National Public Radio: Outlier?

National Public Radio, “NPR”, was founded in 1970.  It is partially funded by taxpayer money.  But like many nonprofits and NGOs, it takes in a lot of money from donors, often with political motives.

It is no secret that NPR has always “leaned left”.

On April 9th, veteran reporter Uri Berliner - who says that he fits the left-leaning NPR mold - wrote an Article titled, I’ve Been at NPR for 25 Years.  Here’s How We Lost America’s Trust.  In that piece he talks about how NPR changed after the 2016 election: supporting Russiagate and Adam Schiff; ignoring the laptop; and denying that Covid could have come from a lab leak.  And then adopting the policy that systemic racism was a given.  “Race and identity,” Uri says, "became paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace.”  With the requisite DEI and language training.

Uri says, "But what’s notable is the extent to which people at every level of NPR have comfortably coalesced around the progressive worldview.  And this, I believe, is the most damaging development at NPR: the absence of viewpoint diversity.” 

Read Uri Berliner’s article here:

I’ve Been at NPR for 25 Years. Here’s How We Lost America’s Trust.

Apparently now nearly everyone who now works at NPR is left / Democrat?  But is NPR an outlier?  Are they the only media that transformed after Trump’s election?  The only one to have an “absence of viewpoint diversity”?  

No, they are not alone - the same thing happened across mainstream media; the left-leaning outlets abandoned any pretense of balance or journalism and, like NPR, began to coalesce around adopting and promoting the progressive worldview. 

Uri says, “In February, our audience insights team sent an email proudly announcing that we had a higher trustworthy score than CNN or The New York Times.  But the research from the Harris Poll is hardly reassuring.  It found that "3-in-10 audience members familiar with NPR associate NPR with the characteristic ’trustworthy.’ "  Only in a world where media credibility has completely imploded would a 3-in-10 trustworthy score be something to brag about.”

Nor was the transformation limited to the mainstream media.  It occurred simultaneously in social media; academia; corporations; governments; schools; and the military.  Some call it Trump Derangement Syndrome, but it was more than that; it was the culmination of over a hundred years of progressivism.  Trump and Covid were just opportunities and excuses for accelerated expansion.

Ernest Hemingway’s character, in his novel The Sun Also Rises, is asked a question, “How did you go bankrupt?”  His reply is, "Two ways.  Gradually, then suddenly.” 

The same with bankrupting the American Experiment: slowly and steadily, for over a century, we abandoned our founding principles and our Constitution.  And then suddenly, in less than a decade, journalism and free speech were replaced with propaganda and censorship.  While authoritarians, local, State and national, implemented their progressive programs and unprecedented mandates.

The new CEO at NPR that Uri refers to in his article, Katherine Maher, suspended him without pay on April 16th, just a week after his article.  Maher is one of those people for which the label “far-left” is appropriate.  Folks like her - Machiavellians - so believe in their righteousness that everything is justified, from propaganda to censorship to the use of force.  They do not feel that they have to tell the truth.

In a 2022 TED Talk, Katherine Maher said, "Our reverence for the truth might be a distraction that is getting in the way of finding common ground and getting things done.”  Indeed, truth, morality and the Rule of Law are obstacles to such people.  “Finding common ground” for them means converting everyone to their way of thinking, and displacing or destroying those who do not.

On April 17th, Uri resigned.  Forced out because he dared to speak out, as has become a standard operating procedure for those who voice disparate opinions.

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NPR is the canary in the coal mine.  All across America, diversity is the stated goal; yet they do not allow diversity of opinion.  They rail against racism; but skin color is more important to them than character.  They promote coming together then attack anyone who has differing opinions, calling them evil or racist or deplorable; hate and division is the result.  They are destroying democracy “in order to save democracy."

On the other hand, this rapid transformation has led to strong reactions, multi-pronged counter-movements and alternative media, where free speech is still allowed, where the narratives are challenged.

After all, the other half of America supported Trump.  Because he was not a professional politician and because he said what was on his mind.  They felt like Trump was on their side while the establishment was not.  And his supporters became even more loyal, appalled at the over-reactions to him, the vitriol, the hate, the lies and the unprecedented attacks.  

The good news: in spite of the collectivist authoritarian mindset - the “progressive worldview” - that has infected our leaders, our institutions and our corporations, there are now many alternative sources for diverse opinions and numerous opportunities for grassroots involvement.

By the way, is “right-leaning” Fox News better?  Yes, in some ways.  But I call them “the war channel.”  They support all of America’s foreign interventions and wars.  And, generally, they promote Federal government solutions, and spending, as the answer to every issue.  Then they use the same kind of personal attacks when challenged, further dividing us.  They seem to believe in all things Republican, as if a Republican can do no wrong, while Democrats are always dreadful.  And they fired their most popular host, Tucker Carlson, for daring to present some diverse opinions, counter to the acceptable narratives. Fox is disparaged and hated by the left, which is an indicator that they are doing good things. But could they do better?

Sadly, NPR is not the outlier.  It would be better if it were because it was left-leaning from the outset - we always knew that - so its total transformation is less of a surprise than what happened simultaneously all across America.  We don’t have to listen to NPR; we can shut it off.  But if we ignore what is happening in our schools, in our institutions and corporations, and in our governments, then we do so at our own peril.