Berliner, who has been associated with NPR for a quarter of a century, made these revelations in an essay published in The Free Press.
Berliner alleges that NPR was bent on undermining Trump's presidency, citing the now-debunked allegations of collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia. He further claims that the organization was united in prioritizing race and identity, leading to a dearth of "viewpoint diversity" and a surge in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
April 10, 2024
"Persistent rumors that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia over the election became the catnip that drove reporting," Berliner penned. "At NPR, we hitched our wagon to Trump’s most visible antagonist, Representative Adam Schiff."
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Berliner also criticizes NPR's coverage of Trump's presidency, which he believes began as robust, straightforward reporting but eventually veered towards efforts to damage or topple Trump's presidency.
April 10, 2024
Furthermore, Berliner takes issue with NPR's managing editor for not covering the Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 presidential election. He quotes the editor as saying, "We don’t want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don’t want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions."
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According to Berliner, NPR also based its reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic on statements made by Dr. Anthony Fauci, former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, asserting that the virus originated naturally. "We became fervent members of Team Natural Origin, even declaring that the lab leak had been debunked by scientists," Berliner wrote. "But that wasn’t the case."
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Despite NPR's significant efforts to diversify its audience, Berliner claims that these attempts have been unsuccessful. He cites demographic research from 2023, which shows that NPR's news audience does not reflect the diversity of the American population.
Berliner also notes a dramatic shift to the left in NPR's audience, based on polling data. He writes, "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."
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Following the death of George Floyd in 2020, Berliner asserts that "race and identity became paramount" at NPR. He claims that all levels of the organization were aligned on the prioritization of race and identity, leading to a lack of "viewpoint diversity" and an increase in DEI initiatives.
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Berliner also reveals that NPR staff were given unconscious bias training sessions and that a growing DEI staff held regular meetings urging them to "start talking about race." He adds that these initiatives were supported by a $1 million grant from the NPR Foundation and came from management, from the top down.
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Berliner also mentions the formation of employee resource (or affinity) groups based on identity, which consisted of racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities. He writes, "The role and standing of affinity groups, including those outside NPR, were more than that. They became a priority for NPR’s union, SAG-AFTRA—an item in collective bargaining."
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In a memo from February 2023, NPR CEO John Lansing announced that the outlet would lay off 10% of its employees and freeze vacant positions due to the "erosion" of advertising revenue, particularly for podcasts.
NPR, according to its website, receives less than 1% of its funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, federal agencies, and departments.
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