National Public Radio mistakenly sent an all staff email telling a host he could not attend an LGBTQ pride event as the network buckles under the Trump administration’s anti-DEI policies.
NPR’s managing editor for standards and practices Tony Cavin told ‘All Things Considered’ host Ari Shapiro he was not allowed to attended the event Wednesday, in an email exchange obtained by Semafor.
‘The guidance in our ethics handbook is to “avoid appearances at private industry or corporate functions,”‘ Cavin told Shapiro in the email that accidentally got sent to the news desk and international editors.
‘Because this is a closed corporate event I think it would be best to politely decline.’
Shapiro quickly replied asking why his previous appearances at pride events had been approved.
‘Every year I’ve spoken at corporate pride events and you’ve personally signed off on them. It has never been an issue before,’ he said. ‘I’m curious what’s changed.’
After Semafor reported on Cavin’s emails with Shapiro, NPR reversed course and granted the host permission to attend the event.
‘This decision was made shortly after the original email thread,’ a spokesperson told outlet.
National Public Radio mistakenly sent an all staff email telling All Things Considered’ host Ari Shapiro (pictured) he could not attended at LGBTQ Pride event
NPR’s managing editor for standards and practices Tony Cavin (pictured) said it is against policy to attend private corporate events
After Semafor reported on Cavin’s emails with Shapiro, NPR reversed course and granted the host permission to attend the event
NPR have been criticized for its ‘obsession with DEI’ and has come under growing scrutiny from Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
The DOGE congressional subcommittee has called on NPR boss Katherine Maher to testify on Capitol Hill to defend the government funding they use to share ‘systematically biased content.’
NPR responded to the summons, stating the company ‘welcomes the opportunity’ to testify and prides themselves ‘to the highest standards of journalism.’
‘Our President and CEO Katherine Maher received a request to testify before the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency in March,’ the outlet said.
‘We welcome the opportunity to discuss the critical role of public media in delivering impartial, fact-based news and reporting to the American public.’
DOGE subcommittee chair Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said that the department plans to address its concerns about the station’s ‘blatantly ideological and partisan coverage’ at the hearing, scheduled for the week of March 24.
The letter sent to Maher cited NPR’s decision not to report on a laptop belonging to the former president’s son, which contained data critics claim implicates members of the Biden family in a corruption scandal.
The subcommittee then cited a statement made by NPR in October 2020 in regarding the laptop, stating: ‘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.’
NPR have been criticized for its ‘obsession with DEI’ and DOGE called on NPR boss Katherine Maher (pictured) to testify before congress
DOGE also mentioned a scathing essay penned by Uri Berliner, former senior business editor for NPR.
Berliner, who worked for the outlet from 1999 until April 2024, blasted NPR for its far-left political bias while referring to the outlet as ‘an assembly line.’
NPR Chief Diversity Officer Keith Woods announced his retirement in February. His decision came as Trump cracked down on DEI policies.
Trump has signed a series of executive orders over the past several weeks that have caused federal agencies to dial down DEI programs, laying off thousands in the process.
In an interview at Semafor’s summit in Washington last month, Maher acknowledged that the organization would not be hiring anyone to replace Woods.
