The new NPR CEO is the living embodiment of the Democrat party
Last week, a moderate(ish) Democrat broke ranks with NPR, writing an exposé to protest that NPR was more ideologically extreme than even he could tolerate. Uri Berliner described an outlet that receives significant funding from federal and state taxpayers but is completely dominated by hardcore, progressive Democrats. He ascribed many of the problems to former CEO John Lansing, who was all-in on DEI and other woke policies, and expressed hope that the new CEO, Katherine Maher, a tech leader, would bring positive change. That’s unlikely. Maher, 40, has embraced every extreme idea the Democrats have promulgated in the last 20 years.
Following Berliner’s exposé, Maher's deputy, Edith Chapin, wrote an internal memo claiming that it was “profoundly disrespectful” to dare challenge NPR’s integrity. It’s a very, very long letter that falls into a Shakespearean error: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” In fact, both Maher and Chapin know that everything Berliner wrote is true because Berliner backed it up with receipts: that is, NPR’s own reporting, which speaks for itself. Indeed, all that his essay did was repackage the obvious.
So, who is Katherine Maher, the new doyenne of a taxpayer-funded media outlet that increasingly exists to serve the Democrat party? Well, her work history speaks volumes about someone who has worked only within the leftist bubble:
The new NPR CEO's work history is almost a perfect list of the institutions that have been most corrupted... pic.twitter.com/qqXBExaFkZ
— Shaun Maguire (@shaunmmaguire) April 15, 2024
Still, Maher’s career did ostensibly revolve around internet access and free speech. I mean, so what if Wikipedia became a hard-left, censorious outlet during her tenure. Her intentions were good. Or were they?
I ask because Maher’s Twitter page (“She/her”) reveals a hardcore progressive Democrat who buys into every leftist policy.
Most obviously, Maher doesn’t like Trump and has never been shy about that fact:
The Trump administration continues to be on the wrong side of history. @Wikimedia rejects any ban based on national origin, and will continue our work to unite our shared humanity. https://t.co/97l1gs5h1G
— Katherine Maher (@krmaher) July 3, 2018
Maher was pleased that Wikipedia relentlessly edited the Trump page to keep it current with Democrat perceptions in the lead-up to the 2020 election:
I’m impressed. @aarontmak’s piece does a great job illustrating the tensions, debates, and intentions of the editors who work to keep Donald Trump’s @Wikipedia page accurate, neutral, and up-to-date. https://t.co/qtDFpOyDJh
— Katherine Maher (@krmaher) May 30, 2019
Huh. Wikipedia editors have added a “disputed neutrality” warning to the lede of the article about Donald Trump’s, as they attempt to calibrate how much of the week’s news should define his biography.
— Katherine Maher (@krmaher) October 4, 2019
Maher, a self-identified “unalloyed progressive,” supported Hillary, but sometimes even Hillary wasn’t leftist enough for her:
I'm an unalloyed progressive and supporting Hillary this time around. :)
— Katherine Maher (@krmaher) July 29, 2016
I do wish Hillary wouldn't use the language of "boy and girl" - it's erasing language for non-binary people.
— Katherine Maher (@krmaher) October 10, 2016
And speaking of those non-binary people, Maher was and is excited about the whole LGBTQ+ spectrum. Her support for a group that makes sex the sine qua non of its existence dates back at least as far as her time living near San Francisco’s Castro district:
I know it's Pride! (I do live on 17th). It was just the sheer number of sexy lube boxes. And the incongruousness of the DPW dudes.
— Katherine Maher (@krmaher) June 11, 2011
It's no surprise to learn that Maher applauds so-called transgenderism and worked to wipe out Wikipedia’s “cis white male” bias.
NeutraL POV in Wikipedia is a cis white male POV. Editing activism is discouraged, yet trans visibility is essential. #WikiConference
— Katherine Maher (@krmaher) October 8, 2016
Transgender narratives are shaped by cisgender people. There aren't reliable sources for trans experiences. @funcrunch #WikiConference
— Katherine Maher (@krmaher) October 8, 2016
Maher was offended when Trump dared to say that American embassies should fly only the American flag, not flags celebrating random people’s sexual propensities:
I get that some pride support can be performative, and there’s plenty of reason for skepticism when institutions fly the flag and don’t walk the walk.
— Katherine Maher (@krmaher) June 8, 2019
But the issue is not the absence of the absence of the flag, but it’s explicit denial. https://t.co/mayivONbdv
No wonder the password at a COVID testing facility thrilled her:
Getting a COVID test and love this little prompt of inclusion. pic.twitter.com/Pz1QJvPH9n
— Katherine Maher (@krmaher) June 12, 2020
Maher was also all in on Black Lives Matter. During the riots, Maher explained that law and order and private property were all racist, given that, more than 150 years ago, there were black slaves in America. Insurance, which passes its costs on to working- and middle-class people, exists to fund the riots, said the woman whose salary (around $790,000 annually) comes from those same people’s taxes:
I mean, sure, looting is counterproductive. But it’s hard to be mad about protests not prioritizing the private property of a system of oppression founded on treating people’s ancestors as private property.
— Katherine Maher (@krmaher) May 31, 2020
(Also to be clear, I am not conflating provocateurs with protestors. Instead, saying this should not be the thing anyone sheds tears over. Cheesecakes are insured; the right to be black and breathe is without measure.)
— Katherine Maher (@krmaher) May 31, 2020
It makes perfect sense that Maher checked her privilege in 2020:
Lots of jokes about leaving the US, and I get it. But as someone with cis white mobility privilege, I’m thinking I’m staying and investing in ridding ourselves of this spectre of tyranny.
— Katherine Maher (@krmaher) July 30, 2020
Also in 2020, Maher transferred her Hillary love to Biden, especially because of his open border plans and, as of November 2020, the implication that he’d go after Trump:
The best part of AZ GOTV is my Biden grandpa hat. pic.twitter.com/EvoJax9h2b
— Katherine Maher (@krmaher) November 2, 2020
Could it be any more on the nose? If Joe Biden doesn't put out a "tear down this wall" ad I truly don't know. https://t.co/Ql0CjVoeeX
— Katherine Maher (@krmaher) June 4, 2020
I can’t wait to start holding the new administration to account.
— Katherine Maher (@krmaher) November 7, 2020
Maher is almost a parody of a progressive Democrat woman, buying into every shibboleth from Trump hatred to Biden worship and from LGBTQ+ madness to Black Lives Matter extremism. A woman given to this type of passionately partisan ideology has no business chairing an institution that receives even a dollar of support from taxpayers (both state and federal). But of course, it’s not just Maher. The real question is who appointed her to her position. Those people need to be called to account.
This post has been updated to correct an error about the authorship of the memo castigating Berliner's conduct as disrespectful.
Image: X screen grab.