[4][5][6][7] The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), a pro-Israel American media monitoring organization based in Boston, has been particularly critical of NPR.
CAMERA director Andrea Levin has stated, "We consider NPR to be the most seriously biased mainstream media outlet," a statement that The Boston Globe describes as having "clearly gotten under her target's skin.
The Anti-Defamation League and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee both criticized specific NPR reports as unbalanced, but neither accused the news organization of a consistent underlying bias.
[13] A 2004 FAIR study concluded that "NPR's guestlist shows the radio service relies on the same elite and influential sources that dominate mainstream commercial news, and falls short of reflecting the diversity of the American public.
[citation needed] In 2014, NPR acknowledged a lack of cultural and ethnic diversity among guests, viewpoints and topics covered as well as the composition of their newsroom and board members.
A study conducted in 2003 by the polling firm Knowledge Networks and the University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes (University of Maryland at College Park) showed that those who get their news and information from public broadcasting (NPR and PBS – Public Broadcasting Service) are better informed than those whose data comes from other media outlets.
[26] On the December 19, 1995, broadcast of All Things Considered, NPR commentator Andrei Codrescu reported that some Christians believe in a "rapture" and 4 million will ascend to Heaven immediately.
"[27] NPR subsequently apologized for Codrescu's comment, saying, "Those remarks offended listeners and crossed a line of taste and tolerance that we should have defended with greater vigilance."
Williams' remarks were made on the Fox News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor where he concurred with statements suggesting that the United States was facing a "Muslim dilemma".
The board of directors also adopted recommendations and remedial measures designed to address issues that surfaced with the review, including new internal procedures concerning personnel and on-air talent decisions, and disciplinary action with respect to certain management employees involved in the termination.
"[43][44] Subsequent analysis of the raw videos showed that the clips were heavily edited to present only one point of view, and that much of the context of the conversation was changed.
[55] Ronald Schiller made his resignation from NPR effective immediately on the evening of the video's release and the next day decided also to cede his new position at the Aspen Institute.
A statement released in March 2011 by NPR's board of directors said the resignation by Vivian Schiller, who also faced criticism for the dismissal of commentator Juan Williams, was accepted.
However, NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik told Morning Edition host Renee Montagne that his sources were telling him that the CEO was forced out.
[59] Dave Edwards, chairman of NPR's board, said directors came to the conclusion that the controversies under Schiller's watch had become such a distraction that she could no longer effectively lead the organization.
[60] In October 2017, two journalists accused Michael Oreskes of sexual harassment while working as the Washington, DC bureau chief for The New York Times during the 1990s.
Rebecca Hersher, an NPR journalist, went on the record about attending a career counseling session in October 2015, in which she says Oreskes discussed having sex with his girlfriend.
Staffers told CNN's Brian Stelter that Oreskes created an oppressive atmosphere by abusing his position to meet young women.
[65] In 2019, an NPR producer based in Delhi, Furkan Khan, was forced to resign from her job following a backlash over a tweet in which she described Hindus as "piss drinking and dung worshipping" and stated that they should "give up Hinduism".
[69][70] During the middle of the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, on January 24, 2020, Mary Louise Kelly, a host of NPR's All Things Considered, interviewed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
"[79] In April 2023, Twitter made the decision to label NPR, as well as the PBS, BBC, and Voice of America as government-funded media outlets, following backlash from critics who accused the platform of bias.
The company stated that the labels were not meant to undermine the credibility of these media organizations but rather to offer users a better understanding of the potential affiliations and biases of the information they consume.
The policy change reflected Twitter's ongoing efforts to improve transparency and maintain a neutral stance regarding state-affiliated media.