NPR editor takes stand after calling out left-wing bias as GOP prepares to defund the network

Uri Berliner, the journalist who blew the whistle on NPR's left-wing bias, has resigned from NPR.

Last week, Berliner published an essay in the Free Press expressing concern that his employer, a corporate media outlet that receives taxpayer funding, has "lost America's trust" because it has embraced a "progressive worldview."

NPR leadership denied Berliner's perspective, despite the fact that he had worked there for 25 years and witnessed firsthand the liberal drift.

Then, last Friday, the company suspended Berliner without pay for five days. Leadership charged Berliner with violating a company policy that requires employees to receive prior approval before appearing in outside publications.

Berliner said in a statement on Wednesday that he did not resign because of his punishment. Rather, he decided to leave because of CEO Katherine Maher, who he felt criticized him in a memo to NPR staff last week.

Berliner announced:

I am resigning from NPR, a great American institution where I have worked for 25 years. I don’t support calls to defund NPR. I respect the integrity of my colleagues and wish for NPR to thrive and do important journalism. But I cannot work in a newsroom where I am disparaged by a new CEO whose divisive views confirm the very problems at NPR I cite in my Free Press essay.

Berliner told the New York Times he has no immediate plans other than to spend time with family and rest.

On the same day that Berliner tendered his resignation, dozens of NPR employees sent a letter to company brass demanding they publicly rebuke and correct the "factual inaccuracies and elisions" in Berliner's essay.

The demands seemingly confirm many of Berliner's core critiques of NPR. As the old saying goes: If the shoe fits, wear it.

Meanwhile, Republicans are pushing to defund NPR of taxpayer funds. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), in fact, is preparing to introduce legislation doing just that.

"The mainstream media has become obsessed with doing the Left’s bidding and taking down strong conservatives — and NPR has led the pack," Blackburn said. "It makes no sense that the American people are forced to fund a propagandist left-wing outlet that refuses to represent the voices of half the country. NPR should not receive our tax dollars."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!