NPR Senior Editor Says Outlet Employs 87 Democrats in Editorial Positions, 0 Republicans in D.C. Newsroom: Report
NPR Senior Editor Uri Berliner highlighted a striking partisan disparity within the network, revealing that while 87 registered Democrats hold editorial positions at NPR’s Washington, DC, headquarters, there are zero Republicans in similar roles.
Berliner, who admits to leaning left himself, penned a scathing critique of NPR’s newsroom, denouncing what he sees as a refusal to address “a diversity problem” within the organization.
Berliner expressed in a article published in the free press his opposition to several left-leaning narratives pushed by NPR, including those related to the coronavirus “lab leak theory,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, Hunter Biden’s laptop, former President Donald Trump, and the 2016 Russia hoax.
“On May 3, 2021, I presented the findings at an all-hands editorial staff meeting. When I suggested we had a diversity problem with a score of 87 Democrats and zero Republicans, the response wasn’t hostile. It was worse. It was met with profound indifference,” Berliner stated.
“I got a few messages from surprised, curious colleagues. But the messages were of the ‘oh wow, that’s weird’ variety, as if the lopsided tally was a random anomaly rather than a critical failure of our diversity North Star,” he added.
“In a follow-up email exchange, a top NPR news executive told me that she had been ‘skewered’ for bringing up diversity of thought when she arrived at NPR,” he continued. “So, she said, ‘I want to be careful how we discuss this publicly.’”
Berliner pointed out that over the years, NPR’s newsroom has shifted decidedly to the left. The network’s audience had a relatively balanced composition in 2011, with 26 percent identifying as conservative, 23 percent as “middle of the road,” and 37 percent as far-left, however, by 2023, the landscape had drastically changed.
Only 11 percent of listeners described themselves as conservative, with 21 percent in the middle and a significant 67 percent leaning left.
The senior editor underscored the implications of this shift, noting that while such a bias might be acceptable for an openly opinionated outlet catering to a specific audience, it poses significant challenges for NPR, which claims to offer balanced coverage.
Berliner argued that this ideological imbalance is detrimental both to NPR’s journalistic integrity and its business model.
NPR notably announced a ten percent reduction in its workforce, downsizing from around 1,200 to approximately 1,050 employees in 2023 due to insufficient revenue generation.
Breitbart reports NPR’s left-leaning stance has also been evident in its coverage, as highlighted by an incident involving the outlet’s Senior Editor-at-Large Joel B. Pollak’s appearance on NPR’s Morning Edition with Steve Inskeep in 2016.
Pollak defended then-Executive Chairman of Breitbart News, Stephen K. Bannon, during the interview and criticized NPR’s “racist programming.”
“National Public Radio ombudsman/public editor Elizabeth Jensen has recommended that the taxpayer-funded radio news service bar future live interviews of conservatives who may have controversial views, following an interview Nov. 16 with Breitbart News’ Joel B. Pollak,” the outlet claimed.
“Pollak, who serves as Breitbart’s Senior Editor-at-Large and In-house Counsel, defended its Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon from false and defamatory claims of antisemitism and ‘white nationalism.’” it continued. “He also turned the tables, pointing out that NPR has ‘racist programming,’ including a story that called the 2016 election results ‘nostalgia for a whiter America.’”
Breitbart would later issue an update to highlight that NPR clarified its policy.
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