Former President Donald Trump has called for the defunding of NPR after a 25-year veteran editor of the network released an op-ed criticizing the outlet's editorial direction in recent years.
NPR Senior Business Editor Uri Berliner wrote in his op-ed that an "open-minded, curious culture prevailed" throughout the network early in his career, though said NPR's direction in recent years didn't accurately reflect on America. Berliner noted the network overwhelmingly employed registered Democrats, noting not a single registered Republican was present at NPR's Washington headquarters. The senior editor went on to claim NPR's top network executives had pushed for the outlet to transition their messaging toward a consistently progressive liberal framing.
However, Berliner notably added that he believed defunding the network was not the answer to problems plaguing NPR.
"NO MORE FUNDING FOR NPR, A TOTAL SCAM!" Trump wrote to Truth Social. "EDITOR SAID THEY HAVE NO REPUBLICANS, AND IS ONLY USED TO 'DAMAGE TRUMP.'"
The former president referred to the outlet as a "liberal disinformation machine," insisting not another dollar should be given to NPR.
Berliner's op-ed specifically took issue with NPR's framing of the controversial death of George Floyd, the Israel-Hamas conflict, and the investigation of former President Donald Trump's alleged connection to Russia. The senior editor went on to claim NPR's top network executives had pushed for the outlet to transition their messaging toward a consistently progressive liberal framing.
The NPR senior editor also said the outlet "turned a blind eye" during the 2020 presidential election after The New York Post broke the Hunter Biden laptop story, which Berliner argued was newsworthy.
"Its contents revealed his connection to the corrupt world of multimillion-dollar influence peddling and its possible implications for his father," Berliner wrote.
On Tuesday, NPR's Editor-in-Chief Edith Chapin issued a response to Berliner's op-ed expressing strong disagreement with his assessment of the network's "quality of journalism" and "integrity of [their] newsroom processes."
"It's why we have a standards and practices editor as well as a public editor to stand-in for the audience," her memo continued. "It's why we track sources — so we can expand the diversity of perspectives in our reporting."
Chapin added NPR has "internal debates, enforce[s] strong editorial standards, and engage[s] in processes that measured our work precisely."
"None of our work is above scrutiny or critique," she continued. "We must have vigorous discussions in the newsroom about how we serve the public as a whole, fostering a culture of conversation that breaks down the silos that we sometimes end up retreating to."
Her memo concluded by praising NPR's staff for the "rigor" of their work.
