Startling Confession: NPR's Seasoned Editor Exposes Startling Ideological Slant, Uncovers Aggressive Agenda, and Uncloaks Troubling Obsession with Race
Glenn Gilmour, 4/10/2024Folks, this is a bombshell exposé that should shake NPR to its core. A veteran editor has blown the lid off the profound lack of ideological diversity and blatant left-wing bias infecting the taxpayer-funded news outlet. Uri Berliner's scathing takedown shines a much-needed light on NPR's progressive activist agenda masquerading as impartial journalism. It's a must-read wake-up call for all who value fairness and truth in media.
-- A bombshell erupted in the world of public broadcasting this week as Uri Berliner, a veteran NPR senior editor, unleashed a scathing critique of the taxpayer-funded news organization he's called home for over two decades. With the passion and flair befitting a conservative media personality, Berliner pulled back the curtain on what he calls the "profound indifference" towards ideological diversity within NPR's ranks -- a lack of viewpoint diversity so severe that, according to his findings, there are zero registered Republicans among the 87 editorial staffers in NPR's Washington D.C. headquarters.
In a searing piece published by Bari Weiss' Free Press, Berliner doesn't mince words: "Concerned by the lack of viewpoint diversity, I looked at voter registration for our newsroom. In D.C., where NPR is headquartered and many of us live, I found 87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions and zero Republicans. None." A staggering ideological imbalance for an organization that prides itself on being a beacon of objective, impartial journalism serving all Americans -- not just those on the left.
But Berliner's critique goes far beyond mere partisan disparities. He alleges NPR has devolved into an activist outfit, more concerned with promoting progressive narratives than reporting facts. "The laptop was newsworthy," he writes of the infamous Hunter Biden laptop saga. "But the timeless journalistic instinct of following a hot story lead was being squelched. During a meeting with colleagues, I listened as one of NPR's best and most fair-minded journalists said it was good we weren't following the laptop story because it could help Trump."
The scathing assessment doesn't stop there. Berliner accuses NPR of becoming utterly captive to the collusion delusion of the Trump-Russia years -- with Rep. Adam Schiff as their "guiding hand" and "ever-present muse." He writes: "By my count, NPR hosts interviewed Schiff 25 times about Trump and Russia. During many of those conversations, Schiff alluded to purported evidence of collusion. The Schiff talking points became the drumbeat of NPR news reports. But when the Mueller report found no credible evidence of collusion, NPR's coverage was notably sparse. Russiagate quietly faded from our programming."
Even the COVID-19 pandemic and the critical issue of the virus' origins were apparently filtered through a nakedly partisan lens. "The lab leak theory came in for rough treatment almost immediately, dismissed as racist or a right-wing conspiracy theory," Berliner recounts. "Anthony Fauci and former NIH head Francis Collins, representing the public health establishment, were its most notable critics. And that was enough for NPR. We became fervent members of Team Natural Origin, even declaring that the lab leak had been debunked by scientists."
-- But the former editor reserves some of his harshest condemnation for the pervasive racial essentialization that has infected NPR's workplace and reporting in recent years. Berliner describes a culture of segregation and obsession with racial identity that could scarcely be more at odds with the purported values of colorblind equality: "Race and identity became paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace. Journalists were required to ask everyone we interviewed their race, gender, and ethnicity (among other questions), and had to enter it in a centralized tracking system. We were given unconscious bias training sessions...Monthly dialogues were offered for 'women of color' and 'men of color.' Nonbinary people of color were included, too."
In essence, Berliner paints a damning portrait of an organization that has comprehensively surrendered to the dogmas of the modern progressive left -- from the racial identity obsession, to the activist tilt in coverage of major stories, to the lack of ideological balance in its ranks. All of this coming from a self-described liberal who is clearly pained by NPR's transformation into what he sees as a nakedly partisan outfit, divorced from the principles of objective journalism.
NPR's response has been predictably dismissive, with Editor-in-Chief Edith Chapin issuing a boilerplate defense praising the outlet's "exceptional work...to cover a wide range of challenging stories." Not a word addressing the specifics of Berliner's scorching allegations or acknowledging the glaring lack of conservative voices in NPR's newsrooms. Berliner himself notes his efforts to raise concerns internally were "met with profound indifference."
-- It's a damning portrait of an organization that seems to have lost its way -- trading rigorous, fact-based journalism for social justice advocacy masquerading as news. And as Berliner ominously warns, this embrace of a narrow progressive orthodoxy isn't just an ethical lapse, but a looming business threat to an outlet hemorrhaging conservative and moderate listeners and taxpayers understandably loath to subsidize partisan propaganda. "That wouldn't be a problem for an openly polemical news outlet serving a niche audience," he writes, "but for NPR, which purports to consider all things, it's devastating both for its journalism and its business model."
Only time will tell if NPR heeds Berliner's cri de coeur and rights the ship -- restoring balance, ideological diversity, and a renewed commitment to objectivity. Or if it continues its drift ever further into the realm of woke activist media, alienating large swaths of its audience and rendering the "public" in its name increasingly obsolete.
