Let’s see if the tax-payer funded progressive propaganda network has even Harvard’s survival instinct, or is even more arrogant. Amazingly enough, this story has gotten worse since I posted about it just four days ago.
You will recall that veteran NPR journalist, Uri Berliner, frustrated that his concerns about blatant progressive and Democratic bias reaching destructive proportions in the workplace he loved, blew a harsh whistle with an article on Substack headlined “I’ve Been at NPR for 25 Years. Here’s How We Lost America’s Trust.” Nothing in the article was surprising, certainly not to me, except that a current and prominent staffer wrote it. NPR, also hardly unexpectedly, circled its wagons while pretending Berliner didn’t write what he wrote, but rather a criticism of NPR’s DEI obsession. In fact he was writing about the lack of diversity at NPR of the kind that matters: viewpoint diversity and political diversity. One smoking gun he cited in his piece was the infamous tweet by NPR’s former public editor, now the Editor-in-Chief at USA Today:
Yes, in the world of “advocacy journalism,” being wrong gets you promoted, as long as you’re wrong while helping Democrats.
Then, incredibly, proving how deluded the organization is regarding both its own bias and the right way to respond to Berliner, NPR’s newly appointed CEO lied, spun and erected straw men. That’s sure to bolster NPR’s credibility!
“Questioning whether our people are serving our mission with integrity, based on little more than the recognition of their identity, is profoundly disrespectful, hurtful, and demeaning,” Katherine Maher huffed. Her long memo included this deflection and spin:
“It is deeply simplistic to assert that the diversity of America can be reduced to any particular set of beliefs, and faulty reasoning to infer that identity is determinative of one’s thoughts or political leanings. Each of our colleagues are here because they are excellent, accomplished professionals with an intense commitment to our work: we are stronger because of the work we do together, and we owe each other our utmost respect.”
Pure straw man! Berliner said nothing about group identity determining political leanings.
“We fulfill our mission best when we look and sound like the country we serve.”
It’s amazing that she would have the brass to say that. NPR never looks like or sounds like the 50% of the nation that owns guns, doesn’t want open borders, knows that Black Lives Matter is a scam and that finds the climate change obsession absurd. Here’s an intern class (2021) that “looks and sounds” like America to NPR:
That’s 50 interns, and five white males.
“NPR has some of the finest reporters, editors, and producers in journalism. Our reporting and programming is not only consistently recognized and rewarded for its quality, depth, and nuance; but at its best, it makes a profound difference in people’s lives. Parents, patients, veterans, students, and so many more have directly benefited from the impact of our journalism. People come to work here because they want to report, and report deeply, in service to an informed public, and to do work that makes a difference.”
And advance a progressive agenda. Don’t leave out that!
“This is the work of our people, and our people represent America, our irreducibly complex nation. Given the very real challenges of covering the myriad perspectives, motivations, and interests of a nation of more than 330 million very different people, we succeed through our diversity. This is a bedrock institutional commitment, hard-won, and hard-protected.”
‘We succeed because we say we do, and because we consider the right kind of diversity as success by definition.’
“We recognize that this work is a public trust, one established by Congress more than 50 years ago with the creation of the public broadcasting system. In order to hold that trust, we owe it our continued, rigorous accountability. When we are asked questions about who we serve and how that influences our editorial choices, we should be prepared to respond. It takes great strength to be comfortable with turning the eye of journalistic accountability inwards, but we are a news organization built on a foundation of robust editorial standards and practices, well-constructed to withstand the hardest of gazes.”
Wow, you’re wonderful! Except that this is all boilerplate denial, and avoids the facts and issues raised by Berliner.
The episode has demonstrated that NPR has no accountability, and is definitely not trustworthy. Worst of all the leadership either doesn’t recognize the seriousness of the problem, or doesn’t care. It thinks biased news reporting is good news reporting. Maher’s smoke screen amounts to a Jumbo. Berliner gave abundant evidence that the culture at NPR is actively hostile to non-progressive viewpoints, and its CEO’s response is, “What elephant?”
This all certainly imploded quickly. In January, I commented on NPR’s reckless decision to put a cold-eyed radical like Maher in charge, who tweeted standard woke dreck like this just four years ago: “I mean, sure, looting is counter-productive. But it is hard to be mad about protests not prioritizing the private property of a system of oppression founded on treating people’s ancestors as private property.” What did NPR think would happen?
Who will be fired first, the whistleblower or the propagandist?
Ethics Alarms 
“We fulfill our mission best when we look and sound like the country we serve.”
It’s amazing that she would have the brass to say that. NPR never looks like or sounds like the 50% of the nation that owns guns, doesn’t want open borders, …….”
To quote Marylin: ”Aren’t you funny.”
Maher never said that NPR needs to look and sound like THOSE (shudder) people; she said : “we look and sound like the country we serve.”
It does look like they might have a nice crop of aspiring AWFLs in that batch of interns.
