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Longtime NPR editor Uri Berliner, who wassuspended after blowing the whistleon liberal bias at the organization,announced Wednesday he has resigned.
“I am resigning from NPR, a great American institution where I have worked for 25 years. I don’t support calls to defund NPR. I respect the integrity of my colleagues and wish for NPR to thrive and do important journalism. But I cannot work in a newsroom where I am disparaged by a new CEO whose divisive views confirm the very problems at NPR I cited in my Free Press essay,” Berliner wrote in a statement published on X.
Berliner was referring to Katherine Maher, who took over last month as President and CEO and has gone viral for past social media posts showing far-left personal views.
5 THINGS VETERAN NPR EDITOR EXPOSED IN STUNNING CRITICISM OF OWN EMPLOYER’S LIBERAL BIAS
Longtime NPR editor Uri Berliner has resigned after his piece blowing the whistle on liberal bias there sparked a media firestorm. (Getty Images)
Berliner penned a piece in the Free Press that criticized NPR’s coverage of Russiagate, the COVID lab leak theory, Hunter Biden’s scandalous laptop, embrace of the theory of systemic racism and accused the organization of downplaying antisemitism following Oct. 7.
Berliner also wrote that registration records in 2021 showed an astonishing disparity between Democrats and Republicans in the NPR newsroom in Washington, D.C., and that staffers were out to hurt the presidency of Donald Trump. Berliner, who said he voted against Trump twice, even said “one of NPR’s best and most fair-minded journalists” said it was good to not cover the Hunter Biden laptop story because it could benefit Trump in 2020.
His piece angered colleagues, with some telling in-house media reporter David Folkenflik they didn’t want to work with him any longer. Berliner was suspended for five days without pay and NPR told him it was a “final warning” and he would be shown the door if he violated NPR’s policy about working with outside news organizations going forward. Instead, he walked away on his own terms.
Many other NPR figures, including “Morning Edition” host Steve Inskeep, publicly rebuked Berliner’s conclusions.
Berliner’s work has received a Peabody Award, a Loeb Award, Edward R. Murrow Award, and a Society of Professional Journalists New America Award, according to NPR’s website.
Reached for comment on Berliner’s resignation, a spokesperson said, “NPR does not comment on individual personnel matters.”
An NPR spokesperson last week directed to a memo to staff by editor-in-chief Edith Chapin, where she said she and her team “strongly disagree” with the veteran editor’s assessment of the quality of NPR’s journalism and integrity.
“We’re proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories. We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world,” she wrote as part of a lengthy memo.
NPR CEO and President Katherine Mahers old tweets about looting, her support for Hillary Clinton and Biden-Harris have resurfaced after she addressed Uri Berliner’s concerns about NPR in a letter to staff. ( (Photo by Rita Franca/NurPhoto via Getty Images), Screenshot/X/KatherineMaher)
NPR has also stood by Maher, who showed support for Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden’s presidential runs while regularly sharing far-left talking points and criticizing Donald Trump on social media before landing the NPR top job.
“This is a bad faith attack that follows an established playbook, as online actors with explicit agendas work to discredit independent news organizations,” an NPR spokesperson told Fox News Digital of the newly surfaced posts.
Brian Flood is a media editor/reporter for FOX News Digital. Story tips can be sent to brian.flood@fox.com and on Twitter: @briansflood.
