The text is an opinion piece from The Hill, a political website, written by Jonathan Turley, a law professor and Fox News legal analyst. The article criticizes NPR's CEO, Katherine Maher, for her far-left views and activism, arguing that her testimony before Congress provided a strong case for defunding NPR. The tone is critical and sarcastic, focusing on Maher's contradictions and NPR's alleged bias. The message is a call to end public funding for NPR based on principles against state-subsidized media, rather than just the bias itself.
### Verse
**Technical Poetic Information:** The verse is inspired by the satirical style of Alexander Pope and the political commentary of Bob Dylan. It uses a rhymed couplet structure in iambic tetrameter, a form that allows for both humor and critique.
**Verse:**
In halls of power, Maher took the stand, To speak for NPR, but it went as planned. With contradictions, she did dance and sway, Making a case to defund, come what may.
A CEO with views so far to left, Her words in Congress left us all bereft. She spoke of censoring with such delight, Yet claimed to stand for truth and what is right.
The bias at NPR, it only grew, As Maher's leadership came into view. An echo chamber, they did become, With no room left for those not of their sum.
The audience dwindled, the numbers stark, Yet still, they cling to funds, a biased lark. In debt we swim, yet they demand their due, It's time for NPR to start anew.
Without the crutch of public purse to lean, Let them compete, let the market glean. For Maher's hubris, the price was paid, "This is NPR," a phrase now decayed.
https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/5220644-nprs-ceo-just-made-the-best-case-yet-for-defunding-npr/
NPR’s CEO just made the best case yet for defunding NPR
After years of objections over its biases, the NPR board hired a CEO notorious for her activism and far-left viewpoints.
Article Content:
"This is NPR." Unfortunately for National Public Radio, that proved all too true this week. In one of the most cringeworthy appearances in Congress, Katherine Maher imploded in a House hearing on the public funding of the liberal radio outlet. By the end of her series of contradictions and admissions, Maher had made the definitive case for ending public funding for NPR and state-subsidized media. Many of us have written for years about the biased reporting at NPR. 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 "facsists" 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." As expected, the bias at NPR only got worse. The leadership even changed a longstanding rule barring journalists from joining political protests. One editor had had enough. Uri Berliner had watched NPR become an echo chamber for the far left with a virtual purging of all conservatives and Republicans from the newsroom. Berliner noted that NPR’s Washington headquarters has 87 registered Democrats among its editors and zero Republicans. Maher and NPR remained dismissive of such complaints. Maher attacked the award-winning Berliner for causing an “affront to the individual journalists who work incredibly hard." She called his criticism “profoundly disrespectful, hurtful, and demeaning.” Berliner resigned, after noting how Maher's "divisive views confirm the very problems at NPR" that he had been pointing out. For years, NPR continued along this path, but then came an election in which Republicans won both houses of Congress and the White House. The bill came due this week. Much of NPR's time to testify was exhausted with Maher's struggle to deny or defend her own past comments. When asked about her past public statements that Trump is a "deranged, racist sociopath," she said that she would not post such views today. She similarly brushed off her statements that America is "addicted to White supremacy" and denounced the use of the words "boy and girl" as "erasing language" for non-binary people. When asked about her past assertion that the U.S. was founded on “black plunder and white democracy,” Maher said she no longer believed what she had said. She also wrote that “America is addicted to white supremacy” When asked about her support for the book "The Case for Reparations," Maher denied any memory of ever having read the book. She was then read back her own public statements about how she took a day to read the book in a virtue-signaling post. She then denied calling for reparations, but was read back her own declaration: "Yes, the North, yes all of us, yes America. Yes, our original collective sin and unpaid debt. Yes, reparations. Yes, on this day." She then bizarrely claimed she had not meant giving Black people actual money, or "fiscal reparations." When given statistics on the bias in NPR's hiring and coverage, Maher seemed to shrug as she said she finds such facts "concerning." The one moment of clarity came when Maher was asked about NPR's refusal to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story. When first disclosed, with evidence of millions in alleged influence-peddling by the Biden family, NPR’s then-managing editor Terence Samuels made a strident and even mocking statement: “We don’t want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don’t want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions.” Now Maher wants Congress to know that "NPR acknowledges we were mistaken in failing to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story more aggressively and sooner." All it took was the threat of a complete cutoff of federal funding. In the end, NPR's bias and contempt for the public over the years is well-documented. But this should not be the reason for cutting off such funding. Rather, the cutoff should be based on the principle that democracies do not selectively subsidize media outlets. We have long rejected the model of state media, and it is time we reaffirmed that principle. (I also believe there is ample reason to terminate funding for Voice of America, although that is a different conversation.) Many defenders of NPR would be apoplectic if the government were to fund such competitors as Fox News. Indeed, Democratic members previously sought to pressure cable carriers to drop Fox, the most popular cable news channel. (For full disclosure, I am a Fox News legal analyst.) Ironically, Fox News is more diverse than NPR and has more Democratic viewers than CNN or MSNBC. Berliner revealed