It seems that National Public Radio won't have Uri Berliner to kick around anymore. After having apparently been handed a five day unpaid suspension from his job as editor at the business desk, Berliner issued a statement on Twitter this morning offering his resignation from NPR after 25 years of service.
This honestly felt inevitable from the moment that Berliner first published his takedown of NPR in the Free Press on April 9th, either NPR executives would find an excuse to fire him, make his professional life so miserable that he'd be forced resign, or he'd preemptively resign to avoid the previous two options. Given his choices, going with option three seems like the smart move.
The funny thing in all of this is that NPR's reaction to this whole thing has made this story much more than it ever had to be, as National Review Senior Writer Noah Rothman points out:
They've more or less Streisand Effected themselves into a real problem, in other words. Presumably the plan on NPR's part is to try to keep their head down and hope this all blows over, but with Christopher Rufo continuing to mine newly installed NPR CEO Katherine Maher's long history of left-wing insanity on Twitter for more and more bad and crazy takes the winds don't seem favorable for things to just 'blow over' any time soon.
As to Berliner himself, while he may not have many people feeling friendly towards him back at his now former employer he's found that as far as Twitter is concerned there are a lot of people who are willing to come out and say 'Ich Bin Ein Berliner!'
This is the way, Uri! pic.twitter.com/LMdZP9yzzu
— Kristi (@TheyCallMeNans) April 17, 2024
You are so much better off without these cretins.
— JWF (@JammieWF) April 17, 2024
Now get an attorney and sue for whistleblower retaliation. @elonmusk
— Audie Morphy (@AudieMOrphy) April 17, 2024
Would be an interesting avenue to take, although a tricky one certainly.
And while Berliner is gracious in continuing to believe that NPR is worthy of being supported out of the public coffers, many aren't feeling so generous.
I don't think NPR will be fixed until its funding is threatened.
— The Murderwave Returns 🇺🇸 (@themurderwave) April 17, 2024
Even though Uri Berliner won't call for an end to public funding for NPR, everyone else should.
— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) April 17, 2024
They are a partisan cause that values politics over the truth and honest journalism.
Our tax dollars are better spent elsewhere.
Sorry Uri but NPR must not be allowed to parasitically harvest taxpayer funds.
— Jordan Schachtel @ dossier.today (@JordanSchachtel) April 17, 2024
Also, thank you for your courage.
It we're sure took immense courage, especially when you consider that some insiders in the world of media are pointing out that the whole thing from the get-go was intended as a resignation... but a resignation with an accompanying fireworks show.
ICYMI: Uri Berliner didn't just effectively resign from NPR with his piece revealing their editorial corruption, he set the place on fire as he left. And what a spectacular conflagration he has started.
— Jeff Blehar is *BOX OFFICE POISON* (@EsotericCD) April 17, 2024
My best-written piece yet, for @NRO: https://t.co/mA9H58G0qM
And what a conflagration it's been!
It's like watching a real time documentary Scientology exposé https://t.co/3CwPUoZjon
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) April 17, 2024
Uri may not support defunding NPR but it’s insane for taxpayers to keep paying for an obviously activist organization. Congress should act. If NPR can’t survive without taxpayer funding, then it shouldn’t survive. https://t.co/c8CCArhq5e
— AG (@AGHamilton29) April 17, 2024
I'm pretty sure that @uberliner and I would disagree on a number of policy issues, but he's got integrity and guts. And those are enough for me to follow him and support his efforts to blow the whistle on this government-supported platform. https://t.co/dQpzmpxMUL
— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) April 17, 2024
It's an important point that's made here. Uri Berliner doesn't seem to be a Conservative in any traditional sense, except perhaps what would sometimes be terms a 'classical conservative'. But what he's unhappy about has never seemed to be that his beliefs weren't being reflected in NPR's coverage but rather that NPR wasn't fulfilling its journalistic duty to ensure that a fair range of beliefs are being covered... and anyone who's listened to NPR in the past decade at least should be forced to agree with his assessment. It's important to stand up for these things even if they don't directly benefit you yourself, and it's important to stand with people who have the courage to do it as well.
We'll see where this all ends up, it seems unlikely that someone with Berliner's experience will stay unemployed for long, but as for NPR this seems like it may be only the beginning of their troubles and not the end.
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