Over the years I’ve seen NPR defended when they’ve been called out for bias, some even in this forum. April 9, The FreePress, a news company in LA, posted a column by Uri Berliner who describes himself as an EV-driving, coastal elite. For the past 25 years he has been employed at NPR, now a senior editor. What he said may shock while others say it confirms what they knew.
He calls the focus at NPR now the “distilled worldview of a very small segment of the U.S. population.” He says the reporting on Trump stopped being coverage but instead became efforts to topple his presidency. He said NPR hitched their wagon to Rep. Adam Schiff, D-CA of the “I’ve got the evidence of Trump’s collusion with Russia” fable. Schiff’s talking points became the drumbeat of NPR “news.” Then when Mueller found no evidence, it faded from NPR reporting.
Berliner took issue with NPR’s handling of the NYPost’s revelations on the Hunter Biden laptop with the NPR managing editor’s decision to “not waste listeners’ time with distractions.” That made it easier to later spin the narrative as Russian disinformation didn’t it?
His explanation of how NPR dealt with COVID origins should be of concern to listeners. “Team Natural Origin” supported the wet market theory. “Team Lab Leak” leaned to the idea the virus escaping from the lab in Wuhan, China. Berliner said the lab leak came under rough treatment dismissed as racist or a right-wing conspiracy theory. NPR reported the lab leak was “debunked by scientists,” a catchphrase used when the left wants to shut down debate.
I encourage all to read his words in their entirety especially in light of Juan Williams’ comments on why he was fired from NPR after appearing on FOX (FOX 4/9/24) and Sen Rand Paul’s (R-KY) revelations that 15 organizations knew the details of viral research at the Wuhan Lab and its similarities to COVID-19 (Hindustan Times 4/10/24). Then decide for yourself who is telling the truth.
Ralph Miller