National Public Radio (NPR) has suspended veteran editor Uri Berliner after he published a scathing criticism of the news organization in The Free Press last week. Berliner’s commentary contented that NPR had abandoned any pretense of objective journalism and instead had become a willing mouthpiece for partisan propaganda pushed by the likes of Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).
The news organization‘s executives suspended Berliner without pay for five days on Friday. They contended that his opinion editorial at The Free Press contravened company rules regarding contributions to external media outlets. NPR requires its journalists to receive company leadership approval before publishing content at a rival media outlet.
The veteran NPR editor’s revelations of rampant partisan political bias in news coverage have thrown the company into disarray, especially as additional scrutiny now mounts against the outlet’s new CEO, Katherine Maher. Appointed in March, Maher has led the taxpayer-funded broadcaster’s pushback against Berliner.
“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,” she complained. The National Pulse has detailed several instances where Maher has demonstrated extreme left-wing bias herself, including posting anti-Donald Trump diatribes while serving as an executive at Wikimedia. Maher also claimed it would be unfair for her to leave the U.S. when Trump was elected President as she would be using her “cis white mobility privilege.”
NPR issued a “final warning” to Berliner in a memo, informing the editor that further policy breaches would result in his dismissal. Berliner’s former colleagues believe the veteran editor’s days are numbered at the taxpayer-funded news outlet. “It seems to me that it would be very difficult for him now at NPR,” one individual told Fox News.
