Media bias is aggravating. Taxpayer-funded media bias is unconscionable. National Public Radio has a long history of left-leaning bias towards its stories. Project Veritas sought to prove it. Posing as a representatives from the “Muslim Education Action Center,” two citizen journalists secured a meeting with NPR executives and presented an offer of a $5 million donation from the fictitious Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated group. The videos proved that the media bias is real. With cameras rolling, the high-level NPR executive called Republicans and the Tea Party as "white, middle-America gun-toting" and “seriously racist, racist people.” As a result of this video, the most senior of executives were forced to resign and Congress voted to eliminate any public funding of NPR. James O'Keefe explains in the video below.
Part 1
NPR Muslim Brotherhood Investigation Part I
Project Veritas sent two undercover journalists, posing a members of a Muslim Brotherhood front group, to meet with two high-ranking National Public Radio (“NPR”) executives. The journalists explained to the executives that they were interested in making a $5 million dollar donation. The executives – Ron Schiller, President of the NPR Foundation and Senior VP for Development of NPR and Betsy Liley, Senior Director of Institutional Giving for NPR – were quick to display their distaste towards Zionists, Christians, Tea Party members, and uneducated Americans. Schiller in particular was quite outspoken in his support for Muslims and Palestine and critical of Jews, Zionists, and Jewish organizations. Schiller went on to call the Republican party xenophobic, “white, middle-America, gun-toting,” going as far as to say “they’re seriously racist, racist people.”
Results
NPR Executives forced to resign
National Public Radio’s board “came to the conclusion that the controversies under Schiller’s watch had become such a distraction that she could no longer effectively lead the organization.” Senior Vice President for Fundraising Ron Schiller also resigned for his part in the videos. NPR
NPR Senior Director of Institutional Development Betsy Liley Placed on Administrative Leave
“In a statement released Thursday, NPR spokeswoman Dana Davis Rehm said Liley had been placed on administrative leave.” CNN
Part 2
NPR Muslim Brotherhood Investigation Part II
In Part I of Project Veritas’ sting of high-ranking NPR officials, our undercover journalists caught Ron Schiller, President of the NPR Foundation and Senior VP for Development of NPR and Betsy Liley, Senior Director of Institutional Giving for NPR on hidden camera saying horrendous things aboutZionists, Christians, Tea Party members. In Part II of Project Veritas’ NPR sting, our journalists followed up with a phone call Ms. Liley about how to keep their donation anonymous. When asked about government oversight and auditing of contributions made to NPR, Liley recommended the group make the donation anonymously to avoid any issues. In order to be as thorough as possible our journalist asked Liley if what she was saying was in fact that NPR would be able to shield them from a government audit to which Liley responded: “I think that is the case, especially if you were anonymous and I can inquire about that.” A follow up email was sent to the alleged Muslim group soon after the phone call that stated “Anonymous donation: NPR can list MEAC as an anonymous donor in our database, which would mean we would not disclose the organization’s name. We do not publish a list of gifts, so it would not be an issue there.”
Results
Juan Williams Calls for NPR to be Defunded
“Congressman Israel made the case better than any Republican critic that NPR is radio by and for liberal Democrats. He is openly asking liberal Democrats to give money to liberal Democrats in Congress so they can funnel federal dollars into news radio programs designed to counter and defeat conservative Republican voices.” – Juan Williams, The Hill
Eric Cantor Questions Public Funding of NPR
Then House Majority Leader Eric Cantor: “Why should we allow taxpayer dollars to be used to advocate one ideology?” The Hill
Part 3
NPR Muslim Brotherhood Investigation Part III
In Part I of Project Veritas’ sting of high-ranking NPR officials, our undercover journalists caught Ron Schiller, President of the NPR Foundation and Senior VP for Development of NPR and Betsy Liley, Senior Director of Institutional Giving for NPR on hidden camera saying horrendous things aboutZionists, Christians, Tea Party members. In Part II of Project Veritas’ NPR sting, our journalists followed up with a phone call Ms. Liley about how to keep their donation anonymous. When asked about government oversight and auditing of contributions made to NPR, Liley recommended the group make the donation anonymously to avoid any issues. In order to be as thorough as possible our journalist asked Liley if what she was saying was in fact that NPR would be able to shield them from a government audit to which Liley responded: “I think that is the case, especially if you were anonymous and I can inquire about that.” A follow up email was sent to the alleged Muslim group soon after the phone call that stated “Anonymous donation: NPR can list MEAC as an anonymous donor in our database, which would mean we would not disclose the organization’s name. We do not publish a list of gifts, so it would not be an issue there.”
