essay about being truthful

The importance of being true to yourself.

Being true to yourself is a life-long practice that requires commitment and re-commitment, moment to moment, as you grow and evolve. The answer to what is true for you always exists at the core of who you are, if you give yourself the space and time to listen.

When you are being true to yourself, you are completely honest with what you feel, deeply value, and desire. It also means communicating your feelings wholeheartedly both with yourself and others, allowing your truth to flow through you and into the world.

To know your truth fully and express it authentically, you first need to cultivate a deep and trusting relationship with yourself. Ultimately, this begins with awareness of your thoughts, as well as awareness of your whole-body experience and how you interact with the world each day.

You can expand your awareness and strengthen the connection with yourself through introspective practices such as meditation, yoga, and journal writing. These practices help you become more present and establish reference points to identify when you are (or are not) living in alignment with the deeper aspect of yourself. The more you practice, the easier it becomes to self-correct when you are out of alignment.

Understanding when you are in alignment or out of alignment may often be based on an intuitive feeling rather than a thought. Feelings of openness, expansion, inner joy and freedom are good signs that you are on the right path. Conversely, if you are not being true to yourself, it may show up through feelings of contraction and tension, unease, disconnection, resignation, emptiness, discontentment, or a lack of fulfillment.

By learning to pay attention to your deeper senses and feelings, and by cultivating greater awareness in your life, you can establish a strong connection to yourself and feel confident in knowing what is deeply true for you.

But what is true, also yearns to be expressed. So it is up to each of us to be courageous in bringing forth our own truth, expressing it fully and authentically in the world.

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12 Reasons Why Honesty Is Important In Life

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woman with one hand on her heart and the other in the air illustrating honesty

Honesty is important. That’s a given, right?

Not everyone seems to think so. Lies, deception, and the concealment of truth are commonplace.

But when you actually start to examine the case for honesty, you realize that it’s a far better option than the alternative.

So, here are 12 good reasons why the value of honesty is beyond measure.

1. It underpins trust in a relationship.

Whether you’re dealing with a partner, a friend, a family member, or a colleague, when you are honest with that person, they have a reason to trust you.

If they know that you are a person of honesty and integrity, they won’t need to question what you have to say or look for the underlying motives behind your actions.

They know that you are a straight up kind of person who says what they mean and does what they say.

Compare that to the opposite approach of untruths and half truths which erode trust away, either little by little or all at once.

2. It is easier to understand.

When you are clear in what you truly think or believe, there is no grey area for confusion to grow in.

The other person doesn’t have to second guess what you really mean.

And with clarity comes a better understanding of your expectations of them, should you have any.

They know what you would actually like them to do rather than trying to infer this from the mixed messages you may give when you aren’t being totally honest.

3. You are more likely to get what you want.

The previous point about clarity means that you are more likely to get the end result you are hoping for.

Oftentimes, we conceal our true desires or preferences behind the curtain of “sure” and “fine” and “okay” rather than speak our truth.

But when we are completely honest with ourselves and others, we encourage the right actions that lead to what we want.

When we speak up, the other person is more likely to listen. You may not get your way every time because compromises must often be made, but at least you’ll get your way sometimes or a middle ground will be reached that suits you both.

And being honest is not in any way manipulating people into doing what you want. It’s the complete opposite – it is being transparent and open so that others can take your views and feelings into consideration.

4. It makes space for others to be vulnerable.

Speaking of being open, the great thing about being honest is that it encourages others to be honest too.

And in terms of relationships with other people, openness gives rise to vulnerability and vulnerability gives rise to genuine connection.

Honesty is attractive in that sense because it allows the other person to drop the mask that they may feel they need to wear in life. They are free to be who they are in the knowledge that honesty is rewarded in your company.

5. It shows respect.

When we are honest with someone, we are respecting the fact that they deserve to know the truth.

Not only that, we are respecting the fact that they can handle the truth and don’t need to be told lies just because the truth may be difficult to hear.

Consider the alternative which is to deceive or conceal things from others. That is the very opposite of respect. It communicates that you think you know best what the other person ought to hear, when that’s not your place to say.

6. It almost always leads to the best outcomes in the long run.

Having just mentioned a person’s ability to handle the truth, it is worth pointing out that honesty is not always an easy thing to hear.

It can be difficult to listen to your partner who is telling you that they don’t want to be in a relationship with you anymore. Or a friend who says they think you need professional help for a drinking problem.

