NPR editor who criticized employer for alleged bias resigns
- Uri Berliner worked at NPR for 25 years
- He claims the organization has embraced a liberal bias in recent years
- Berliner: ‘I cannot work in a newsroom where I am disparaged by a new CEO’
FILE – The headquarters for National Public Radio (NPR) stands on North Capitol Street on April 15, 2013, in Washington. Elon Musk threatened to reassign NPR’s Twitter account to “another company,” according to the non-profit news organization, in an ongoing spat between Musk and media groups since his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter last year. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
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(NewsNation) — A veteran National Public Radio (NPR) editor who wrote an essay for another news outlet that criticized his employer for what he says is an unquestioned liberal point of view has resigned from the organization.
“I cannot 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 essay,” Uri Berliner wrote on social media.
Berliner, a senior editor on NPR’s business desk, was suspended for five days without pay, according to an article posted Tuesday by NPR’s media correspondent, David Folkenflik. He wrote that Berliner was told he violated the company’s policy that it must approve work done for outside news organizations.
He wrote his essay last week for The Free Press. Berliner wrote that NPR has always had a liberal bent, but for most of his 25-year tenure had an open-minded, curious culture.
“In recent years, however, that has changed,” he wrote. “Today, those who listen to NPR or read its coverage online find something different: the distilled worldview of a very small segment of the U.S. population.”
Following publication, NPR’s top editor, Edith Chapin, said she strongly disagrees with Berliner’s conclusions and is proud to stand behind NPR’s work.
One of his NPR colleagues, “Morning Edition” co-host Steve Inskeep, wrote on Substack on Tuesday that Berliner’s essay in The Free Press was filled with errors and assumptions.
“If Uri’s ‘larger point’ is that journalists should seek wider perspectives, and not just write stories that confirm their prior opinions, his article is useful as an example of what to avoid,” Inskeep wrote.
In an April 10 interview on NewsNation’s “CUOMO,” Berliner addressed the backlash from his NPR colleagues who publicly disagreed with his assertions.
“I’m not surprised by the response that came from management and the same managers that I’ve been making a lot of these points about,” Berliner said. “I will say, I’ve had a lot of support from colleagues … many of them unexpected, who say they agree with me. Some of them say this confidentially.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