Results
House of Representatives Votes to Cut Off NPR Funding
CNN: “The House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday that would bar federal funding for National Public Radio — a longtime target of conservatives irritated by what they consider the outlet’s liberal bias… …The move to strip funding comes after a conservative activist secretly taped a NPR fundraising executive criticizing Tea Party supporters and saying public radio would be better off without federal money.” CNN
Featured In
Major Media Coverage
3/8/11 "NPR executives caught on tape bashing conservatives and Tea Party, touting liberals"–In a video released by conservative filmmaker James O’Keefe, Schiller and Betsy Liley, NPR’s director of institutional giving, are seen meeting with two men who, unbeknownst to the NPR executives, are posing as members of a Muslim Brotherhood front group. Daily Caller
3/11/11 "In praise of muckrakers"–James O’Keefe sank one of the flagships of the liberal media. NY Post
3/8/11 "In Video: NPR Exec Slams Tea Party, Questions Need For Federal Funds"–Ron Schiller and NPR institutional giving director Betsy Liley are at lunch in Washington with two Project Veritas investigative reporters. NPR
3/9/11 "NPR CEO Vivian Schiller Resigns After Board Decides She Should Go"–Project Veritas NPR Investigation forces Vivian Schiller to resign. NPR
Additional Media Coverage
3/14/11 "The Inevitable Backlash Against James O’Keefe’s Heavily Edited NPR ‘Sting’ Begins" New York Magazine
3/10/11 "Another James O'Keefe NPR Video: Keeping Donations Secret"–James O'Keefe and Project Veritas have followed up on the video that got NPR's chief executive, Vivian Schiller, fired. The Atlantic
3/9/11 "NPR CEO resigns, money war rages"–In the video, produced by conservative sting master James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas, Ron Schiller is surreptitiously filmed calling the tea party movement “racist” and saying that “NPR would be better off in the long run without federal funding. Politico
3/8/11 "NPR executive calls tea party 'seriously racist,' most Americans 'uneducated'"–A hidden-camera sting orchestrated by James O'Keefe, who took down ACORN, targeted NPR executive Ron Schiller. The Christian Science Monitor
3/18/11 "Tracing the showbiz roots of James O'Keefe's NPR sting" Los Angeles Times
3/13/11 "In praise of muckrakers"–James O’Keefe sank one of the flagships of the liberal media. New York Post
3/24/11 "Liberal Bias at NPR?"–Steve Inskeep of NPR writes an article about the Project Veritas NPR Investigation. The Wall Street Journal
3/18/11 "Embattled Public Radio"–James O’Keefe released a tape he’d made of a conversation with an NPR fundraiser named Ron Schiller. NY Times Book Review
3/8/11 "In Video: NPR Exec Slams Tea Party, Questions Need For Federal Funds"–Ron Schiller and NPR institutional giving director Betsy Liley are at lunch in Washington with two Project Veritas investigative reporters. NPR
3/10/11 "Second Secretly Recorded Tape Emerges In NPR Sting"–In "Part II" of his secretly recorded conversations with NPR fundraisers, conservative political activist James O'Keefe's accomplice presses for assurance that a $5 million gift to NPR from the fake group could be kept anonymous. NPR
3/9/11 "NPR CEO Vivian Schiller Resigns After Board Decides She Should Go"–Project Veritas NPR Investigation forces Vivian Schiller to resign. NPR
3/9/11 "James O'Keefe Ensnares Liberal Groups Using Actors and Hidden Cameras"–For his newest undercover expose, James O'Keefe, the conservative activist, created a website for a fictitious Muslim group requesting a meeting with NPR. ABC News
3/9/11 "N.J. activist James O'Keefe's video shows NPR executive slamming tea party movement" NJ.com
3/8/11 "NPR executives caught on tape bashing conservatives and Tea Party, touting liberals"–In a video released by conservative filmmaker James O’Keefe, Schiller and Betsy Liley, NPR’s director of institutional giving, are seen meeting with two men who, unbeknownst to the NPR executives, are posing as members of a Muslim Brotherhood front group. Daily Caller
3/8/11 "NPR Sting - James O'Keefe - Project Veritas"–A database collection containing information of James O'Keefe's NPR Investigation. Undercover Reporting
3/8/11 "James O'Keefe records former NPR executive on secret video" The Washington Post
3/8/11 "What James O'Keefe's Latest Video Means for NPR Funding" The Atlantic
3/9/11 "NPR CEO resigns amid hidden-camera scandal"–Conservative activist James O'Keefe posted a video showing NPR executive Ron Schiller bashing the tea party movement. CBS News
3/8/11 "NPR EXEC PUNKED BY JAMES O'KEEFE: Caught On Tape Calling Tea Party 'Xenophobic' And 'Racist'" Business Insider
3/13/11 "Activist releases another recording with an NPR fundraising executive"–In the recording, released by James O'Keefe's Project Veritas, the NPR executive speaks with a man posing as a member of a Muslim group about a possible anonymous $5 million donation to the public radio organization. CNN
3/9/11 "Schiller Forced Out as NPR President Following Hidden-Camera Sting"–NPR CEO Vivian Schiller resigned Wednesday at the request of the board after Project Veritas released a hidden-camera video was released showing a fellow executive criticizing Republicans as "anti-intellectual" and calling the Tea Party "racist." Fox News
3/9/11 "Vivian Schiller, NPR CEO, resigns in aftermath of James O'Keefe hidden-camera video" NY Daily News