Sometimes we lie to ourselves so that we don’t have to face the harsh reality of our situation, and someone else being honest with us can reveal important things we need to address.

Whilst this can sting at the time, it can put us on a different path to someplace better than where we’re currently headed, whether that be a healthier relationship or getting sober.

7. It is simple.

Telling the truth is simple. There is no need to remember what you lied about and to whom. You can be confident that you have said what was true (at least, from your perspective) in the moment you said it.

Now, don’t confuse simple with easy. Being honest is not always easy. In fact, it can often be difficult and uncomfortable when you are telling someone something they might not want to hear.

But because there is no ambiguity in your message, there is little confusion when receiving it. And that makes things much simpler in the long run.

8. It is better for your mental health / inner peace.

Lying doesn’t come easily for most people. When you deceive others, it can feel like you are going against your values or who you want to be as a person.

Not only that, but as soon as you lie, you will live with the fear of that lie being discovered. That’s a mentally exhausting thing.

Honesty, though not always easy, doesn’t carry such burdens. Of course, you may feel slightly bad if you have to tell someone an uncomfortable truth, but that won’t last long.

Being honest means you can rest easy knowing that you have been true to yourself and done what you thought was best in a given situation. And authenticity is a great way to live.

9. It is good for your self-esteem.

Continuing on the mental health benefits of honesty, it helps to make you feel good about yourself.

Your self-esteem is essentially how much you like yourself as a person, and when you are honest, it is a lot easier to like yourself.

Not only that, but when you realize that people like you for who you are and for the honesty you bring, rather than a mask you put on in front of others, it’s empowering.

You can be you, be honest, and still be liked. Maybe not by everyone, but by enough people who matter.

10. It is a demonstration of your character.

There are many other personality traits other than honesty, but positive traits tend to occur together as part of a good character.

When you are honest, it will communicate that you are most likely kind, compassionate, hard working, and reliable.

Consider a liar, on the other hand. They might be tainted with the brush of someone who would cheat or steal or manipulate. Not traits you want to be associated with.

11. It is hard to challenge.

When you aren’t entirely honest with others in what you want, it allows them to challenge you and try to persuade you to their way of thinking.

But when you are honest with someone, they will find it difficult to find the weakness in what you are saying.

For example, if someone asks if you’d like to do something with them and you don’t want to, it is better to state that with crystal clarity rather than say, “Maybe another time.”

Because if your answer isn’t clear, the other person will probably try to twist your arm into doing the thing that you don’t want to do

12. It keeps toxic people away.

Some people live in the shadows of misdirection, concealment, coercion, and outright lies.

Those sorts of people find it hard to ply their toxic trade with those who are honest with themselves and honest with others.

Deception and honesty do not exist well together in the same space, so if you are honest, toxic people are more likely to look elsewhere to get what they want.

About The Author

Steve Phillips-Waller is the founder and editor of A Conscious Rethink. He has written extensively on the topics of life, relationships, and mental health for more than 8 years.

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The Importance of Being Honest

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Published: Sep 1, 2023

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Why One Has to Be Truthful in Life?

The meaning of truthful, being truthful, post-truth and much more

“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth” – Buddha

Valued and revered, the trait of truthfulness holds a special place in the universal system of values. Honored and respected throughout time, being truthful is a prerequisite in any law system. It is common that leaders in the society are expected to be honest and truthful while deceitful leaders have usually met violent ends in the history of time.

A truthful person is committed to speaking and acknowledging the truth, and acting with integrity. While it takes courage to speak the truth without the fear of any consequence, it is by being truthful that we earn respect and love. Satya refers to the meaning of truthfulness in Hindi, where one strives only to speak the truth and nothing else.

Every student is aware of the messy nature of lying. Sooner or later a liar is bound to forget his lies or keep their tails straight. It’s easy to lie but impossible to keep track of them. One can easily create this fantasy world but in an ever-changing universe, lies are short-lived. Truth always has a way of coming up to the surface and hence, no matter how intricately the lies have been woven, there’s only one outcome. The bubble bursts.

Yet, lies replacing truthfulness have become more or less the norm in modern society . Lies have become so blatant that there are fairness creams that claim to make a dark-skinned person into a fair and handsome bloke. However, the irony lies here; the advertisement for the fairness cream markets a white man to be attractive while an astonishing fact is that the most perfect human face belongs to Denzel Washington who incidentally is a black man. What is then the meaning of being truthful?

