Tucker: Why NPR is in 'steep decline'
'Tucker Carlson Tonight' host examines why NPR is losing its listeners.
NPR has a new high-profile fan: Fox News Channel's own Tucker Carlson.
The "Tucker Carlson Tonight" host outlined why he's a fan of the government-funded outlet on Thursday: It's "hilarious." He was won over by one segment that he listened to following recent staff upheaval at NPR.
"Things seem to be in steep decline over at National Public Radio," Carlson said. "NPR's own media reporter just wrote a lengthy piece explaining that the White supremacy they're so concerned about is coming from inside the house!"
NPR's David Folkenflik penned an article over a series of high-profile, Black and Latina departures from the liberal outlet, most recently "All Things Considered" host Audie Cornish, who joined CNN. Tweets last week from former NPR host Lulu Garcia-Navarro and Ari Shapiro, who is still with NPR, suggested that talent was being mistreated based on race and gender, spurring media interest in whether NPR was cultivating a toxic environment.
Washington DC USA, May 5,2011. Facade of the National Public Radio (NPR) headquarters building.
"Interviews with 12 people with direct knowledge of recent developments, including NPR hosts and executives, suggest NPR indeed struggles to retain high-profile journalists of color. Hosts have complained to the network's leadership of pay disparities along racial and gender lines," Folkenflik reported, adding interviews painted a more complex picture. "Some say the network does not keep its promises and makes contract negotiations unnecessarily contentious."
"That sounds systemic, and weird, considering 99 percent of NPR's programming is about promoting equity," Carlson said after reading from the article.
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To investigate, Carlson's team listened to NPR and noted one instance of the outlet interviewing someone described as an "anti-diet registered dietitian," who said that "diet culture" was "really endemic to Western culture at this point in history." At another point, NPR spotlighted a fitness expert who found the word "fitness" triggering. NPR reported there was a "growing movement to make fitness culture a more inclusive one."
NPR also claimed diet culture is "rooted in racism and misogyny."
"Trying to figure out why is NPR collapsing, exactly? It's kind of baffling," Carlson said.
On the NPR segment about deconstructing so-called "diet culture," Dr. Louise Metz said patients could refuse to be weighed by their physicians.
Carlson laughed as he noted all the clips the show played were from the same episode last week.
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"Now we know why all these people are leaving NPR. It's not racism, they're just embarrassed," he said. "But not us. We're no longer going to criticize NPR. We're fans! We're going to keep listening. Nothing like this has ever appeared on the airwaves anywhere. It's hilarious. Treat yourself."
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