3/9/11 "NPR Chief Vivian Schiller Resigns; NPR Board Confirms She Was Forced Out"–The hidden-camera video, released by Project Veritas, showed NPR exec Ron Schiller, no relation to Vivian, calling the Tea Party "racist" and "xenophobic" and insisting that NPR would be "better off in the long-run" without the federal dollars that congressional Republicans have been seeking to rescind. MRC NewsBusters
3/8/11 "NPR exec caught on tape calling Tea Partiers 'racist'"–Ron Schiller, NPR Foundation's senior vice president for fundraising, was recorded secretly by Republican filmmaker James O'Keefe, who is well known for his undercover stunts targeting various agencies. NBC News
3/8/11 "NPR Executive Caught on Tape Being an Ignorant, Arrogant Liberal"–Another undercover tape made by the same James O'Keefe who made the ACORN tapes, and this one features what appears to be a top NPR executive, Ron Schiller. The Rush Limbaugh Show
3/10/11 "NPR: The PR Doesnt Stand for Public Relations"–Thanks to some video from guerilla filmmaker James O'Keefe and friends, NPR was cast in its own version of "Worst Week Ever". MRC
3/9/11 "Resignation Comes at Sensitive Time for NPR"–James O’Keefe, a conservative provocateur, released a secretly taped video of Ronald Schiller, an NPR fund-raiser, who thought he was in conversation with potential donors from a Muslim organization. The New York Times
3/15/11 "NPR Boardmembers and Fundraisers Give Overwhelmingly to Democrats"–The public broadcaster's opponents gained further ammunition last week when conservative activist James O'Keefe released a hidden-camera video of NPR Foundation President Ron Schiller apparently saying that NPR might be better off without federal funding and seeming to make disparaging remarks about the Tea Party movement. U.S News
3/10/11 "Video Kills the Radio Czar"–CEO Is Second NPR Executive to Resign Following James O'Keefe Sting Operation The Wall Street Journal
3/9/11 "NPR exec calls tea party members racist, xenophobic in secretly recorded video"–In the video, released by conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe, NPR executive Ron Schiller disparages conservatives in general and tea party members in particular, saying that some of its followers are part of an "anti-intellectual" movement. The Washington Post
8/19/13 "NPR Boss Gary Knell Moving to National Geographic Society"–Schiller’s ouster came following the release of a video taken by the right-wing activist James O’Keefe featuring NPR fundraiser Ron Schiller criticizing conservatives and questioning public broadcasting’s need for federal funding. Washingtonian
3/10/11 "NPR president's resignation fuels foes of public broadcasting funding"–The video released of a surreptitious sting by activist James O'Keefe, in which former NPR executive Ron Schiller met with two men masquerading as Muslim political operatives, seemingly confirmed some conservatives' worst fears about what they view as NPR's journalistic bias. Chicago Tribune
3/9/11 "NPR’s Hypocrisy Is Exposed"–In an 11-minute video surreptitiously recorded by conservative activist James O’Keefe, Ron Schiller, the head of NPR’s fundraising arm, courts the fictitious group by disparaging Christians, Jews, Republicans, and the tea party. NewsMax
3/11/11 "Scandals at NPR have small public radio stations on edge"–Amid a string of negative news reports, two high-level firings and a move in Congress to end its federal funding, National Public Radio was an organization in turmoil this week. The Baltimore Sun
4/3/11 "NPR on a Bad Day"–James O'Keefe's recent sting operation, videotaping a meeting between the NPR fundraising executive Ron Schiller with men he believed to be members of the Muslim Brotherhood, such admissions of a liberal anti-Israel bias were never made public. American Thinker
3/9/11 "White House: NPR, Public Broadcasting ‘Important Priorities’ for Federal Funding"–NPR CEO and president Vivian Schiller resigned Wednesday, one day after a video was posted by conservative activist James O’Keefe showing NPR Foundation senior vice-president Ron Schiller saying NPR does not need federal funding and calling Republicans and Tea Party members “xenophobic” and “racist.” CNS News
3/8/11 "James O’Keefe Strikes Again! Activist Auteur Targets NPR" Vanity Fair
3/17/11 "Secret Recording Explores Relationship Between Billionaire Soros and NPR"–In a secretly recorded telephone conversation released today by Mr. O’Keefe’s Project Veritas, Betsy Liley, a top NPR fund raiser, is heard saying that the Open Society Institute opted against on-air credit for its $1.8-million donation to NPR last year to avoid negative publicity associated with the firing of Juan Williams, an NPR senior news analyst. Philanthropy
3/18/11 "National Soros Radio"–In the third tape that video provocateur James O'Keefe made of conversations with top NPR executives, its director of institutional giving revealed that left-wing billionaire George Soros had made significant donations to the organization before his controversial $1.8 million gift last year, which went to support NPR reporting in state capitals. The Wall Street Journal
3/17/11 "New O’Keefe tape shows George Soros has donated to NPR before last year" Daily Caller
3/20/11 "NPR'S TOOTHLESS DEFENSE STRATEGY"–In the video sting, conservative activist James O’Keefe recorded NPR’s top fundraiser, Ron Schiller, saying that the Tea Party as “Islamophobic” and “seriously racist” at a Georgetown luncheon with two men posing as wealthy Muslim donors. Newsweek