However, as students, we must all acknowledge that we have all lied at some point. It is always easier to give the excuse of a traffic jam than to admit that you got up late. However, doing this will neither enhance the lives of students or force us to make amends. Although we have lied to another person, we essentially have lied to ourselves. Being truthful is a quality innate, springing up from the core of one’s conscience. The meaning of being truthful lies in a pure indulgence in truthfulness irrespective of the consequences.

It is amusing that somehow being truthful stresses us out as compared to indulging in telling a lie. Students may lie to cover their tracks, get away with something, or just to feel more comfortable. But in reality, nothing can be trickier and tiring than telling a lie. It is simply exhausting to tell lies and keep track of them. Mark Twain observed, “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” And that is the beauty of being truthful; the peace of mind that truth offers cannot be equated with anything else in the world.

A fair and just society is based on the foundations of truth. Besides, all witnesses in court must swear to tell the truth – “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” It is mandatory because the pathway of truth is the only way justice can be delivered. Additionally, sincere students are fully aware of their skills and shortcomings and realize who they are. Thereby, truthful people indulge in an honest portrayal of themselves to the world. They do not have different faces for the public and private realm unlike the others who lie. They ascertain that they fulfill their promises or commitments and give a precise description of themselves and others. They never try to mislead anyone.

Truthfulness as a social characteristic, acts as a binding force to keep the community grounded and rooted. Introduce lies and hypocrisy and it won’t take long for hell to break loose. The quality of being truthful allows for ample self-introspection and one always has a moral conscience that helps learn from mistakes and differentiate right from wrong.

Fundamentally, truth can be divided into two types – being true to yourself, and being true to others. Though closely linked, the two mustn’t be mistaken to be the same. As William Shakespeare said, “To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, that thou canst not then be false to any man”. Being truthful to oneself allows one to extend it to others as well.

“If I’d written all the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people — including me — would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism”- Hunter S. Thompson

Students should be aware that it is impossible to always tell the truth. Truthfulness in rare circumstances can equate to an act of absolute stupidity. Hence, it is not well-advised to tell everything to everyone for that matter. Excessive sharing of personal information is not welcome, even if it is the truth.

Also, never divulge secrets. It is absolutely important to remain silent if someone has confided in you and asked you not to share the information further. Under such circumstances, you are duty-bound to keep mum and not advocate being truthful.

Truthfulness is important, but so is not hurting others. Hence, truthfulness and tact must go hand in hand, otherwise, the truth may be unacceptable to those who hear it.

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Society, especially Western society, places a high value on truth.

Truth is the foundation for a fair and just society. In court, we require witnesses to swear to tell ‘ the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth ’, because only that way can justice be delivered.

Most modern religions also have something to say on the matter, and it is clear that they place a high value on the principle of truthfulness.

But is truthfulness an outdated principle in modern times, or does it still have value?

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life

- Jesus Christ

Two Types of Truth

There are two aspects of truthfulness: being true to yourself, and being true to others.

The two are not quite the same thing, although they are closely linked. Shakespeare, for example, suggested that someone who was true to themselves was unlikely to be false to others.

To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as night the day, that thou canst not then be false to any man.

- William Shakespeare

Truthful people will:

Understand themselves , and know their own strengths and weaknesses. They will not delude themselves about their successes or failures;

Present themselves in a way that shows who they really are. Their reputation will be founded on what they are and, whether in public or private, they will be the same;

Meet any commitments or promises that they make;

Be accurate in their descriptions of themselves or others , so that they do not mislead others.

The Importance of Truth

Truth matters, both to us as individuals and to society as a whole.

As individuals , being truthful means that we can grow and mature, learning from our mistakes.

For society , truthfulness makes social bonds, and lying and hypocrisy break them.

If you doubt this, consider what happens when you find out that someone has lied to you. You feel less inclined to trust them next time, and also less inclined to trust other people more generally.

Is it Ever Right not to Tell the Truth?

If I'd written all the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people — including me — would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism.

Hunter S. Thompson

There are two possible ways not to tell the truth: not to provide any information, and to provide false information.

First, you do not need to tell everyone everything. Excessive sharing of personal information is not welcome, even if it is the truth. Context is all-important, and you have to consider whether people need and/or want to know.