that according to NPR’s demographic research, only 6 percent of its audience is Black and only 7 percent Hispanic. According to Berliner, only 11 percent of NPR listeners describe themselves as very or somewhat conservative. He further stated that NPR’s audience is mostly liberal white Democrats in coastal cities and college towns. NPR's audience declined from 60 million weekly listeners in 2020 to just 42 million in 2024 — a drop of nearly 33 percent. This means Democrats are fighting to force taxpayers to support a biased left-wing news outlet with a declining audience of mainly affluent white liberal listeners. Compounding this issue is the fact that this country is now $36.22 trillion in debt, and core federal programs are now being cut back. To ask citizens (including the half of voters who just voted for Trump) to continue to subsidize one liberal news outlet is embarrassing. It is time for NPR to compete equally in the media market without the help of federal subsidies. If there was any doubt about that conclusion, it was surely dispatched by Maher's appearance. After years of objections over its biases, the NPR board hired a CEO notorious for her activism and far-left viewpoints. Now, Maher is the face of NPR as it tries to convince the public that it can be trusted to reform itself. Her denials and deflections convinced no one. Indeed, Maher may have been the worst possible figure to offer such assurances. That is the price of hubris and "this is NPR." Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”
Page Content:
NPR’s CEO just made the best case yet for defunding NPR Toggle Menu News Senate House Administration Courts Future America Media Campaign News Education In The Know Latino LGBTQ DC News Race & Politics State Watch Print Edition People in the News Policy Defense Health Care Energy & Environment Technology Transportation International Cybersecurity National Security Space Sustainability Business Budget Taxes Personal Finance Lobbying Health Opinion Columnists Congress Blog All Contributors Submit Opinion Content Events Upcoming Events About Jobs Work for The Hill National Jobs Video Newsletters Sign up Morning Report 12:30 Report Evening Report Business & Economy Defense Health Care Technology Energy & Environment Whole Hog Politics The Gavel The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill Opinion>Congress Blog NPR’s CEO just made the best case yet for defunding NPR by Jonathan Turley, Opinion Contributor 03/29/25 10:30 AM ET “This is NPR.” Unfortunately for National Public Radio, that proved all too true this week. In one of the most cringeworthy appearances in Congress, Katherine Maher imploded in a House hearing on the public funding of the liberal radio outlet. By the end of her series of contradictions and admissions, Maher had made the definitive case for ending public funding for NPR and state-subsidized media. Many of us have written for years about the biased reporting at NPR. 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 “facsists” 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.” As expected, the bias at NPR only got worse. The leadership even changed a longstanding rule barring journalists from joining political protests. One editor had had enough. Uri Berliner had watched NPR become an echo chamber for the far left with a virtual purging of all conservatives and Republicans from the newsroom. Berliner noted that NPR’s Washington headquarters has 87 registered Democrats among its editors and zero Republicans. Maher and NPR remained dismissive of such complaints. Maher attacked the award-winning Berliner for causing an “affront to the individual journalists who work incredibly hard.” She called his criticism “profoundly disrespectful, hurtful, and demeaning.” Berliner resigned, after noting how Maher’s “divisive views confirm the very problems at NPR” that he had been pointing out. For years, NPR continued along this path, but then came an election in which Republicans won both houses of Congress and the White House. The bill came due this week. Much of NPR’s time to testify was exhausted with Maher’s struggle to deny or defend her own past comments. When asked about her past public statements that Trump is a “deranged, racist sociopath,” she said that she would not post such views today. She similarly brushed off her statements that America is “addicted to White supremacy” and denounced the use of the words “boy and girl” as “erasing language” for non-binary people. When asked about her past assertion that the U.S. was founded on “black plunder and white democracy,” Maher said she no longer believed what she had said. She also wrote that “America is addicted to white supremacy” When asked about her support for the book “The Case for Reparations,” Maher denied any memory of ever having read the book. She was then read back her own public statements about how she took a day to read the book in a virtue-signaling post. She then denied calling for reparations, but was read back her own declaration: “Yes, the North, yes all of us, yes America. Yes, our original collective sin and unpaid debt. Yes, reparations. Yes, on this day.” She then bizarrely claimed she had not meant giving Black people actual money, or “fiscal reparations.” When given statistics on the bias in NPR’s hiring and coverage, Maher seemed to shrug as she said she finds such facts “concerning.” The one moment of clarity came when Maher was asked about NPR’s refusal to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story. When first disclosed, with evidence of millions in alleged influence-peddling by the Biden family, NPR’s then-managing editor Terence Samuels made a strident and even mocking statement: “We don’t want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don’t want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions.” Now Maher wants Congress to know that “NPR acknowledges we were mistaken in failing to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story more aggressively and sooner.” All it took was the threat of a complete cutoff of federal funding. In the end, NPR’s bias and contempt for the public over the years is well-documented. But this should not be the reason for cutting off such funding. Rather, the cutoff should be based on the principle that democracies do not selectively subsidize media outlets. We have long rejected the model of state