I was one of apparently several readers who suggested Berliner as an ethics hero, and still think he deserves at least an ethics “attaboy”. I’m not sure, though, that his analysis of listeners’ self-reported political leanings is an accurate reflection of the company’s relative coverage of events and issues.
I rarely listen to radio unless in the car, but I used to make exceptions for a few things like A Prairie Home Companion and Car Talk... maybe their most popular shows. Our local station played a lot of classical music, and I’d listen while driving. They still had a definite left-lean, both in choice of content and presentation in much of their other offerings, such as Fresh Air. Based on these circumstances, I’d have identified as a conservative listener, but not because their other content was more even handed then. Now, APHC and CT are gone, and I wouldn’t say I’m a listener. There are probably others like that.
Berliner (naively, I think) said “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. If you are conservative, you will read this and say, duh, it’s always been this way. But it hasn’t.“
But it sort of has been that way during much of his 25 year tenure; It was just masked by more neutral entertainment also being broadcasted.
my family stopped listening to APHC when Garrison Keillor became an obvious Obama ass-kisser. the guy was always a lefty, in fact I remember him confidently predicting the victory of John Kerry in 2004 in oh such folksy terms, and I remember him every so often bringing on somebody to imitate George W. Bush in an exaggerated Texas twang saying ridiculous things. But it was his sycophancy toward Obama that finally got me to switch the dial.
You’re right, but people are often willing to put up with a certain amount of obvious bias, especially “outside the story”, if they are otherwise entertained, and Keillor was a good storyteller. Stephen King is another example.
Folks are not so forgiving if they’re expecting factual information and relevant topics. As Bernie Goldberg noted in Bias, it’s not just how topics are covered, but which topics are covered. NPR has given us plenty of examples of both being obviously agenda-driven.
King, to his credit, almost entire avoids politics in his books, and his often obnoxious biases don’t seem to infect his writing. He deserves credit for that…that, and being a Red Sox fan.
“the RIGHT KIND OF DIVERSITY as success by definition.” (bolds/caps mine)
Bravo Indigo November Golf Oscar!
PWS
I mean, sure, looting is counter-productive. But it is hard to be mad about protests not prioritizing the private property of a system of oppression founded on treating people’s ancestors as private property.
So she was pro-riot?
I remember when you wrote this.
https://ethicsalarms.com/2021/01/06/ethics-observations-on-the-pro-trump-rioting-at-the-capitol/
First and foremost, anyone who did not condemn all of the George Floyd/Jacob Blake/Breonna Taylor/ Black Lives Matters rioting that took place this summer and fall is ethically estopped from criticizing this episode.
That means I can, and will, condemn it as stupid, useless, self-destructive and anti-democratic violence, but most Democrats, progressives and media pundits cannot.
See? I’m smart! I’m not dumb like everybody says, I’m smart, and I want respect!
Oh come on now, Jack…not everybody says you’re dumb! :-).
My underwear draw was organized so I gazed at the intern class photo for way too long.
I counted 13 men, five of which, you say, are black. 30 women, two of which are black.
Since hispanic people can fall on either the side of the white/black binary, depending on the issue at hand, so it was hard to discern which subgroup to categorize them into.
I could not see any folks with disccernable Asian features, that must be my aging eyes. Upon re examniation, correcction, one Asain women on the far right.
Of course gender idenity is subjective and fluid so a still portrait is useless in this regard. To discern those with objective sexual idenitfiers they would all need to undress, but that would be an aggression.
Sexual proclivity is a private matter ( and how i wish it would remain so.)
The economic status and educational status of each is difficult since each are well dressed and no diplomas are available.
None of them appear to be suffering from malnutrition so I would assume they don’t live in the so called “nutritional deserts.” of America.
Cannot see any obvious, phyisical disabilites. No wheel chairs in tthe fron row at least.
I would bet that none of them would know or be able to produce a DD214. Nor did anyone of them work at a phyiscal demanding job other than barista.
BTW- I do miss the “The Car Guys” and I admit to listening to “The Puzzler.” When I get pleas from the local NPR affiliate I send them a redacted copy of my tax return.
“Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me”
Boom.
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/npr-suspends-longtime-editor-after-scathing-expose-on-left-wing-bias/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=breaking&utm_campaign=newstrack&utm_term=35053084
You beat me to it. We knew it was going to be the Whistler, but the point spread was never set.
From that article: Berliner was suspended and “…was warned that he would be fired if he failed to get approval for work at other news outlets, which is outlined in company policy.”
Hmmmm, wonder if that includes giving interviews on, or writing anything else about, the current issue? Clever little pod-dwellers.
Apparently they are going after him for writing the article for the Free Press. Here’s the NPR story on the suspension, which notes some major inconsistencies in NPR’s admonishments: https://www.npr.org/2024/04/16/1244962042/npr-editor-uri-berliner-suspended-essay
Saw that earlier today. I suspect this guy is getting a harsh talk in the best case: “You’re not here to report the facts!”
The inmates are well and truly running the asylum. These college warped kids are not growing up once they enter the “real world.” They’re converting the “real world” into college campuses.