Twenty-five-year veteran Senior Business Editor Uri Berliner has been suspended by NPR one week after publishing a scathing op-ed with The Free Press about his employer's editorial direction in recent years.
Fellow veteran NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik announced Berliner's formal suspension, which began last week, in his own Tuesday op-ed with NPR. Berliner is suspended for five days without pay, starting last Friday.
"It angered many of his colleagues, led NPR leaders to announce monthly internal reviews of the network's coverage, and gave fresh ammunition to conservative and partisan Republican critics of NPR, including former President Donald Trump," Folkenflik wrote, noting NPR's new CEO, Katherine Maher, had been faced with an onslaught of heavy criticism for her overtly progressive liberal opinions discovered through old social media posts in the wake of Berliner's op-ed.
Among Maher's posts which have come under scrutiny include a 2020 X post, then-Twitter, in which Maher referred to former President Donald Trump as a "racist sociopath."
"In an interview with me later on Monday, Berliner said the social media posts demonstrated Maher was all but incapable of being the person best poised to direct the organization," Folkenflik continued.
"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 reportedly told Folkenflik. "And this seems to be the opposite of that."
Berliner said he had previously attempted to raise his concerns about the network's direction prior to publishing his op-ed with The Free Press.
"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."
NPR reportedly cited Berliner's failure to receive approval for publishing outside the network when issuing their official suspension. The outlet warned Berliner would be fired from NPR if he violated the policy again. Berliner, a member of NPR's newsroom union, said he will not appeal the punishment.
According to Folkenflik, Berliner's colleagues have argued the senior business editor "cherry-picked" examples for his op-ed and did not seek comment from fellow colleagues. Other NPR associates have said they are no longer willing to work alongside Berliner out of a lack of trust for the senior business editor. Berliner countered those concerns of colleagues, noting his op-ed never addressed private observations or discussions with fellow associates.
Last Friday, Maher announced NPR's Editor-In-Chief, Edith Chapin, would establish a "broad-based, rotating group" of associates who will meet monthly to review and discuss the outlet's coverage across all platforms. However, on Monday afternoon, Chapin announced NPR's Executive Editor Eva Rodriguez would lead the monthly review meetings, per Folkenflik.
"Among the questions we'll ask of ourselves each month: Did we capture the diversity of this country — racial, ethnic, religious, economic, political geographic, etc — in all of its complexity and in a way that helped listeners and readers recognize themselves and their communities?" Chapin wrote in her memo. "Did we offer coverage that helped them understand — even if just a bit better — those neighbors with whom they share little in common?"
The senior business editor said he welcomed Chapin's announcement, though will withold judgement until meetings officially begin.
