Republicans Challenge Ideological Bias and Funding of NPR under Katherine Maher’s Leadership

A group of Republican senators have expressed concerns over ideological bias at National Public Radio (NPR) following high-profile criticism from former senior editor Uri Berliner who resigned due to CEO Katherine Maher’s “divisive views.” In a letter led by Senator Kevin Cramer, the Republicans accused NPR of allowing and cultivating an environment where ideological bias takes center stage. They also criticized Maher for her lack of editorial background and opinionated Democratic personal views which she has shared on social media in the past. Berliner revealed that his research found there were 87 registered Democrats in editorial roles at NPR’s Washington, D.C., headquarters with no Republicans, while pointing to examples such as coverage of former President Trump’s collusion with Russia and Hunter Biden’s laptop. The senators called on Maher to begin a “course correction” regarding the exposed lack of diversity within the organization and highlighted her decisively left-leaning editorial stance which they said is a serious threat to impartiality, accuracy, integrity, and diversity of thought at NPR as a publicly funded entity responsible for providing accurate information regardless of political affiliation. The Republicans also renewed calls to restrict funding of NPR that provides grants for the organization after Berliner’s public criticism of his then-employer in April 2021 when he accused it of losing public trust due to its ideological homogeneity and editorial stance, which was overwhelmingly Democratic. Senator Marsha Blackburn recently revealed she is looking at legislative options with an intent to introduce a bill aimed at addressing funding for NPR as multiple measures are already being considered in the House that aim to do so.