bash a colleague, there are many who are steadily trying to make change happen from within.”
Yeah.
NPR has a right to be as far left as it wants. You are free to hire your CEO as a freak.partisanrecorded as Maheras stated“Our respect for the truth may be a distraction that gets in the way of finding common ground and getting things done.” Believing news organizations to be balanced and impartial Free, but not eligible for taxpayer support. Is it really a stretch to say that NPR is delusional for its own benefit? That’s a fair suggestion.
NPR could stand by Mr. Maher and continue on the path that prompted Mr. Berliner to speak, but first they should remove the “P” from NPR.
Beckett Adams is a Washington writer and program director at the National Journalism Center.