Sometimes it is better not to say something.

You also need to be able to remain silent if someone has confided in you and asked you not to share the information further.

Under these circumstances, it is therefore appropriate not to tell all the truth.

However, is it right to provide false information or lie?

Is the ‘ right ’ answer to the question ‘ Does my bum look big in this? ’ ever ‘ yes ’?

Well, maybe, in the changing room, before ‘ this ’ is bought. But maybe not. The truthful person will think very carefully about the right answer to that question.

Truthfulness is important, but so is not hurting others. Truthfulness and tact must go hand in hand, because otherwise the truth may be unacceptable to those who hear it.

And consider a government agent. They may need to lie, or pretend to be something that they are not, for the sake of the greater good. But they may still be true to themselves if they believe in the importance of the greater good. At what point does the truth become more important?

That is a matter of personal conscience.

The truth is rarely pure and never simple.

Oscar Wilde

So there are some circumstances in which lying may be acceptable or necessary.

It is, however, never acceptable to lie in order to make yourself look better, or to avoid trouble that you have brought on yourself.

If you lie about yourself, or to avoid trouble, and people find out, they are unlikely to trust you again.

Finding the Balance

As with many other qualities, you need to find the balance in truthfulness: neither overplaying nor underplaying either your virtues or your weaknesses.

It is as bad to pretend that you are less good at something than you are, as to exaggerate about your abilities.

Teaching Children About Truthfulness

Teaching children about truthfulness is hard.

You want them to understand that it is important to tell the truth. But if they tell you that they drew on the wall, you are going to be quite cross. There is, therefore, a serious incentive to lie, and say that it was their sibling or a visitor.

You may therefore need to think about their incentives to confess, and make sure that they understand the value that you put on telling the truth. You will need to ensure that you demonstrate that, not just say it, by rewarding truth-telling in some way, even if you still need to punish the original misdeed.

Jo and her children had been helping to sort the donations cupboard at the school. There were some small toys in there, which the children really liked. Jo told them to leave the toys alone because they belonged to the school.

On the way home, Jo realised that both children had taken something from the box. She asked if they had done so. Both denied it. Not wishing to give them the wrong incentive, Jo thought carefully and then said,

“ If I find that you have taken something, I will be cross. But if you lie to me, and then I find that you have lied, I will be really, really cross. Did you take something? ”

Both children confessed that they had done so. Jo explained that was stealing, but because they had told her the truth, she gave them a choice: they could either return the toys that they had taken, or they could replace each one with another from home. Both children opted to do that.

The Skills You Need Guide to Life: Living Well, Living Ethically

A Last Word

It is important to live and act in line with your values.

Being truthful to yourself matters because you cannot live in line with your values if you are pretending to yourself that you are something else.

Truthfulness allows you to be honest about yourself to yourself, and to others, and to live a life which reflects that.

Continue to: A Framework for Living Well Balancing Politeness and Honesty

See also: Critical Thinking and Fake News Self Control, Self Mastery Developing Resilience

September 20, 2020

We Need to Do More Research on Honesty

Scientists and philosophers know a lot about why we lie. Now let’s figure out how not to do so

By Judi Ketteler

Aaron Amat Getty Images

Last year, I published a book about honesty , exploring what it means to live a more honest life. I examined my own struggles with honesty, and did my best to translate academic research about honesty and apply it to everyday life. Through interviewing many researchers and reading dozens of studies about ethics, deception, moral character, secrecy, and self-delusion, I learned that we know quite a bit about lying and the reasons people lie in a variety of relationships.

But we know far less about the reasons people are honest.

“From my perspective as a philosopher, honesty is stunningly neglected,” says Wake Forest University philosophy professor Christian B. Miller , author of The Character Gap: How Good Are We? “Almost no work about honesty has been done in philosophy in the last 50 years. It’s been largely overlooked.” And yet, he says, when you ask people what they consider to be the most important virtues, a great majority will include honesty . Courage, patience and kindness may also top the list. Humility, too, perhaps. Chastity, probably not so much. But can you imagine anyone ever leaving honesty off the list?

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So why don’t we know more about what motivates people to be honest? To disclose, to say the true thing, to correct false information, to speak up?

