NPR Suspends Editor Who Penned Essay Criticizing Network For “Sorry Levels” Of Audience Trust, Liberal Bias

deadline.com:

NPR has put on temporary suspension the editor who penned an essay that criticized the network for losing the trust of listeners as it has covered the rise of Donald Trump and coverage of Covid, race and other issues.

Uri Berliner has been suspended for five days without pay, starting last Friday, according to NPR’s David Folkenflik. Last week, Berliner published an essay for The Free Press that called out the network for losing “an open minded spirit,” and he cited, among other things, audience research showing a drop in the number of listeners considering themselves conservative. “That wouldn’t be a problem for an openly polemical news outlet serving a niche audience.

But for NPR, which purports to consider all things, it’s devastating both for its journalism and its business model,” Berliner wrote.

He also wrote that “race and identity became paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace,” while claiming that the network lacked viewpoint diversity.