Several Senate Republicans are urging National Public Radio (NPR) CEO Katherine Maher to begin a “course correction” following recent allegations by senior NPR editor Uri Berliner, that the news radio broadcaster’s credibility has been undercut by political bias and slanted coverage.
Mr. Berliner first went public with his criticism of NPR’s political slant in an essay he wrote for The Free Press on April 9. In his essay, Mr. Berliner—a 25-year employee of NPR, then working as a senior business editor for the radio broadcaster—described a shift away from an “open-minded spirit” in NPR’s radio and online coverage to one that caters the “distilled worldview of a very small segment of the U.S. population,” namely the progressive political left.
Following the publication of his critical essay, NPR announced it had given Mr. Berliner a five-day suspension, beginning on April 12, stating his opinion piece for The Free Press violated his contractual obligation to obtain permission before publishing content with another news publication. By April 17, Mr. Berliner had officially resigned from the publication.
In a letter organized by Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), multiple Republican senators reiterated the claims raised by Mr. Berliner and called for the radio broadcaster and online news publication to address the allegations and change its internal culture.
“If NPR’s goal was to become an echo chamber, mission accomplished. But as a publicly funded entity, you are responsible for providing impartial coverage that accurately informs all Americans, regardless of political affiliation,” the letter to Ms. Maher states. “This objective is decidedly difficult when nearly 100 percent of employees in Washington, DC congregate on one side of the political aisle.”
The letter argues that while Mr. Berliner has identified concerns of bias in NPR’s national coverage, NPR’s local radio broadcast affiliates are still widely trusted by the American public.
“We urge you to start a course correction to address these issues,” the letter reads. “If NPR does not want to devolve into a one-sided opinion outlet, it should take a page from its local affiliates and embrace a culture of intellectual diversity and focus on balanced reporting.”
Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), and Eric Shmitt (R-Mo.) signed onto the letter to Ms. Maher.
NTD News reached out to NPR for comment on the letter from the Republican senators but did not receive a response by press time.
Blackburn Reviving Calls to Defund NPR
NPR has for years faced scrutiny and criticism from Republican lawmakers.
In 2011, Ms. Blackburn—then a member of the U.S. House of Representatives—advanced legislation to bar U.S. taxpayer funding support for NPR.
NPR derives a small percentage of its funding from direct federal grants, but receives other taxpayer support indirectly through programming support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB); a publicly funded non-profit established under the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 that supports public radio broadcasting. CPB has provided direct funding to NPR and has provided funding to other local radio broadcasters that carry NPR content.
In her 2011 bill, Ms. Blackburn said local radio stations would still be able to purchase NPR content for reproduction, but not using federal funds.
House Republicans led the 2011 push to defund NPR shortly after Project Veritas—an organization of investigative journalists employing hidden-camera techniques—obtained undercover video and audio of then-NPR fundraiser Ron Schiller appearing to describe Tea Party conservatives as “seriously racist people” and that there is an “anti-intellectual” wing within the Republican Party.
Ms. Blackburn has revived her calls to pull federal funding from NPR following this latest controversy with Mr. Berliner.
“The mainstream media has become obsessed with doing the Left’s bidding and taking down strong conservatives—and NPR has led the pack,” the Tennessee Republican told Fox News on April 17. “It makes no sense that the American people are forced to fund a propagandist left-wing outlet that refuses to represent the voices of half the country. NPR should not receive our tax dollars.”
In his resignation letter earlier this month, Mr. Berliner wrote that he does not support an effort to strip NPR of taxpayer funding, and wants to see the broadcaster “thrive and do important journalism,” but added that he could not stand to remain in a newsroom being disparaged by a new CEO whom he said holds “divisive views” that confirm the problems he hoped to highlight in his critical essay for The Free Press.