NPR CEO to Receive First Amendment Award Amid Scrutiny Over Past Remarks
Katherine Maher, who previously described the First Amendment as a 'challenge,' is set to be honored by Harper's Magazine.
National Public Radio (NPR) President and CEO Katherine Maher is scheduled to receive Harper's Magazine's James C. Goodale First Amendment Award on October 26. The award comes despite Maher's past statements, including one in 2021 where she referred to the First Amendment as a "challenge" in the context of combating disinformation on platforms like Wikipedia, which she led as CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation at the time.
Harper's Magazine, in announcing the award, stated that Maher has guided NPR through "a period of extraordinary political, legal, and financial scrutiny, reaffirming journalism’s essential role in a democratic society." The magazine also credited her with "successfully battling" former President Donald Trump's efforts to defund NPR, although federal funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was later rescinded.
During a 2021 TED Talk, Maher elaborated on her view, saying, "The number one challenge here that we see is, of course, the First Amendment in the United States. [It] is a fairly robust protection of rights... But it also means that it is a little bit tricky to really address some of the real challenges of where does bad information come from, and sort of the influence peddlers who have made a real market economy around it."
NPR itself has faced criticism regarding its editorial decisions. In 2020, the organization chose not to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story extensively before the presidential election, a decision Maher later acknowledged as a mistake during congressional testimony in 2025. She stated, "I do want to say that NPR acknowledges we were mistaken in failing to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story more aggressively and sooner."
Tim Graham, executive editor of the media watchdog NewsBusters, expressed skepticism about Maher receiving the award. He argued that Harper's Magazine reflects a "liberal impulse" that equates the First Amendment solely with criticism of Republicans, while NPR, he contended, did not hold the Biden administration accountable and avoided covering potential corruption within the Biden family. Graham also questioned the awarding of a First Amendment prize to someone who has discussed the amendment as a "challenge" to censoring "bad information."
NPR released a statement celebrating Maher's award, with Maher herself commenting, "Public media exists to serve the public interest, and I can think of no greater service to the public than the defense of the First Amendment... The compact of citizenship asks that we each step up to defend our constitutional rights if they are threatened. On behalf of NPR and the NPR Network, I am deeply honored to accept this award."