One answer is that in thinking about honesty, we’ve mostly been tuned into deception. By “we,” I mean you and me, and I also mean philosophers and scientists. First of all, lying, or saying untrue things with the explicit intent to deceive people, has been on full display in the form of Donald Trump for the past several years (though he is certainly not the only elected official to practice deception with regularity). We’ve also had a front-row seat watching personalities like Lance Armstrong and Elizabeth Holmes weave their tangled webs. As citizens of the world, we’re obsessed with lying and lies right now—what’s real, what’s fake, and what’s deliberate and deceitful manipulation?

For honesty researchers, the deception focus wasn’t on purpose. Not exactly. There has been a surge of research over the past 15 years in psychology, organizational behavior, behavioral economics and related fields on lying and unethical decision-making. Starting around 2005, investigators developed and refined new methods to examine when and why people lie and cheat to earn money. “Examples include the now classic matrix and die-rolling tasks where people lie about their performance to earn extra money for themselves, and sender-receiver deception ‘games’ where people lie to other participants to earn extra money for themselves,” says Taya Cohen , associate professor of organizational behavior and theory at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business. By allowing or provoking people to lie in controlled experiments—methodology that Cohen herself has used in much of her research—researchers can observe, measure and track these behaviors. “This means that lying and cheating can be operationalized in a way that isn’t restricted to people's hypothetical decisions or recalled past behaviors,” Cohen says.

From these and other types of studies, we’ve learned a great deal about how and why people lie. We lie when we think we can get away with it. We lie more in groups , especially if we see other people lying, or we’ve been exposed to a bribe . We lie when the lie—even a lie of self-interest—feels justifiable (it’s only a little bit of extra money). We lie less if we’re reminded to be honest or if we have high moral character or score highly on measures of guilt-proneness or honesty-humility .

In organizations, our lies often are related to preserving some sort of identity , and we lie to protect our reputation, the reputation of someone we support or the reputation of a group to which we belong. In relationships, we lie to spare feelings or avoid awkward situations (but we get really irritated when our romantic partner does the same). We lie to ourselves as well, consistently believing we are smarter than we are . Children are also more likely to lie if they’ve been lied to. We even lie if we’re afraid the truth will look like a lie . And of course, we lie on social media , even if the lies look more like “reshaping” the truth.

These are all extraordinarily helpful findings, with relevant takeaway for nearly any group: bosses, teachers, parents, friends, spouses, voters ( especially voters ). If we understand what motivates and fosters deception, we can better curb those things in ourselves.

I argue in my book that living a more honest life starts with confronting our own deception, instead of simply noticing everyone else’s. For me personally, this has meant paying more attention to what I’m saying and constantly examining my motivations. This started as a more reactionary endeavor (to notice when I was lying), but morphed into a far more proactive one (to continually think about truth). Though both are in service of the same thing—being a more honest person—I have noticed that they don’t feel the same.

This is because they aren’t the same, either in practice or in research. If you set out to study what makes people tell lies, you tend to keep coming up with the same questions to investigate. But if you set out to learn what makes people tell the truth or have the courage to speak up, you will inevitably come up with a different set of questions to investigate. And that could do two things: (1) connect the dots between related research that wasn’t previously linked to honesty since the work didn’t focus on deception, and (2) create an entirely new body of philosophical and scientific research on honesty. “There is so much opportunity for more research about honesty,” Miller says. “And it’s not just an academic matter. There is an obvious real-world relevance and need.”

This is exactly what’s behind the Honesty Project , a $4.4 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation to study honesty that Miller and a team of researchers (including Cohen) at Wake Forest and Carnegie Mellon were awarded in August. The project has a three-year timeline that involves funding competitions for Ph.D. academics studying the philosophy and science of honesty, and a conference at the end of the project. Miller will serve as project director (he previously directed the Character Project ) and team members have their own research they will conduct as well. Wake Forest psychology professor William Fleeson will study how to cultivate honesty across the political divide. This is particularly interesting to me because I’ve noticed that in our current climate of political polarization, the people on one side tend to think all the people on the other side are just lying. Even as a person who has engaged with honesty a lot and written a book about it, I still feel this way whenever I hear anything Donald Trump is saying. That he lies is a fact. But are all the people who support him liars who don’t care about honesty? That’s an interesting question.

Cohen’s recent research has been focused on honesty in difficult conversations , particularly the idea that we cannot be both kind and honest at the same time. Through her work with Emma Levine at the University of Chicago, she’s found that we often think being honest with people will be much harder and socially disastrous than it is (in fact, people find that being honest strengthens relationships and social connections more than they expect). She has plans to do more research on honesty and disclosure in difficult situations, hoping to discover concrete, actionable tips that people in organizations can use.

