NPR suspends editor who openly criticized network for having left-leaning bias

National Public Radio has suspended an editor for five days, after he vocally criticized the network for having a left-leaning bias, which he claims hurts NPR’s journalism.

Senior editor Uri Berliner has been suspended without pay, starting last Friday, after slamming his employers in an essay for The Free Press last week. He had complained that listeners and readers of NPR are getting “the distilled worldview of a very small segment of the U.S. population.”

Backlash from the essay has forced NPR to conduct monthly reviews of its national coverage, according to an NPR media article published Tuesday. The outlet also cited his failure to get approval before publishing work in another outlet, which goes against NPR’s rules.

The essay has also reopened broader criticism of the organization, including criticism against the network’s CEO Katherine Maher, who has made controversial posts on social media. She has described former President Donald Trump as “racist,” and appeared to downplay protests after the death of George Floyd in 2020.

Maher has attempted to defend the posts, claiming she made them as a private citizen. 

"In America everyone is entitled to free speech as a private citizen," Maher said in a statement. "What matters is NPR's work and my commitment as its CEO: public service, editorial independence, and the mission to serve all of the American public. NPR is independent, beholden to no party, and without commercial interests."

Berliner said that he still loves the network he works for, and for which he has worked the past 25 years, but that the organization has a responsibility to be fair.

"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."

The suspension serves as a “final warning,” according to Berliner’s suspension notification, and he will be fired if he violates the network’s rules again.