Controversial NPR CEO Chairs Free Speech Signal Foundation Board

In a revelation rich with irony, embattled NPR CEO Katherine Maher is under yet more criticism for her position at the head of the Signal Foundation. This organization claims to be a defender of free speech, and she is the chair.

 

In the wake of a firestorm of controversy surrounding NPR and its egregious left-wing bias, a TED Talk given by Maher in 2021 went viral. In it she claimed that the truth is subjective and can be a stumbling block to accomplishing goals.

 

This came during her tenure as CEO of Wikipedia, which ran from 2016 to 2021. 

 

 

Now she chairs the Signal Foundation, which boasts an app that enjoys over 40 million users. Its popularity is due largely to its perception as a secure platform independent of Big Tech players who are prone to censorship.

 

It also boasts end-to-end encryption, making it a vanguard for free speech. Or so it seemed.

 

 

As the new head of the notoriously untruthful NPR, Maher ignited a whirlwind of controversy when she suspended veteran editor Uri Berliner.

 

His unforgivable sin was blowing the lid off the pervasive bias and agenda-driven reporting of his colleagues. Berliner wrote an essay for the Free Press describing the far-left ideology that drives the NPR newsroom and is embraced by virtually the entire staff. 

 

For this, Maher suspended Berliner for five days without pay. After many of his colleagues expressed their contempt for his honesty, he decided to resign.

 

And Maher has a troubling history of standing strong against First Amendment protections of freedom of expression. 

 

During her 2021 speech, she indicated that controversial issues should not be encumbered by objective truth. 

 

Referencing the Wikipedia model, Maher told the audience that in everyday lives, “these contentious conversations tend to erupt over a disagreement about what the truth actually is. But the people who write these articles, they’re not focused on the truth.”

 

Really?

 

From Wikipedia to the Signal Foundation to NPR, the truth should be the overarching guiding principle that lights the way for each. Instead, in Maher’s world, it is an impediment, an inconvenience that must be worked around to achieve goals of far-left ideologues.

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