Publicly-Funded US News Outlet NPR Calls Hunter Biden Scandal ‘Pure Distraction’

Leading journalists and Republicans have laid into a publicly-funded news site over its refusal to report on the leaked revelations about Democratic Presidential hopeful Joe Biden's son.

National Public Radio (NPR) public editor Kelly McBride tweeted in response to reader's demands for the site to give more coverage to the scandal around leaked emails detailing Hunter Biden's business dealings in Ukraine and China. Those emails indicate the younger Biden was peddling his father's political influence as vice-president to Barack Obama. 

​“We don't want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don't want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions,” McBride quoted NPR Managing Editor for News Terence Samuel. “And quite frankly, that's where we ended up, this was … a politically driven event and we decided to treat it that way.”

McBride said the "handful of stories" NPR had published about the New York Post investigation dealt only with how social media sites Facebook and Twitter had blocked user from posting links to it, and how Hunter Biden's "struggle" with drug abuse have affected the families of other addicts.

NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik went further at the weekend, arguing the story must be false because it was too convenient for President Donald Trump's re-election campaign and because the New York Post is part of Australian Rupert Murdoch's global media empire. 

"The story fits snugly into a narrative from President Trump and his allies that Hunter Biden's zealous pursuit of business ties abroad also compromised the former vice president," he wrote last week. 

"The venue is also suspect. The pro-Trump New York Post is owned by Rupert Murdoch, a steady supporter of the president despite recently casting doubt on Trump's reelection prospects," Folkenflik insisted. "The lead reporter was a former producer for Sean Hannity, Trump's best friend on his favorite news network, Fox News, also controlled by the Murdochs."

Katie Pavlich, a Fox News contributor and columnist for The Hill, called McBride's statement "incredible" and "pathetic".

Good Morning Britain presenter and former editor of the News of the World and the Daily Mirror Piers Morgan called it "weird".

​Former US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell called NPR's decision "activism".

Donald Trump Jr. called McBride's excuse "bulls***" while posting new evidence Joe Biden lied when he said he never discussed his son's business activities. 

​And the Republican Senate Judiciary Committee and some House representatives joined Trump Jr. in calling for NPR to be defunded.

Founded in 1970 as a result of an act of Congress, NPR currently gets at least 16 per cent of its funding directly or indirectly from the US taxpayer.