NPR faced both internal turmoil and a flurry of attacks by prominent conservatives this week after a senior editor publicly claimed the broadcaster had allowed liberal bias to affect its coverage, threatening trust. it to the audience.
Uri Berliner, a senior business editor who has worked at NPR for 25 years, writes an essay published Tuesday by The Free Press, a popular Substack publication, that “people at every level at NPR are comfortably aligned with the progressive worldview.”
Mr. Berliner, a Peabody Award-winning journalist, criticized NPR for what he said was a litany of journalistic missteps in its coverage of several major news events, including the origins of Covid-19 and the war in Gaza . He also said that the internal culture at NPR placed race and identity as “paramount in almost every aspect of the workplace.”
Mr. Berliner’s essay sparked a firestorm of criticism of NPR on social media, especially among conservatives who have long accused the network of political bias in its reporting. Former President Donald J. Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to argue that NPR’s government funding should be revoked, an argument he has made in the past.
NPR pushed hard against Mr. Berliner’s accusations and the criticism.
“We are proud to stand behind the extraordinary work our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories,” said Edith Chapin, the organization’s editor-in-chief, in an email to staff on Tuesday. “We believe that inclusion — in our staff, in our resources, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world.” Several other NPR journalists also criticized the essay publicly, including Eric Deggans, its TV critic, who blamed Mr. Berliner for not giving NPR an opportunity to comment on the piece.
In an interview Thursday, Mr. Berliner expressed no regrets about publishing the essay, saying he loved NPR and hoped to make it better by airing criticisms that leaders within the Many years. He called NPR a “national trust” that people depend on for fair reporting and excellent storytelling.
“I decided to come out and publish this in the hope that something would change, and that we would have a broader conversation about how the news is covered,” Mr. Berliner said.
He said managers did not discipline him, though he said he received a note from his supervisor reminding him that NPR requires employees to clear speaking appearances and media requests with standards and media relations. He said he did not run his statements to The New York Times by network spokespeople.
When the hosts of NPR’s biggest shows, including “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered,” met Wednesday afternoon for a long-scheduled meet-and-greet with the network’s new chief executive, Katherine Maher, the conversation turned to Mr. Berliner’s essay, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting. At lunch, Ms. Chapin told the hosts that he did not want Mr. Berliner, people say.
Mr. Berliner’s essay also sent critical Slack messages that went through some of the same racial and sexual identity-focused employee affinity groups he mentioned in his essay. In one group, some staffers disputed Mr. Berliner’s points about the lack of ideological diversity and said efforts to recruit more people of color would improve NPR’s journalism.
On Wednesday, staff from “Morning Edition” met to discuss the fallout from Mr. Berliner’s essay. During the meeting, an NPR producer took issue with Mr. Berliner’s argument about why NPR’s listening has fallen, describing various factors that contributed to the change.
Mr. Berliner’s remarks prompted a strong pushback from some news executives. Tony Cavin, NPR’s managing editor of standards and practices, said in an interview that he rejected all of Mr. Berliner’s claims of unfairness, adding that his remarks were likely to make it difficult for NPR reporters to do their jobs.
“The next time one of our people calls a Republican congressman or something and tries to get an answer from them, they can say, ‘Oh, I read these stories, you’re not being fair, so I’m not going to . to talk to you,’” Mr. Cavin said.
Some journalists defended Mr. Berliner’s essay. Jeffrey A. Dvorkin, a former NPR ombudsman, said Mr. Berliner was “not wrong” on social media. Chuck Holmes, a former managing editor at NPR, called Mr. Berliner’s essay “brave” on Facebook.
Mr. Berliner’s criticism is the latest salvo within NPR, which is no stranger to internal divisions. In October, Mr. Berliner took part in a long debate about whether NPR should delay language proposed by the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association while covering the conflict in Gaza.
“We don’t have to rely on the guidance of an advocacy group,” Mr. Berliner wrote, according to a copy of the email exchange seen by The Times. “Our job is to find the facts and report them.” The debate did not change NPR’s language guidelines, which were created by editors who were not part of the discussion. And in a statement Thursday, the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association said it is a professional association for journalists, not a political advocacy group.
Mr. Berliner’s public criticism highlighted broader concerns within NPR about the public broadcaster’s mission amid ongoing financial struggles. Last year, NPR cut 10 percent of its staff and canceled four podcasts, including the popular “Invisibilia,” as it tried to make up for a $30 million budget shortfall. Listeners moved away from traditional radio to podcasts, and the advertising market was unstable.
In his essay, Mr. Berliner laid some of the blame at the feet of NPR’s former chief executive, John Lansing, who said he would retire at the end of last year after four years in the role. He was replaced by Ms. Maher, which started on March 25.
In a meeting with employees during her first week, Ms. Maher what he thought about the decisions to give a platform to political figures like Ronna McDaniel, the former Republican Party leader whose position as a political analyst at NBC News became untenable after an on – air revolt from hosts who criticized his efforts to undermine the 2020 election.
“I think this conversation is not an easy answer,” Ms. Maher.
