A group of 50 NPR employees signed a letter demanding that the CEO and editor-in-chief publicly rebuke the “factual inaccuracies” in a former editor’s essay that called out perceived liberal bias at the outlet.
The letter asked leadership to provide more transparency on how employees are expected to conduct themselves and ensure all are held to the same standards.
“We’re writing to urge stronger support for staff who have had their journalistic expertise called into question by one of their own in a public forum,” the letter read. “We also urge more transparency regarding the consequences of making unauthorized public comments that seek to change NPR’s editorial direction.”
“[T]here are still unanswered questions about how NPR staff are expected to conduct themselves,” it added. “What and who are our standards for? Are we all being held to the same scrutiny? And will we all be going forward?”
“Staff, many from marginalized backgrounds, have pushed for internal policy changes through mechanisms like the DEI accountability committee, sharing of affinity group guidelines, and an ad-hoc content review group,” the letter said.
It also called for clarification on how the former editor’s suspension and resignation impacted NPR’s “editorial direction” and precedent for future violations of codes of conduct.
While the CEO had called the essay “hurtful and demeaning,” the employees argued it didn’t receive as strong a response as internal diversity and policy efforts.
They asked leadership to publicly support and defend employees whose work was undermined and directly call out inaccuracies in the essay.
“I respect the integrity of my colleagues and wish for NPR to thrive and do important journalism,” Berliner wrote. “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 cited in my Free Press essay.”
