Blind trust in institutions almost always leads to disaster. Growing up, I can remember feeling that questioning certain groups was less than patriotic.
Don’t question the military leaders; they would never lie to the American people. Trust what the evening news and morning papers tell you; it is the journalist’s responsibility to report the facts and report wrongdoing.
While there have always been pockets of individuals smart enough to know that questioning institutions and verifying information is a citizen’s right and, in many ways, a responsibility, the trend has only taken off in recent years. Luckily, there are some veteran journalists out there willing to tell the truth.
Take NPR veteran Uri Berliner, who rose up to expose how left-wing American newsrooms really are.
Down with Trump!
While I’m not your typical NPR listener, I have listened to quite a bit of NPR for most of my adult life. I enjoyed some of their unusual stories and cultural interpretations.
However, like many other moderates, I stopped listening because, as veteran NPR journalist Uri Berliner wrote this week, I was tired of being told what to think. Uri Berliner wrote an essay for The Free Press titled I’ve been at NPR for 25 years. This is how we lost America’s trust.
In his essay, he exposes how NPR, while always left-leaning, at one point still had a diverse audience. But, as with many news organizations, the introduction of President Donald Trump marked the beginning of the end of that diversity.
Mr. Berliner wrote:
“…what began as harsh, direct coverage of a belligerent, truth-compromising president has devolved into attempts to damage or overthrow Trump’s presidency.”
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From his tone it is clear that Mr. Berliner is not a MAGA Trump supporter. Yet, he too was uncomfortable with the organization’s coverage of him.
His righteous disdain for the way NPR has handled all things Donald Trump is an excellent example of how good journalists should operate. While it is natural for a journalist to have a political point of view, it is unethical for a journalist to use that point of view to guide their reporting.
This is about politics, not facts
Berliner provides examples of how NPR transitioned from newsroom to Democratic mouthpiece. On his dedication to the Russiagate debacle at NPR, he wrote:
“It’s one thing to swing and miss an important story. … What’s worse is pretending it never happened, moving forward without mea culpa, without self-reflection. … This is what destroys trust and breeds cynicism about the media.”
It’s important to note that NPR wasn’t the only newsroom that was unapologetic about the Russiagate hoax.
Mr. Berliner continues with the following example regarding the Hunter Biden laptop story.
He writes:
“During a meeting with colleagues, I heard one of NPR’s best and most impartial journalists say it was a good thing we weren’t following the laptop story because it could help Trump.”
NPR or their ilk didn’t care if the story was newsworthy; it mattered how it would affect Donald Trump and, perhaps especially, Joe Biden. Mr. Berliner makes the point with this observation on NPR’s COVID coverage:
“Once again, politics was erasing the curiosity and independence that should have guided our work.”
And here lies the truth. Mainstream journalism is not about facts or truth, but about politics and thought control.
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It’s in everything
It’s no surprise that NPR has become the mouthpiece of the progressive left. According to Berliner, at NPR DC headquarters, there are 87 registered Democrats in editorial positions and zero registered Republicans.
When Mr. Berliner attempted to raise what he calls the “absence of diversity of viewpoints,” a high-level NPR executive told him that:
“…she had been “skewered” for raising diversity of thought when she came to NPR.”
Like many other institutions in science, higher education, medicine and government, the world of journalism jumped on the diversity, equity and inclusion bandwagon following the death of George Floyd. As Mr. Berliner explains, the NPR union had:
“…they ensured that advocacy groups were given a seat at the table in determining the terms and vocabulary of our news coverage.”
What does Mr. Berliner mean by this statement? He gives the following example:
“In a document called NPR Transgender Coverage Guidance – released by News Management – we are asked to avoid the term biological sex.”
A scientific term that, if removed from transgender discourse, eliminates any dissenting point of view. Finally, Mr. Berliner states the obvious today regarding NPR:
“Our news audience doesn’t come close to reflecting America. It is predominantly white and progressive, and clustered around coastal cities and college towns.
This exclusive audience directly reflects the allegiance of NPR and other mainstream newsrooms to the cult of DEI. Separating audiences by basic characteristics and viewing reporting through a left-wing political lens will always, ironically, satisfy the white elite.
Let’s see how long it takes for NPR to let Uri go. After all, we don’t want any diversity of thought in the news space.
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