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| Uri Berlinger decides to quit instead of being fired. |
Winners and losers of 2024.
Uri Berlinger announced he will resign from NPR. The public radio network was about to terminate the conspiracy theorist after he wrote a piece criticizing the network for not promoting far right propaganda.
He wrote a piece on a far right platform and did not clear it with NPR staff. They were angered by this and it forced a freezer for Berlinger. So instead of taking his pu ishment, he wants to be a martyr for the far right. David Folkenflik, NPR's Media Correspondent detailed the former colleague and his bogus claims that NPR operated as a propaganda for progressive politics. The very fact that fool did that was the network's decision to hire a woman who previously criticized former president Donald J. Trump for his pattern of lies and his pattern of
"I am resigning from NPR, a great American institution where I have worked for 25 years," Berliner wrote in an email to CEO Katherine Maher. "I respect the integrity of my colleagues and wish for NPR to thrive and do important journalism. But I cannot work in a newsroom where I am disparaged by a new CEO whose divisive views confirm the very problems at NPR I cite in my Free Press essay."
NPR and Maher declined to comment on his resignation.
The Free Press, an online site embraced by journalists who believe that the mainstream media has become too liberal, published Berliner's piece last Tuesday. In it, he argued that NPR's coverage has increasingly reflected a rigid progressive ideology. And he argued that the network's quest for greater diversity in its workforce — a priority under prior chief executive John Lansing – has not been accompanied by a diversity of viewpoints presented in NPR shows, podcasts or online coverage.
Later that same day, NPR pushed back against Berliner's critique.
"We're proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories," NPR's chief news executive, Edith Chapin, wrote in a memo to staff . "We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world."
Yet Berliner's commentary has been embraced by conservative and partisan Republican critics of the network, including former President Donald Trump and the activist Christopher Rufo.
Rufo is posting a parade of old social media posts from Maher, who took over NPR last month. In two examples, she called Trump a racist and also seemed to minimize the effects of rioting in 2020. Rufo is using those to rally public pressure for Maher's ouster, as he did for former Harvard University President Claudine Gay.
Gay was the first African American woman to be president of Harvard. Because of that damn Israel and its fucking war crimes and genocide, the students protested against its donors and staff support of Israel. Rufo, a white nationalist pushed for Gay's ouster because she didn't stifle protests.
In 2023, Rufo and co-author Christopher Brunet investigated the past research of Harvard University president Claudine Gay, who had recently attracted controversy over her handling of antisemitism at the university and her defense of the university's handling of the situation at a congressional hearing. Rufo and Brunet alleged that many of her articles, including her dissertation, were plagiarized. Following further investigations of the plagiarism allegations in mainstream media outlets, Gay announced her resignation on January 2, 2024. In an interview with Politico, Rufo stated that Gay's resignation "was the result of a coordinated and highly organized conservative campaign."
Others have used the moment to call for the elimination of federal funding for NPR – less than one percent of its roughly $300 million annual budget – and local public radio stations, which derive more of their funding from the government.
Berliner reiterated in his resignation letter that he does not support such calls.
In a brief interview, he condemned a statement Maher issued Friday in which she suggested that he had questioned "whether our people are serving our mission with integrity, based on little more than the recognition of their identity." She called that "profoundly disrespectful, hurtful, and demeaning."
Berliner subsequently exchanged emails with Maher, but she did not address those comments.
"It's been building up," Berliner said of his decision to resign, "and it became clear it was on today."
For publishing his essay in The Free Press and appearing on its podcast, NPR had suspended Berliner for five days without pay. Its formal rebuke noted he had done work outside NPR without its permission, as is required, and shared proprietary information.
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