Though letters of intent for proposals are not due until November, Cohen is already hearing from investigators in fields as diverse as political science and computer science. One of the aims of the project is to see what researchers are working on that can be brought into the fold, particularly primary investigators early in their career (the project will give preference to those who are within 10 years of receiving their Ph.D.).

The hope is that through this more specific focus on the virtue of honesty—the virtue we hold as one of the most important virtues, or even the most important one—we can learn more about what motivates people to be honest, how honesty impacts relationships, groups and institutions, and how we can better cultivate honesty as individuals and members of groups and families.

Candidly, my hope is even bigger. I believe that through pouring substantial intellectual and financial resources into the study of honesty, we can be better at everything from disease prevention to racial reconciliation to climate change. Naturally, I’m quite eager to see what these investigators turn up and ultimately present at the 2023 conference. I do already know one thing though: Honesty carries with it an amazing power. It’s not just a shield against deception; it’s a way to change the world.

Honesty Essay Examples: Essay Samples On Honesty

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You may realize the importance of honesty in daily life; it can be an uphill task when it comes to writing an essay. So, if you’ve been assigned to write an essay on honesty , and you’re not sure how to go about it, you’re at the right place. We have some useful information and essay samples to help you write a piece that compels the reader.

We understand how challenging it gets to write an essay on easy topics. Students get nervous that their writing may sound ordinary. However, if your ideas are unique and you explain them interestingly, your piece is sure to impress. All you need is to follow a basic structure of an essay when writing an essay on honesty:

Introduction.
Conclusion.

Make sure you write a thesis in your introduction that will help the reader understand what you are going to discuss in the body. Besides, each paragraph must contain a separate idea or argument. And, to support them, you can give real-life examples, either your personal or a situation you have observed around you.

Article structure

Short Essay About Honesty

The saying’ honesty is the best policy is probably heard by everyone. However, it is hard to be honest with everyone around, and even more, it takes a lot of courage to be honest with yourself. On the other hand, a parent cannot expect their child to be honest in life if they are not honest to themselves. Hence, it would not be unfair to say that honesty is a two-way street. But even if the other person is being dishonest, one should stick to the policy of being honest. The reasons why honesty is the best policy are discussed below.

First of all, honesty is an attribute that helps you develop other traits such as kindness and moral integrity in your personality. Truthfulness is a trait that is instilled in your personality as a kid, and it only works in life if the people around you are truthful with each other. It also helps you to be courageous and say whatever your heart believes in. It also makes you and your opinions authentic. If you are honest, people will rely on you and your opinions if they ever need one.

However, it is very easy to lie to people, but there is no way you can do that to yourself because it will never sustain. You can only have peace of mind if you are truthful in your day-to-day happenings. It fosters a trustworthy relationship between people and helps in bringing people together.

Therefore, honesty is the fastest way to prevent a mistake from turning into a failure, and it’s the first chapter of life when it comes to wisdom. Thereby, one should make an effort to leave a legacy of honesty and truthfulness for their generations to come.

Essay Sample on Why Is It Important to Be Honest

Honesty is the best policy, they say. But, certain situations in life leave you wondering whether or not you should tell the truth. In situations like these, many people say, often go with the fabricated story. It is because they find it easy to get away with things this way. But is it the best way to handle complicated situations? Certainly not because no matter what the consequences may be, being honest should be the only option. This essay will discuss how honesty can take you places in life.

The important reason why is it important to be honest is that it’s the easiest thing to practice to be successful, happy from within, and fulfilled. For instance, if someone is caught in a situation where they have done something wrong and are afraid to tell the truth to their parents when asked, telling lies and deceiving the parents would only make things worse in the long run. They may get away with what they have done, but their conscience will keep nagging them. Besides, if the parents somehow find out the truth later, they may not trust their child anymore. On the other hand, if the child is honest, the parents will probably scold them, but eventually, they will support them and help them get out of any situation they are in. Being honest can cause a moment of discomfort for many people, but talking the truth eventually makes the situation in their favor. Moreover, their honesty would increase their respect in others’ hearts, and they will likely get rewards for being honest. All in all, honesty is about being true to yourself and others about what you want and who you are. It helps promote openness and enables people to establish consistency in how they present the truth.

