Took whack at ‘free’ Wiki

Katherine Maher, the newly installed chief executive of National Public Radio, said she sought to crack down on the “free and open” ethos at her previous job running Wikipedia because it was based on a “white male Westernized construct” that led to “exclusion of communities and languages.”

Maher, whose “woke” social media posts came to light following the damning essay written by former NPR journalist Uri Berliner about rampant liberal bias at the outlet, made the comments in a video unearthed by Christopher F. Rufo, an author and researcher at the Manhattan Institute.

Berliner, who penned a lengthy indictment of NPR last week in Bari Weiss’ online publication The Free Press, resigned from NPR on Wednesday after he accused Maher of having “disparaged” him while espousing “divisive” views that “confirm the very problems at NPR I cite in my Free Press essay.”

Maher, 41, was named CEO at NPR late last month.

Maher said that the “free and open” approach long used by Wikipedia was problematic because it resulted in the “exclusion of communities and languages” where “the idea of a written tradition is [not] particular [to them].”

Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO, scoffed at Maher’s comments about “free and open” Wikipedia, writing on his X account: “That’s literally the point of Wikipedia.”

Larry Sanger, who cofounded Wikipedia alongside Jimmy Wales in 2001, has said that the site can no longer be trusted because it has been taken over by leftwing “volunteers” who cut out news that doesn’t fit their agenda.

The Post has sought comment from Maher, NPR and Wikimedia Foundation.