Generally speaking NPR rarely shows up on my radar. Punishing him for this article though sure has the opposite effect of what they hope to achieve. In fact, with this they just sent a message to all their journalists that they are not allowed to express viewpoints making their problem worse.
Objective outsider view, NPR is guilty as charged. How can NPR ever repair trust in their reporting with this over their head?
The reason for his suspension is: "the organization told the editor [i.e. Berliner] he had failed to secure its approval for outside work for other news outlets, as is required of NPR journalists."
Not because he criticized them.
It this a punishment that is always applied; or used selectively? If the first, then it's fine, if the latter... then yeah there's a problem.
Objective outsider view, NPR is guilty as charged. How can NPR ever repair trust in their reporting with this over their head?
NPR can't fix itself because any time they get someone that shows promise at being a stand-up reporter, they leave for a better gig.
Case in point: Joshua Johnson[0] who used to run the The1A. The show was incredible while he was there. MSNBC picked him up and now it's daily partisan propaganda.
This opinion piece is less a incisive criticism of NPR than it is a resume line item for Berliner applying to The Atlantic. His three leading “big” examples are largely wrong. The Mueller report didn't say “no collusion”. Barr did. The report said that it was not possible to conclude with prosecutorial confidence what level of cooperation had taken place because there had been so much obstruction of justice, so charging for that would be the appropriate law enforcement action after Trump resumed his role as a regular citizen.
Conversely, the Hunter laptop thing has never been a compelling above-the-fold story. Hunter Biden is a politician's kid, not some elected official or, ahem, a politician's kid who has been appointed to a cabinet or advisory role within an administration. There has been no evidence that implicated Joe Biden was a meaningful participant or benefactor in whatever name-dropping grift he's gotten on at. Why would a news outlet spend airtime on this?
The lab leak story is somewhat more compelling. Although I think at this point because of analysis that concluded there were two different, yet closely related strains of the virus simultaneously present at different sections of the wet market, it's hard to conclude a lab origin is more likely than it coming from wild origins. But at the time he's referring to, it was simply a matter of dogma to conclude a lab origin was off the table.
And commenting that the DC staff is 87 Democrat is... amazing. That's the natural demographic of DC, one of the most Democratic regions in the country.
Generally speaking NPR rarely shows up on my radar. Punishing him for this article though sure has the opposite effect of what they hope to achieve. In fact, with this they just sent a message to all their journalists that they are not allowed to express viewpoints making their problem worse.
Objective outsider view, NPR is guilty as charged. How can NPR ever repair trust in their reporting with this over their head?