On the contrary, lying is equally damaging whether people do it to themselves or others. When they lie, they delude themselves into believing what they are saying. Even if it’s a tiny lie, it is damaging, as it will keep getting bigger over time. People who lie confuse themselves and confuse others. Moreover, they lose credibility and put themselves in jeopardy. Frequently, people lie to themselves to do something that they know is wrong. For instance, if they convince themselves to steal from a wicked person, they have probably lied that it is okay to steal from bad people and they need it. It may produce temporary pleasure, but it won’t take the wrongdoer anything.

On the other hand, when people are dishonest to others to create a good image of themselves, they damage their credibility in the long run. For instance, if someone wants to impress their employer in the first interview by deceiving them, it could later harm their work life. Sooner or later, they may find out the truth, and the liar will be in trouble or may have to tell more lies to build up a facade personality. Doing so may help them succeed in the short run, but they can’t go places where honesty and truthfulness can take them.

To conclude, despite the temptation and ease of use, lying gets no one anywhere in the end. On the contrary, dishonest people stay right in their tracks or, much worse, go backward. This is why it is important to rewire the brain about its importance to stay truthful, regardless of the situation. Besides, it is equally important, to be honest with oneself and practice honesty in daily interactions.

Paragraph on Honesty And Truthfulness

Students are often asked to write a paragraph on Honesty And Truthfulness in their schools. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 200-word, and 250-word paragraphs on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

Paragraph on Honesty And Truthfulness in 100 Words

Honesty and truthfulness are like superpowers that make you a good person. Being honest means you do not lie and always tell the truth, just like superheroes! Truthfulness is when you always speak the truth and never hide anything. These two are like best friends, always together. When you are honest and truthful, people trust you more. They know you won’t lie to them. This makes you a better friend, a better student, and a better person. So, always remember, honesty and truthfulness are very important to be the best you can be!

Paragraph on Honesty And Truthfulness in 200 Words

Honesty and truthfulness are like the sun that brightens our days. Being honest means you tell the truth, don’t lie, cheat, or steal. It’s like playing a game where everyone follows the rules. Imagine how fun and fair that game would be! Truthfulness is like a friend who always tells you the truth, even when it might be hard to hear. It’s like your reflection in a mirror, always showing you exactly how things are. When you’re truthful, you say things as they are, not how you want them to be. Honesty and truthfulness are important because they make people trust you. If you tell your friend you’ll return their pencil and you do, they’ll trust you more. If you tell your teacher the truth about not doing your homework, they’ll appreciate your honesty. Being honest and truthful helps you have good friends, happy teachers, and a peaceful mind. Remember, honesty and truthfulness are like seeds. If you plant them in your life, you’ll grow a beautiful garden of trust, respect, and love from everyone around you. So let’s all try to be honest and truthful, like the sun and the mirror, every day!

Paragraph on Honesty And Truthfulness in 250 Words

Honesty and truthfulness are two important values that everyone should practice. Honesty is all about being truthful, fair, and sincere with actions and words. It means not telling lies, not stealing, and behaving rightly. It is a key to a peaceful life and is a quality that earns respect. On the other hand, truthfulness is about always telling the truth, no matter what. It means not hiding the truth, not misleading others, and being honest in every situation. It is a value that helps us build trust with others. These two values are like two sides of the same coin; you can’t have one without the other. Being honest without being truthful is like a bird trying to fly without wings; it’s impossible. And being truthful without being honest is like a tree without roots; it can’t stand. So, we should always be honest and truthful. They help us make good choices, strengthen our relationships, and build a strong character. They also help us grow as people and make our society a better place. Remember, when we are honest and truthful, we are at peace with ourselves and others. So let’s all practice honesty and truthfulness, and make our world a better place.

That’s it! I hope the paragraphs have helped you.

Explore other popular paragraph topics:

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Happy studying!

Short essay on Truthfulness

Truthfulness is a virtue. It is very easy and often very difficult to be truthful. Ordinarily, by truthfulness we mean speaking truth. But one should be truthful in his words, his thought and his action. If he speaks truth and does the reverse then he is not truthful. Therefore, to be truthful is’ really a very difficult thing.

We believe that there is reward in heaven for our noble deeds. Similarly we are given harsh punishment for our vices and miss-deeds. Truthfulness is a means of getting reward from God. God is omniscient. He observes all our actions. To be truthful is to win the favour of God.

