Latest news with #Katherine Maher
Daily Mail
22-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS NPR crisis worsens as top editor quits days after radio station lost $500m federal cash for being too woke
NPR's top editor has tendered her resignation days after the radio station lost $500million in federal funding for an alleged bias against conservatives. Edith Chapin, who serves as editor-in-chief and acting chief content officer at National Public Radio, announced her departure on Tuesday. Chapin told an NPR reporter she quit rather than being fired and that she was not leaving due to the funding cuts. She also said she handed in her notice two weeks ago ahead of the cuts, which Trump repeatedly promised on the campaign trail. NPR has long been blasted by conservatives, former listeners, and even former staffers for taking extreme progressive viewpoints on issues pertaining to race and transgenderism in recent years Supporters of the cuts to federal funding - which also affected PBS - said it was unfair to expect all Americans to subsidize a network with such an isolated worldview. Katherine Maher, the chief executive of NPR, told Status over the weekend the decision was politically motivated, framing it as one that would be devastating toward rural communities she said relied on public broadcasting from local affiliates. In her statement to NPR Tuesday, Chapin said Maher was left surprised by her decision, and that she would continue to stay with NPR until October the latest - the same month funding is set to cease to coincide with the next fiscal year. The cuts came as a major win for Trump, who repeatedly promised to defund NPR on the campaign trail. Trump is seen signing a separate executive order in May 'I have had two big executive jobs for two years and I want to take a break. I want to make sure my performance is always top-notch for the company,' she said, after joining NPR from CNN in 2012 as chief international editor. 'It's not a good time to do it, but it's never a good time.' 'I needed to pick a date and share my decision.' 'The best thing we can do is do the best work possible every day,' she said as debate continues over whether the company really engaged in systemic bias as the administration claims. 'We need to hear from all kinds of people - and that is our job. 'And we need to be as clear and transparent as we possibly can, and our audiences can decide how useful we are for them.' 'One of the things that was attractive when I came here was this philosophy of all things considered,' she continued. 'There is room for so much here in a way there is not in so many places. 'In offering that fulsome package of things, some people are going to find things they don't find of interest or agree with - and that's okay,' Chapin eventually concluded. 'I think we have to continue with that philosophy of all things considered.' In a separate note to staff, Maher thanked Chapin for 13 years of service.
Fox News
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
NPR CEO Katherine Maher vents 'deep frustration' over GOP cuts, says it will continue to operate
NPR CEO Katherine Maher expressed "deep frustration" in a new interview upon seeing the passage of the Trump administration's rescissions package that pulled her organization's federal funding, but she vowed NPR would continue to operate. Republicans in the Senate and House narrowly passed the rescissions package last week that yanked over $1 billion in federal broadcast funding for the fiscal year. "Throughout this process, the political rhetoric has been about punishing NPR (and PBS) for editorial and programming decisions. But the reality is that NPR receives less than half of one percent of all federal funds for public broadcasting. More than 70% goes directly to local stations," Maher told Status. "Meanwhile, lawmakers from both parties continuously acknowledge—in public and private—how important their local stations are to their constituents. In this sense, it's a bit like Congress itself," she continued. "The institution may have low approval ratings, but people generally approve of their local representatives. This eviscerates funding for those independent, community-based stations. And for what purpose? Scoring political points by saying you voted against NPR and PBS." Maher admitted the cuts are a "big hit" for NPR, and local member stations in rural areas will be rocked. "I expect you'll see nearly immediate loss of universal coverage in hard-to-reach parts of the country, as well as layoffs of journalists covering local and state news," Maher told Status. "The loss of funding may make it impossible for local stations in places like rural Alaska and Appalachia to continue to operate—stations that receive as much as 70% of their budget from federal funds. Stations like these are already pulling shutdown plans out of their desks," Maher added, adding NPR had committed to reduce its operating budget by $8 million. Trump's multibillion-dollar clawback package teed up cuts to "woke" spending on foreign aid programs and NPR and PBS, as Republicans finally yanked federal money from public news outlets in a move advocates said was long overdue. Maher, who has espoused liberal views and preferences in past remarks and social media postings, has repeatedly denied the notion that NPR is "woke" or biased and believes the vote was "about politics and power." "We can have real, substantive policy debates about federal funding for public media. I recognize that's a matter of legitimate political disagreement—how big the government should be, or what the government should and shouldn't fund," Maher told Status. "This argument about public media being 'biased' is a stalking horse. We report on soybean farmers and LGBTQ activism. We report on coal miners and eco-warriors," she continued. "Having non-White voices and perspectives on air does not make us woke. Covering the existence of disagreement and difference in our country does not make us biased. It makes us reflective of the complex, diverse nation we serve." Maher said NPR would "take a moment to mourn" and ultimately move forward. Ex-NPR editor Uri Berliner roasted the outlet last year over its biased coverage on such issues as COVID-19, Hunter Biden's laptop and the Russiagate saga. He soon after resigned and joined The Free Press.
Fox News
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
NPR CEO warns staff 'tremendous amount of change' coming if federal funding yanked
Print Close By Hanna Panreck Published July 17, 2025 NPR CEO Katherine Maher warned staffers on Thursday that the outlet would go through significant changes if they end up losing federal funding. Senate Republicans passed President Donald Trump's multibillion-dollar clawback package early Thursday morning. The $9 billion rescissions bill teed up cuts to "woke" spending on foreign aid programs and NPR and PBS that Congress previously approved, as Republicans seek to yank federal money from the public news outlets. NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik posted on X that Maher and the NPR corporate team were addressing staffers on Thursday, and that while he wasn't present at the off-the-record meeting, staffers present were notifying him of key portions. NPR is facing efforts by President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers to shut down its federal funding. "We are going to go through a tremendous amount of change," Maher said, according to NPR's media correspondent. NPR HEARING PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON FUNDING DEBATE AND PAST COVERAGE, FROM HUNTER BIDEN'S LAPTOP TO COVID ORIGINS The CEO also told staffers that they would "continue pushing" until the end of the process. "We are taking this one all the way to the end," Maher said, according to Folkenfilk. Maher challenged critics on Wednesday during a CNN interview to show her a story that proves the outlet is biased. "It doesn't help anyone to take this funding away," Maher said. "As far as the accusations that we're biased, I would stand up and say, 'Please show me a story that concerns you,' because we want to know, and we want to bring that conversation back to our newsroom." NYT DRAWS PARALLELS BETWEEN CALLS TO DEFUND NPR AND DEFUND THE POLICE MOVEMENT Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., and conservative commentators reacted to the post with examples. Kennedy posted a thread featuring videos of himself on the Senate floor providing examples of NPR's political bias. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE "NPR reported that country music and birds are racist, told American people to stop eating beef, and promoted the Russia-gate conspiracy. No person with a brain above a single-celled organism would call these articles fair and balanced," one tweet said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP NPR's legislative affairs executive also warned during the meeting, according to NPR's media correspondent, that there would be "a lot of instability" if Congress does strip federal funds. Fox News Digital's Alex Miller contributed to this report. Print Close URL
