National Public Radio (NPR) editor Uri Berliner published an explosive article accusing the publicly funded network of liberal bias, adding that no Republicans are employed at its Washington, DC, headquarters. Berliner said NPR refused to cover the Hunter Biden laptop scandal for fear it would aid Donald Trump, and its editorial team decided not to give fair coverage to the former President.
Other publications, such as the Chicago Tribune, noted that the story not only revealed bias and anti-conservative prejudice but an unwillingness to accept it was wrong in some of its reports. For example, the outlet reported extensively on claims that Donald Trump colluded with Russian agents during the 2016 Presidential campaign, but when subsequent inquiries revealed this was untrue, the network did not deliver comparable coverage.
In the wake of Berliner’s article, the New York Times reported that the NPR newsroom had descended into chaos. The Times noted that editor-in-chief Edith Chapin called a meeting with senior figures and told them she did not want Berliner to become a “martyr.”
Some staff members reportedly disagreed with Mr. Berliner’s assessment that NPR had prioritized racial diversity over ideological variety and continued to insist that efforts to hire ethnic minority staff would improve the network’s journalism.
Standards and Practices managing editor Tony Cavin objected to the allegation of bias, saying Berliner had made it more difficult for journalists to do their jobs. In particular, he argued that it could encourage Republican lawmakers to refuse interviews with NPR reporters.
Days after the article was published in the Free Press, CEO Edith Chapin wrote a memo to staff expressing her pride in their exceptional work covering “a wide range of challenging stories.” She added that diversity and inclusion are necessary components of “telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world.”
While some conservatives call for NPR defunding, a spokesperson for Chapin said she would make no further comment on the controversy.
