We've written quite a bit about NPR CEO Katherine Maher before. She's an insanely woke leftist who told Rep. Jim Jordan, "I have never seen any political bias" at NPR. Not even lefty Bill Maher was buying that line. "Katherine Maher, head of NPR, said we're completely unbiased. Give me a break, lady! I mean, they’re crazy far-left," he said back in March 2025.
Maher came to NPR from Wikipedia in 2024. She caught a lot of people's attention during a TED Talk in which she said of NPR, "Our reverence for the truth might be a distraction that’s getting in the way of finding common ground and getting things done." Seriously, listen to this nutjob:
NPR’s CEO Katherine Maher on the truth: “Our reverence for the truth might be a distraction that’s getting in the way of finding common ground and getting things done.” Reposting this because the original poster deleted the video. https://t.co/h9kqJWV3p3
— Ian Miles Cheong (@ianmiles) April 17, 2024
Christopher Rufo found even more video of Maher, in which she said that "the number one challenge" in her fight against disinformation is "the First Amendment in the United States," which makes it "a little bit tricky" to censor "bad information" and "the influence peddlers" who spread it.
I don't know if we've ever covered Harper's magazine, but Jonathan Turley informs us, via Fox News, that Harper's is awarding its First Amendment prize to the woman who said the First Amendment was the number one challenge in fighting disinformation.
Harper Magazine appears to be competing with The Onion in satire this week. It is awarding its First Amendment prize to NPR CEO Katherine Maher. It is akin to awarding a Second Amendment prize to Gavin Newsom ... https://t.co/tgAZGr2YeB
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) October 13, 2026
The award is the latest example of how the media has become a ship of fools. Journalists now report for each other as the vast majority of Americans seek alternatives. They continue to replicate their own views and mistakes rather than abandon their bias. https://t.co/Rm9HZCq3jT
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) October 14, 2026
...Maher attacked the award-winning editor Uri Berliner after he pushed for greater balance at NPR. She called his views as an “affront" and “profoundly disrespectful, hurtful, and demeaning.” It is Berliner who should receive this award, not the person who hounded him out of NPR
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) October 14, 2026
Turley writes:
Many of us have written for years about NPR’s biased reporting. Not all of this criticism was made out of hostility toward the outlet — many honestly wanted NPR to reverse course and adopt more balanced coverage. That is why, when NPR was searching for a new CEO, I encouraged the board to hire a moderate figure without a history of political advocacy or controversy.
Instead, the board selected Katherine Maher, a former Wikipedia CEO widely criticized for her highly partisan and controversial public statements. She was the personification of advocacy journalism, even declaring that the First Amendment is the “number one challenge” that makes it “tricky” to censor or “modify” content as she would like.
Maher has supported “deplatforming” anyone she deems to be a “fascist” and even suggested that she might support “punching Nazis.” She also declared that “our reverence for the truth might be a distraction [in] getting things done.”
@JonathanTurley Looking into the mirror and telling themselves how brave and righteous they are is now the point of "journalism."
— SteveEP 🇺🇸 (@SteveEP_) October 14, 2026
@JonathanTurley Any worse at being a mutual admiration society, they would be Hollyweird.
— Commentary | KAOS in CONTROL Expressing my Opinion (@KAOS_in_CONTROL) October 14, 2026
@JonathanTurley This can't go on. We're in an absurd world.
— HEADLINES Etc. *Stop The Cultural Decline* (@HEADLINES_Etc) October 14, 2026
@JonathanTurley It’s upside down world on the left. Truly wild.
— tPimpbot5000 (@t_Pimpbot) October 15, 2026
@JonathanTurley The self-licking ice cream cone.
— Michael Saxon (@Michael_Saxon) October 14, 2026
@JonathanTurley There is an "awards economy" where elites honor each other with awards in order to fatten their resumes and maintain power. No one else would celebrate them, only this insular circle, this bubble. So they award each other, and round and round they go.
— jprokc (@jprokc) October 14, 2026
Elon Musk called it back in 2024 when he said "she's evil" and "one of the worst human beings in America." She is evil. She's the Nina Jankowicz we never managed to send packing.
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