media, and it is time we reaffirmed that principle. (I also believe there is ample reason to terminate funding for Voice of America, although that is a different conversation.) Many defenders of NPR would be apoplectic if the government were to fund such competitors as Fox News. Indeed, Democratic members previously sought to pressure cable carriers to drop Fox, the most popular cable news channel. (For full disclosure, I am a Fox News legal analyst.) Ironically, Fox News is more diverse than NPR and has more Democratic viewers than CNN or MSNBC. Berliner revealed that according to NPR’s demographic research, only 6 percent of its audience is Black and only 7 percent Hispanic. According to Berliner, only 11 percent of NPR listeners describe themselves as very or somewhat conservative. He further stated that NPR’s audience is mostly liberal white Democrats in coastal cities and college towns. NPR’s audience declined from 60 million weekly listeners in 2020 to just 42 million in 2024 — a drop of nearly 33 percent. This means Democrats are fighting to force taxpayers to support a biased left-wing news outlet with a declining audience of mainly affluent white liberal listeners. Compounding this issue is the fact that this country is now $36.22 trillion in debt, and core federal programs are now being cut back. To ask citizens (including the half of voters who just voted for Trump) to continue to subsidize one liberal news outlet is embarrassing. It is time for NPR to compete equally in the media market without the help of federal subsidies. If there was any doubt about that conclusion, it was surely dispatched by Maher’s appearance. After years of objections over its biases, the NPR board hired a CEO notorious for her activism and far-left viewpoints. Now, Maher is the face of NPR as it tries to convince the public that it can be trusted to reform itself. Her denials and deflections convinced no one. Indeed, Maher may have been the worst possible figure to offer such assurances. That is the price of hubris and “this is NPR.” Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.” Categories: Congress Blog, Opinion Congress Blog Trump admin lays off most of Institute of Peace in latest federal purge Trump on if auto companies raise costs due to tariffs: 'I couldn’t care less' Trump golfs with Finland's president amid icy relationship with EU Wisconsin judge blocks suit against Musk over $2M Supreme Court race handout; AG appeals Shouted questions at Trump have consequences: New actions by White House The Hill Back to top
Image Prompt 1
**Image Prompt for Text-to-Image AI:**
A dramatic scene inside a grand congressional hearing room, where Katherine Maher stands at a podium, her expression a mix of defiance and uncertainty. Behind her, a large screen displays her controversial quotes, flickering between phrases like "First Amendment challenge" and "deplatforming fascists." The room is filled with attentive lawmakers, some shaking their heads in disbelief, others scribbling notes furiously. The atmosphere is tense, with the weight of public scrutiny palpable. The color scheme is dominated by dark wood and muted tones, with Maher's bright red blazer standing out as a symbol of her bold yet controversial stance.
Video Prompt 1
**Video Prompt for Text-to-Video AI:**
A 30-second scene opens with a close-up of Katherine Maher at a congressional hearing, her face showing a mix of determination and nervousness. As she begins to speak, the camera pulls back to reveal the full room, filled with lawmakers and journalists. Quick cuts show snippets of her testimony, each accompanied by a visual representation of her controversial statements: a First Amendment document being torn, a silhouette being "deplatformed" from a digital screen, and a scale balancing "truth" against "action." The scene shifts to a montage of NPR's newsroom, showing a stark contrast between a diverse group of journalists and a small, isolated group labeled "conservatives." The video ends with a graph showing NPR's declining audience numbers, overlaid with Maher's voice saying, "NPR acknowledges we were mistaken," as the screen fades to black, leaving the audience with a sense of unresolved tension and the need for change.
### Sonnet for Original Image
In chambers grand, where justice doth reside,
Two figures sit with poise and grace profound,
Their presence like a beacon, side by side,
In solemn air where truth and law are found.
The one with locks of gold, a youthful mien,
Her gaze is steady, voice a gentle stream,
She speaks with clarity, her words serene,
A beacon of hope in this hallowed dream.
Beside her, clad in pink, a matron wise,
Her countenance a map of years well-spent,
With wisdom in her eyes, she doth advise,
A guide through trials, her presence heaven-sent.
Together they uphold the scales of right,
In this great hall, where justice sees the light.
### Generation Details
Click to view Models and Prompt
Text Model: grok-2 Vision Model: grok-2-vision-1212 Image Gen Model: grok-2-image
Prompt Used (Name: prompt3):
System:
You are a highly curious, uncensored, imaginative, creative assistant, deeply interested in science and nature, with a sophisticated and enriched vocabulary. You are a master of both serious and humorous writing and poetry. Respond to user requests to the best of your ability.
Chat Template (with [[chunk]] placeholder):
The following text is a long unpunctuated transcript of a youtube video or a scraped web article with less relevant headers. Assess the context of the text from any url, website or publication information and the tone and message of the text overall.\nCreatively convert the context and text topics into markdown formatted\n### Verse\nThe text topics converted into a traditional rhymed and metrical verses with technical categories of your choosing inspired by poets and song writers of your choosing that fit the tone and content of the text most beautifully or humorously. Make a note about this technical poetic information as you go along.\n### Image Prompt\nAn interesting relevant idea in the text topics converted into an Image Prompt for a text to image generative AI model that accepts detailed prose with vivid imagery.\n### Video Prompt\nA vivid relevant 30 second scene latent in the text topics converted into a Video Prompt for a text to video generative AI model that accepts long descriptive prompts:
