National Public Radio (NPR) Senior Editor Uri Berliner is suddenly facing a five-day-without-pay suspension for pointing out the left-side slant of the publication. Announced by David Folkenflik in an article of his own, he expressed displeasure with Berliner for releasing information he claims would help Donald Trump.
Chastised for an article titled “I’ve Been at NPR for 25 Years. Here’s How We Lost America’s Trust,” he opened by admitting that the publication has always tilted to the left—something he seemed to be proud of at first.
“In recent years, however, that has changed. 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…An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don’t have an audience that reflects America. That wouldn’t be a problem for an openly polemical news outlet serving a niche audience. But for NPR, which purports to consider all things, it’s devastating both for its journalism and its business model.”
Responding to his criticism of the article, NPR argued against it, and chief news executive Edith Chapin issued a memo to staffers and pushed back against his view. Claiming they are representative of the population, she believes they cover the nuances of America and tell the story for the voiceless.
Granted, the 87 registered Democrats who make up NPR’s editor base (they have zero registered Republicans) make it incredibly easy for them to present a slanted message. Given the number of people who believe NPR to be an unbiased network and their massive reliance on government funding, this is a bad statistic for them. Folkenflik claimed that Berliner never got NPR’s blessing to speak about the company, nor was he concerned about the fallout.
