NPR has officially suspended Business Editor Uri Berliner after he penned an op-ed blasting the company for what he perceived as a liberal bias and claiming it had “lost America’s trust.”
According to a report from the network’s David Folkenflik, Berliner was suspended Friday for five days without pay after intense internal backlash.
In his op-ed about the network he’s called home for 25 years, Berliner pointed to three stories the network either got incorrect or incorrectly covered, in his opinion, highlighted the liberal bias at the outlet. In response, NPR Editor-in-Chief Edith Chapin shared that she “strongly disagreed” with Berliner’s encapsulation.
According to Folkenflik, the essay from Uri Berliner “angered many of his colleagues” and also “gave fresh ammunition to conservative and partisan Republican critics” of the network.
After his op-ed garnered widespread attention, those “Republican critics” dug up social media posts of new NPR CEO Katherine Maher that purported to show a liberal view on certain topics, including COVID, trans rights, the Israel-Hamas war, and the presidency of Donald Trump.
Berliner argued that the posts show Maher is incapable of leading the organization.
“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. “And this seems to be the opposite of that.”
While NPR noted that the CEO is “not involved in editorial decisions,” Berliner remained steadfast in his view that the network has a liberal bias while accepting his suspension.
“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.”
