Edith Chapin, the editor in chief and acting chief content officer of National Public Radio (NPR), has decided to exit the organization later this year.
NPR announced Chapin’s departure in a press release on Tuesday, praising her “distinguished tenure marked by transformative journalism, editorial integrity” and “public service.” The announcement comes just days after Congress — by passing President Donald Trump’s recessions package — cut $500 million in annual federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides funding to public media organizations such as NPR.
“Edith Chapin is a leader in journalistic integrity, a champion for the newsroom, calm in the storm — and an indispensable partner during my first year at NPR,” NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher wrote in the press release. “Edith laid the foundation for a stronger public radio, and set us on a solid path with her expert navigation. She has led with conviction, clarity, and compassion — always putting the public’s interest first. Her impact on NPR’s journalism and on the many people she mentored and supported over the years is immeasurable.”
Still, Chapin said that the decision to exit NPR was her own and not due to the action in Congress, her own outlet reported on Tuesday. Chapin said that she is planning to remain at NPR until this September or October, according to NPR.
Chapin had told Maher she intended to resign before lawmakers approved the federal funding cuts, two anonymous sources told the New York Times.
“I have had two big executive jobs for two years and I want to take a break. I want to make sure my performance is always top-notch for the company,” Chapin said, according to NPR.
Chapin joined NPR in 2012, and previously served as the vice president and executive editor of NPR News, according to her biography on the organization’s website. She oversaw a variety of special projects at NPR, such as “putting more focus and resources on the newsroom’s strategic coverage priorities, which include disinformation and other threats to democracy, climate change, social justice, the current presidential administration, the upcoming election and the pandemic,” her bio states.
In recent years, some Republicans have accused NPR of having biased media coverage. Trump has notably been a vocal critic of NPR’s news coverage, and signed an executive order on May 1 to end “taxpayer subsidization of biased media.”
The president wrote in the order that “at the very least, Americans have the right to expect that if their tax dollars fund public broadcasting at all, they fund only fair, accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news coverage.” Trump added that “no media outlet has a constitutional right to taxpayer subsidies, and the Government is entitled to determine which categories of activities to subsidize.”
When reached for comment, NPR referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to its press release.
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