A number of Senate Republicans are urging Nationwide Public Radio (NPR) CEO Katherine Maher to start a “course correction” following latest allegations by senior NPR editor Uri Berliner, that the information radio broadcaster’s credibility has been undercut by political bias and slanted protection.
Mr. Berliner first went public along with his criticism of NPR’s political slant in an essay he wrote for The Free Press on April 9. In his essay, Mr. Berliner—a 25-year worker of NPR, then working as a senior enterprise editor for the radio broadcaster—described a shift away from an “open-minded spirit” in NPR’s radio and on-line protection to at least one that caters the “distilled worldview of a really small phase of the U.S. inhabitants,” particularly the progressive political left.
In a letter organized by Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), a number of Republican senators reiterated the claims raised by Mr. Berliner and known as for the radio broadcaster and on-line information publication to deal with the allegations and alter its inside tradition.
“If NPR’s aim was to turn into an echo chamber, mission achieved. However as a publicly funded entity, you might be liable for offering neutral protection that precisely informs all Individuals, no matter political affiliation,” the letter to Ms. Maher states. “This goal is decidedly troublesome when almost one hundred pc of staff in Washington, DC congregate on one facet of the political aisle.”
The letter argues that whereas Mr. Berliner has recognized considerations of bias in NPR’s nationwide protection, NPR’s native radio broadcast associates are nonetheless broadly trusted by the American public.
“We urge you to start out a course correction to deal with these points,” the letter reads. “If NPR doesn’t wish to devolve right into a one-sided opinion outlet, it ought to take a web page from its native associates and embrace a tradition of mental variety and concentrate on balanced reporting.”
Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Invoice Cassidy (R-La.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), and Eric Shmitt (R-Mo.) signed onto the letter to Ms. Maher.
NTD Information reached out to NPR for touch upon the letter from the Republican senators however didn’t obtain a response by press time.
Blackburn Reviving Calls to Defund NPR
NPR has for years confronted scrutiny and criticism from Republican lawmakers.
In 2011, Ms. Blackburn—then a member of the U.S. Home of Representatives—superior laws to bar U.S. taxpayer funding help for NPR.
NPR derives a small share of its funding from direct federal grants, however receives different taxpayer help not directly by means of programming help from the Company for Public Broadcasting (CPB); a publicly funded non-profit established underneath the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 that helps public radio broadcasting. CPB has supplied direct funding to NPR and has supplied funding to different native radio broadcasters that carry NPR content material.
Ms. Blackburn has revived her calls to tug federal funding from NPR following this newest controversy with Mr. Berliner.