Opinion | Heres why Uri Berliner couldnt stay at NPR
Last week, after Berliner’s essay appeared in The Free Press, Maher wrote to staff (in a ), “Asking a question about whether we’re living up to our mission should always be fair game: after all, journalism is nothing if not hard questions. Questioning whether our people are serving our mission with integrity, based on little more than the recognition of their identity, is profoundly disrespectful, hurtful, and demeaning.”
On Wednesday, one day after it was learned he was serving a five-day suspension, : “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 that I cite in my Free Press essay.” After Berliner’s essay appeared, NPR chief news executive Edith Chapin responded by telling staff, “We’re proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories. We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world.” In his resignation letter, Berliner said he did not support calls to defund NPR and that he wants to see the audio-focused outlet thrive. But he said he could not “work in a newsroom where I am disparaged by a new CEO whose divisive views confirm the very problems at NPR I cite in my Free Press.” Berliner’s essay is being embraced and amplified by many on the right, including former President Donald Trump and conservative activist Christopher Rufo. Meanwhile, much of NPR’s staff was outraged by their colleague’s essay. NPR editor-in-chief Edith Chapin quickly pushed back against Berliner’s characterization of the outlet, telling staff in a memo that network management “strongly disagree with Uri’s assessment of the quality of our journalism and the integrity of our newsroom processes.” Berliner’s resignation came after he was without pay over his 3,500-word piece in the anti-establishment publication The Free Press. In the essay, Berliner claimed NPR had failed to properly cover allegations Donald Trump colluded with Russia in the runup to the 2016 election, the controversial Covid-19 lab-leak theory and New York Post’s story on Hunter Biden’s laptop.
Uri Berliner Joins Free Press After NPR Op-Ed - TheWrap
“What’s notable is the extent to which people at every level of NPR have comfortably coalesced around the progressive worldview,” Berliner wrote in The Free Press essay. “And this, I believe, is the most damaging development at NPR: the absence of viewpoint diversity.”
NPR suspends editor Uri Berliner over essay accusing outlet of bias
Uri Berliner, a National Public Radio senior editor who wrote a scathing online essay accusing the public radio network of harboring a liberal bias, said Wednesday he had resigned from the outlet.
Berliners essay is titled “Ive Been at NPR for 25 Years
Last week, Berliner for The Free Press that called out the network for losing “an open minded spirit,” and he cited, among other things, audience research showing a drop in the number of listeners considering themselves conservative.
NPRs Uri Berliner Has Shown That DEI Is About Punishing Heresy
The trouble didn’t stop for NPR with Berliner’s essay, though, as tweets from its recently hired CEO Katherine Maher, who did not previously work in news, resurfaced over the weekend.
NPR editor Uri Berliner resigns after essay accusing outlet of bias
"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.
NPR editor Uri Berliner resigns with blast at new CEO - WVTF
On Tuesday, Berliner had received a five-day suspension and “final warning” for the essay he published, with the official reasoning being he “failed to secure its approval for outside work for other news outlets, as is required of NPR journalists”—though the article said the rebuke did not mention at least one other instance where Berliner spoke to media but did not get permission.