NPR editor suspended for critiquing bias in outlet’s viewpoints

NPR senior editor Uri Berliner has been suspended without pay for five days by the company after he published an essay that claimed the company has “lost America’s trust.”

NPR reporter David Folkenflik first reported the news in an article for the outlet and interviewed Berliner on his grievances, including those against its CEO, Katherine Maher.

“We’re looking for a leader right now who’s going to be unifying and bring more people into the tent and have a broader perspective on, sort of, what America is all about,” Berliner said of NPR’s decision to hire Maher, who had never worked for a news organization before. “And this seems to be the opposite of that.”

Maher has been criticized for numerous past posts online, including one in particular when she targeted then-President Donald Trump as a “deranged racist sociopath.”

Maher pushed back on Berliner’s statements about NPR being biased in a statement.

“In America everyone is entitled to free speech as a private citizen,” she said. “What matters is NPR’s work and my commitment as its CEO: public service, editorial independence, and the mission to serve all of the American public. NPR is independent, beholden to no party, and without commercial interests.”

As NPR suspended Berliner, the company told the editor he “failed to secure its approval to work for other news outlets, as is required of NPR journalists.” NPR officials said Berliner would be fired if he violated the company’s policy again.

Folkenflik’s reporting on his own outlet and publishing the piece on NPR’s website is uncommon but not unheard of. He wrote that Berliner has edited his stories in the past but, outside of being interviewed, did not contribute any work to the piece about his suspension.

While Berliner was suspended for not seeking permission before writing the essay for the Free Press, he told Folkenflik he also didn’t ask permission before speaking with him.

“Talking to an NPR journalist and being fired for that would be extraordinary, I think,” Berliner said.

Berliner’s essay, which claimed that NPR panders “to the distilled worldview of a very small segment of the U.S. population,” has angered many of his colleagues, and Folkenflik reported that some are no longer willing to work with him, citing privacy concerns.

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Despite Berliner’s and others’ concerns, he said he still admires NPR.

“I love NPR and feel it’s a national trust,” Berliner said. “We have great journalists here. If they shed their opinions and did the great journalism they’re capable of, this would be a much more interesting and fulfilling organization for our listeners.”