At the Texas Tribune Festival on Saturday, Maher stated, “I stand here to defend the integrity of the newsroom and to defend the integrity of the reporting and to say that every single day our folks get up and they want to stand there and make sure that they are serving the American public in the best possible way from a nonpartisan perspective.”
When Berliner revealed the organization’s liberal tilt earlier this year, it shocked the media world. In the Free Press, Berliner—who was suspended and eventually quit due to the backlash—wrote a harsh critique of NPR that included criticism of the network’s reporting of Russiagate, the COVID lab leak theory, Hunter Biden’s controversial laptop, and its adoption of the theory of systemic racism.
When Berliner revealed the organization’s liberal tilt earlier this year, it shocked the media world. In the Free Press, Berliner—who was suspended and eventually quit due to the backlash—wrote a scathing critique of NPR that criticized the network for its coverage of Russiagate, the COVID lab leak theory, Hunter Biden’s scandalous laptop, its embrace of the theory of systemic racism, and the way it downplayed antisemitism after October 7.
During a lengthy on-stage Trib Fest discussion with Margaret Sullivan, the former public editor of the News, regarding the future of public journalism, Maher was asked about the issue.
