The CEO Is Dressed Down By the Congress

Funny thing when a liberal media person has to say “mea culpa” and ask for forgiveness because he or she screwed up by NOT reporting the facts when they knew the facts were true. It is not sincere or honest. Instead, it is patronizing.

 

No… it is actually aggravating because he or she knew the truth and lied by omission.

And while Katherine Maher only took over as CEO of NPR last year, she had an obligation to come clean about it when she assumed leadership, and continued to compound the lie by not revealing it immediately. She is equally at fault.

It was reported that her admission came during intense questioning from Reprentative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and other Republican legislators during a congressional subcommittee hearing regarding the broadcaster’s perceived bias in its coverage.

“I do want to say that NPR acknowledges we were mistaken in failing to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story more aggressively or sooner,” Maher told the committee.

While NPR only receives 1% of Federal funding, getting most of it through donations, local member stations rely more heavily on Federal funding.

And while larger NPR stations typically receive 10–15% of their budgets from Corporation for Public Broadcasting, smaller and rural stations can rely on it for up to 30% or more, making indirect federal support crucial to NPR’s overall funding structure.

The hearing included testimony from both Maher and PBS CEO Paula Kerger, though Maher was the primary focus of Republican criticism.

Maher, who previously led Wikipedia and assumed the NPR leadership role just last year, was persistently questioned about her personal views and prior social media posts.

Confronted directly by Representative Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) about her past comments, Maher conceded, “I regret [them] today.”

“Let’s walk through some of your statements so the public can understand your personal views,” Greene said, highlighting Maher’s previous remarks that America was “addicted” to white supremacy and critical comments concerning binary gender terminology.

Greene argued vigorously that NPR must uphold neutrality given that it is partly funded by taxpayers. She also challenged Maher’s personal ideology as inconsistent with the broadcaster’s mission.

It was an invaluable lesson for Katherine Maher on Wednesday. She learned the lesson that companies which accepts public funding need to maintain impartiality and neutrality, no matter what the CEO’s personal opinions may be.

And she needs to pass that message down to the leaders of the member stations to do the same or the public funding will be withdrawn.