House Republicans are demanding that NPR CEO Katherine Maher appear at a hearing on May 8 after a now-former employee made allegations of bias in reporting.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), chairwoman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, wrote a letter to Maher along with two other House Republicans. “The Committee has concerns about the direction in which NPR may be taken under past and current leadership,” they wrote. “As a taxpayer-funded public radio organization, NPR should focus on fair and objective reporting that considers and reflects the views of the larger U.S. population and not just a niche audience.” The hearing would take place before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
Maher defended the network after Uri Berliner, a former senior business editor and reporter, published an essay in The Free Press claiming that the network lacked “open-mindedness” and diversity of viewpoints and instead took a left-wing approach Donald Trump, race and other issues. Berliner later resigned from the outlet.
House Republicans also pointed to NPR’s Covid coverage, the Mueller report and Hunter Biden’s laptop.
An NPR spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In their letter, McMorris Rodgers and the other House Republicans quoted from Berliner’s essay and also asked Maher a series of questions, including: “How many registered Republicans, Democrats, independents and non-required registered voters have turned out in the last five years.” years?” Does NPR employ an affiliation statement as part of its news media staff under state law?” They also ask Maher what steps were taken to recruit Republicans.
Some NPR employees have gone public pointing out errors in Berliner’s essay. Steve Inskeep disputed Berliner’s claim that the newsroom was made up of unanimously registered Democrats, 87-0. Inskeep noted that he was not registered with any party, but that was not reflected in the story.
Inskeep wrote on Substack: “NPR says its content department employs 662 people worldwide, including far more than 87 in Washington. The article never disclosed this context. (NPR does not ask staffers about their voter registration; I don’t know how Uri learned about the 87 registrations he claims to have found.)”
NPR has faced controversy in the past, but calls to defund the organization have not been successful. In 2011, conservative activist James O’Keefe videotaped an NPR fundraiser in which he criticized the Tea Party. The edited Sting video led to the resignation of the network’s CEO, while there was some effort on Capitol Hill to zero out funding. A House bill to repeal federal funding passed but failed in the Senate.