NPR Suspends Editor After Essay Alleging Progressive Bias

NPR (Lean Left bias) suspended senior editor Uri Berliner for five days without pay, beginning last Friday, after he wrote a Free Press (Center bias) essay claiming an “absence of viewpoint diversity” at NPR.

The Details: NPR’s David Folkenflik first reported the story. In a “final warning” letter, NPR told Berliner he “had failed to secure its approval for outside work for other news outlets, as is required of NPR journalists.” Folkenflik also wrote that Berliner’s essay “angered many of his colleagues, led NPR leaders to announce monthly internal reviews of the network's coverage, and gave fresh ammunition to conservative and partisan Republican critics of NPR, including former President Donald Trump.” 

For Context: AllSides moved NPR’s rating from Center to Lean Left following a February 2022 Blind Bias Survey. 

How the Media Covered It: While most headlines from the left and center described Berliner as “accusing” or “alleging” bias, headlines from right-rated outlets tended to say Berliner “called out left-wing bias” or “blew [the] whistle on liberal bias,” thereby taking Berliner’s claims as fact.