Uri Berliner, who resigned from NPR after exposing the news outlet for liberal bias, claims the network’s ideological shift toward ‘fringe progressivism’ led to its defunding. He argues that this shift eroded public trust, resulting in a $1 billion cut in federal funding. Berliner resigned last April after being suspended for not getting approval to work for other outlets following an essay he wrote in The Free Press, which criticized NPR’s coverage of topics like Russiagate and the lab leak theory. He believes that the network’s coverage has become too ideologically charged, alienating a broader audience and costing it the trust of taxpayers. The Senate and House passed the funding cut package, removing over $1 billion in taxpayer support. Berliner’s essay criticized the outlet’s coverage of the lab leak theory, the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, and its focus on political correctness, including avoiding the term ‘illegal immigrant’ and using more inclusive language in news stories. He argues that the network has shifted its audience base to the left, losing moderate and conservative listeners and becoming a niche product for a specific demographic. Berliner hopes that NPR will return to its founding principles and be treated like any other media organization, free to be as partisan as it chooses but no longer receiving taxpayer support.