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United Kingdom
The fallout from a scathing essay penned by a senior business editor at NPR has led to his suspension and ignited a fierce debate over the network's editorial integrity and political leanings.
Uri Berliner, Senior Business Editor, was suspended for five days without pay after publishing a 3,500-word piece in The Free Press, in which he accused NPR of embracing a "progressive worldview" and failing to maintain "viewpoint diversity" in its coverage.
The essay drew swift condemnation from NPR management, who described Berliner's characterization of the outlet as inaccurate and strongly disagreed with his assessment of the network's journalism.
The disciplinary action was taken after Berliner allegedly violated NPR's policy by failing to seek approval for work published in other outlets. In a written letter notifying Berliner of the suspension, NPR issued a "final warning," stating that further violations would result in termination.
While NPR declined to comment on individual personnel matters, the network's Editor-in-Chief, Edith Chapin, pushed back against Berliner's claims, asserting that inclusion and integrity are core values of NPR's newsroom processes.
Other NPR staffers also publicly rejected Berliner's assessment, with some criticizing his failure to seek comment from NPR before publishing the essay.
However, Berliner's essay quickly gained traction among Republicans and right-wing media outlets, sparking calls to defund NPR and accusations of liberal bias.
Former President Donald Trump denounced NPR as a "LIBERAL DISINFORMATION MACHINE" on his Truth Social media platform, calling for an end to government funding for the network.
Fox News amplified the controversy, dedicating hours of programming to discuss Berliner's essay and accusing NPR of promoting "propaganda."
Despite Berliner's assertion that defunding NPR is not the solution, the network faced intensified scrutiny from conservative critics.
In response to the backlash, NPR's Chief Executive, Katherine Maher, faced criticism over old tweets critical of Trump.
NPR spokesperson Isabel Lara dismissed the attacks, emphasizing Maher's First Amendment rights and clarifying that she was not working in journalism at the time of the tweets.
