In an article in The Free Press, URI Berliner explains how NPR lost the people’s trust. He discusses his liberal bona fides and admits NPR always had a left-leaning bias. However, he sees the dramatic difference after working there for 25 years.
Berliner said the changes began with Donald Trump, and it’s obvious he doesn’t much like him. However, that is where he pinpoints the media’s decision to become activists, thereby ruining their credibility.
He described how they let themselves get caught up in the fake stories of Russiagate, the Hunter laptop, COVID, and the systemic racism mantra. The latter began with George Floyd’s death and a new boss who had been at the state-controlled Voice of America.
NPR jumped on the stories because they believed people like Adam Schiff and never corrected the record!
Berliner said this about the laptop story:
“The laptop was newsworthy. But the timeless journalistic instinct of following a hot story lead was being squelched. During a meeting with colleagues, I listened as one of NPR’s best and most fair-minded journalists said it was good we weren’t following the laptop story because it could help Trump.”
He said this about Russiagate:
“But when the Mueller report found no credible evidence of collusion, NPR’s coverage was notably sparse. Russiagate quietly faded from our programming.
“It is one thing to swing and miss on a major story. Unfortunately, it happens. You follow the wrong leads, you get misled by sources you trusted, you’re emotionally invested in a narrative, and bits of circumstantial evidence never add up. It’s bad to blow a big story.”
Berliner addressed Covid:
“The lab leak theory came in for rough treatment almost immediately, dismissed as racist or a right-wing conspiracy theory. Anthony Fauci and former NIH head Francis Collins, representing the public health establishment, were its most notable critics. And that was enough for NPR. We became fervent members of Team Natural Origin, even declaring that the lab leak had been debunked by scientists.
“But that wasn’t the case.”
During the racism craze, which is still ongoing, they had to ask everyone for their immutable characteristics. They had a growing DEI staff. That’s crept up on everyone, but theirs was bolstered by a $1 million grant.
Here’s the important part:
Back in 2011, although NPR’s audience tilted a bit to the left, it still bore a resemblance to America at large. Twenty-six percent of listeners described themselves as conservative, 23 percent as middle of the road, and 37 percent as liberal.
By 2023, the picture was completely different: only 11 percent described themselves as very or somewhat conservative, 21 percent as middle of the road, and 67 percent of listeners said they were very or somewhat liberal. We weren’t just losing conservatives; we were also losing moderates and traditional liberals.
An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don’t have an audience that reflects America.
That wouldn’t be a problem for an openly polemical news outlet serving a niche audience. But for NPR, which purports to consider all things, it’s devastating both for its journalism and its business model.
As Berliner says, and this is the lede, they suffer from a lack of viewpoint diversity.
Conflicts erupted, and everyone coalesced around the progressive viewpoint. the anti-semitism seems to have woken him up even more. He often wonders why NPR is telling him what to think.
We wonder, too!!!
When he looked at the DC newsroom, he stopped wondering – he found 87 registered Democrats and zero Republicans. Mr. Berliner said the response to his report on all of this was indifference. What could be worse?
I want to interject here that progressives aren’t Democrats, but Democrats vote for them. They are control freaks, socialists, and communists.
Berliner also commented on the fake reporting of the “Don’t Say Gay Bill” that never even mentioned the word “gay.” He also wondered why they kept using the word LatinX, which Hispanics hate. My guess is it’s a product of their racism, thinking they have to elevate people who don’t need elevating. They’re fine the way they are.
No one trashes Mr. Berliner when he tries to straighten out the problems, but no one listens, either.
He said NPR’s audience has become less diverse. No surprises there. Mr. Berliner mentioned how newsrooms have to lay off people now. The lack of trust and viewpoint diversity is killing them.
NPR just got a new CEO with a tech background and no newsroom experience. He’s hopeful.
Personally, I think they better change the staff first. Make it diverse, or tell the DEIs to report with diversity. DEI is a poison, a contagious disease and progressives are the ones carrying it.
Mr. Berliner is still a senior editor at NPR.
Read the article here. He puts out a lot of information, and he has courage. It’s a good read. Listen to his Spotify interview here.
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