NPR Blows Off House Republicans
NPR Blows Off House Republicans
An NPR spokesperson said their new CEO had a pre-scheduled board meeting.
National Public Radio CEO Katherine Maher suggested future dates in response to a request to testify Wednesday before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. An NPR spokesperson tells Capitol Press that Maher is willing to testify “in the near future”.
This is Maher’s sixth week on the job at NPR. Last Tuesday, committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers sent the brand new CEO a letter after a disgruntled former employee accused the public radio giant of being too woke. McMorris Rodgers and subcommittee chairs Bob Latta and Morgan Griffith signed the letter.
The committee letter cherrypicks NPR stories they didn’t like from years before Maher’s tenure, about COVID origins and Democratic investigations of Donald Trump’s presidency. The letter also raises concerns over a rambling 2022 TED Talk where Maher spoke about the struggle to define “truth” in the context of her time as CEO of Wikipedia (more on this below paywall in Pablo’s View).
Full statement from NPR spox Isabel Lara
NPR welcomes opportunities to discuss the critical role of public media in delivering fact-based, non-partisan news and reporting to the American public, including with Members of Congress. On April 30 our newly appointed President and CEO Katherine Maher received a request to testify before the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week, on May 8.
NPR respects the Committee and its request and has offered to testify on a date in the near future that works for the Committee and Maher. NPR has a previously scheduled and publicly posted all-day meeting of its Board of Directors on that date, Maher’s first such meeting since she joined NPR just six weeks ago. These meetings are scheduled more than a year in advance.
This meeting will be Maher’s first opportunity to review and consult with the Board on the challenges and opportunities facing the organization, including a strategy to lead NPR forward in fulfilling its public service mission to serve all of America. Maher is therefore unable to attend this week’s hearing and has communicated that to the committee and proposed alternate dates. Maher will provide written testimony in her absence.
Pablo’s View
Absent Maher, Wednesday’s hearing promises to be a dunk contest on NPR by the quartet of the rightwing witnesses committee Republicans booked in the CEO’s stead. Congressional Republicans are looking to pummel Maher who has never testified before any committee.
I love NPR, but Maher’s TED Talk is hard to follow. I watched it thrice before giving up entirely. If anyone can make sense of what she’s saying here about truth, let us know tips@capitol.press.
To be clear, the TED Talk is probably nothing burger. There’s a huge difference between reporting the facts at NPR and building a universal encyclopedia from free labor for the Wikimedia Foundation. Explaining to House Republicans that she wasn’t CEO during any of the stories they’re asking about, too, is a straightforward talking point to master.
So it’s unclear why Maher isn’t testifying. There’s the board meeting that was scheduled in advance, sure, but House Republicans smell blood. Why give them more time to study other hippie-dippy speeches Maher may have given in the past, and scrutinize reporting that actually has occurred during her brief tenure?
Anyway, I love NPR, less for its radio news programming and more for its digital reporting and music curation. My favorite Tiny Desk Concert is C. Tagana (What’s yours? tips@capitol.press) —