Brigid Bergin lets Naomi from Montclair libel AIPAC
I’m praying for the speedy recovery of Brian Lehrer’s mother.
Even as he’s become a fully doctrinaire progressive, abandoning the pretense of occasionally entertaining the idea that there might be two sides to an issue and resorting even to mocking Donald Trump’s voice in a way much more associated with shock jocks than public radio didacticism, you don’t realize what a pro Brian is until his fill-ins grab the mic.
Lehrer has been absent more than usual from his 10 to noon eponymous show on WNYC caring for his ailing mother. Over other recent vacations, one just kind of hoped Matt Katz was available. Of late, the tag team of Nancy Solomon and Brigid Bergin has kind of become the David Brenner and Joan Rivers permanent guest hosts and all of them are terrible. They trip over their words, mispronounce authoritarianism, and let the callers prattle on way too long.
But lately it’s devolved from maladroit hosting to journalism malpractice.
On Tuesday, guest host Brigid Bergin, a talented reporter with important scoops to her credit was guest hosting for Bryan on a segment about the multi candidate Democratic field in New Jersey’s 11th congressional district to replace Mikie Sherrill, who has recently been elected governor.
A caller identifying herself as Naomi from Montclair issued the following shocking pronouncement.
“I’m calling about Analilia Mejia because I really believe she’s the only viable candidate. She’s the only anti-war, anti-Israel lobby candidate running. Most of them are bought by AIPAC.
And what that means literally is dropping bombs on people. That’s what AIPAC does. They arrange for bombs to be dropped on children in Gaza and elsewhere, and they arrange for all types of violence to occur in Israel and Palestine.
So I oppose, I support breaking the bonds, which talks about divesting from Israel bonds that all these different towns and cities hold. And [Mejia] supports that.”
Bridget didn’t say a single word to challenge this blood libel. Obviously, totally false and I don’t take seriously anyone who wants to argue that point.
Press play to hear a narrated version of this story, presented by AudioHopper.
There is no analog for this.
There is no imaginable scenario where a caller might have phoned in to talk about some other fully legal, fully mainstream lobbying group and accused it of murder based on ethnic stereotypes. It is inconceivable that a caller would be allowed to accuse the NAACP of ugly stereotypes associated with Black people. Even CAIR, which in some instances has been credibly accused of supporting terror activities, would never face a blanket assertion of “arranging” for the murder of children without the host at least offering a suggestion that others see it differently.
Bergin said nothing. Not even the weak canned sentence Brian has been using when callers accuse Israel of genocide, and he notes that others have characterized the situation differently. Bergin simply thanked Naomi for the call and moved on. (The Media Globe reached out to Brigid Bergin for comment; this story will be updated if she chooses to respond.)
It is amazing to me that public media, having recently been totally defunded by Congress because of its bias, has decided not to include more diverse voices, but to double down on its certainty that it’s monoview of the culture is correct.
After working for NPR for 25 years, Uri Berliner wrote in April 2024 that he worried about the outlet’s lack of viewpoint diversity. “An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don’t have an audience that reflects America.” He cited its dismissal of Hunter Biden’s laptop and the fact that Adam Schiff was invited to appear 25 times to discuss “purported evidence of collusion” during the RussiaGate investigation. “But when the Mueller report found no credible evidence of collusion, NPR’s coverage was notably sparse. Russiagate quietly faded from our programming.”
According to Berliner, from 2011 to 2023, NPR’s audience went from 26% self-described conservatives to 11, and from 37% liberal to 67%. The reaction to Berliner’s bombshell was instantaneous. He was forced out.
A host has a responsibility to provide context to what’s heard during the show. If an unhinged and uncensored collar like Naomi issues clearly libelous charges, the host has an obligation at least to acknowledge in that “wink wink we all know she’s right, but I’ve got to say this” way that’s the hallmark of WNYC that there’s another side to the story.
In this instance, AIPAC really did play a nefarious role in this race. It spent over $2 million to bloody up former Congressman Tom Malinowski, not citing his record on issues impacting Israel (which isn’t all that anti-Israel), but pretending to care about his minor investing scandal plus a complete red herring vote on funding DHS.
With the race too close to call, AIPAC may have pushed the actual Israel opponent Analilia Mejia into Congress. So that was $2 million down the drain and if Naomi had called to criticize AIPAC for wasteful spending and stupid strategy, I would’ve been cheering in my driveway. But saying that American Jews “arrange” for the bombing of Palestinian children is despicable. And false. It should not be aired on public air waves without challenge.
Get well soon, Mrs. Lehrer. The city needs a grown-up at the morning dials.