Truthfulness has a deep impact upon our moral character. A truthful person is trusted in every work. He is respected everywhere. Even his children enjoy the result of his virtue of truthfulness. The character of a truthful person shines like gold.

In the Tretaya age, Lord Rarnachandra was truthful. As a Prince he was truthful to His mother’s command. He respected His father’s order and went to the forest for fourteen years by sacrificing the throne of Ayodhya to his younger brother Bharat. He acted truthfully. He even deserted his dear wife Sita being truthful to the impression of the common men in the kingdom.

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In India Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi was a truthful man. He exercised love and non-violence against the British rulers and won freedom for our country. He not only spoke truth, but also acted and thought truthfully. He wore Khadi and told people to wear it. He became mentally upset when any Indian showed violent behaviour to the British ruler. He himself adopted simple living and told others to follow it.

A truthful person like Mahatma Gandhi is never disturbed by fear and anxiety. Fear and anxiety enter the mind of a liar, not a truthful man. His life and character become an example for others. He inspires others to be truthful.

Now-a-days, the meaning of truthfulness has changed. It is a deceptive word today. By trying to be truthful, people are telling half-truths which are more dangerous than pure lie.

For example, the parents of a young boy while trying to negotiate a marriage proposal for him gently declare that they do not want any dowry for their son. The son himself also shows his simplicity. But their real greed for wealth remains hidden in their minds. Immediately after marriage they begin to torture the bride and force her to bring dowry from her parents. Truthful persons never do such thing.

172 Words Essay for kids on the importance of Honesty
Short Essay on Mahatma Gandhi
Short Essay on Gandhiji and his Ideas
A Man Is Known By the Company He Keeps – Short Paragraph

Essay on Importance Of Truthfulness

Importance Of Truthfulness

Truthfulness is the greatest and most important of all human virtues. Truthfulness means to speak the truth habitually. A truthful man will never tell a lie. He always says what he means. He acts as he says. He does not tell a lie even in jest.

Truthfulness is important to build up the character of a man. A man whose character is not good is not loved by anybody. So we should always speak the truth. Our society cannot exist if we all be liars. A truthful man keeps his word. So, people depend upon what he says. They give him responsible work. A truthful man has strength of mind. He is not afraid of any body. He is never ready to suffer by speaking the truth. A truthful man attains success in business. He may be poor, but he lives a peaceful and happy life, because he knows that he is pure in mind and he is right. In fact, the word of a truthful man has great value. Sometimes his words carry more weight than documents. A truthful man, on the other hand, has a clear conscience and does not fear anybody. So his mind is free from the anxiety that constantly troubles a liar. Even his enemies respect him, and this respect is more important than any costly Jewel.

As truthfulness is a great virtue, truthfulness is a great voice. A liar is hated by all. Nobody believes him. He may gain success for a short time but in the long run he is bound to suffer. Nobody helps a liar. Nobody gives him any responsible work. He cannot shine in business. If a merchant or a shopkeeper tells a lie, people will not deal with him anymore. A liar does not lead a peaceful life. He is always afraid of being found out. He knows that he is not doing a good thing by telling a lie. We all know the story of the shepherd boy. He used to tell a lie. As a result he met his death for it.

Ancient Indians were noted for their truthfulness. We know the examples of Judhisthira and Harishchandra. Harishchandra sacrificed everything for the sake of truth.

It is, therefore, the duty of every person to practice truthfulness front childhood.

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NPR in Turmoil After It Is Accused of Liberal Bias

An essay from an editor at the broadcaster has generated a firestorm of criticism about the network on social media, especially among conservatives.

Uri Berliner, wearing a dark zipped sweater over a white T-shirt, sits in a darkened room, a big plant and a yellow sofa behind him.

By Benjamin Mullin and Katie Robertson

NPR is facing both internal tumult and a fusillade of attacks by prominent conservatives this week after a senior editor publicly claimed the broadcaster had allowed liberal bias to affect its coverage, risking its trust with audiences.

Uri Berliner, a senior business editor who has worked at NPR for 25 years, wrote in an essay published Tuesday by The Free Press, a popular Substack publication, that “people at every level of NPR have comfortably coalesced around the progressive worldview.”

Mr. Berliner, a Peabody Award-winning journalist, castigated NPR for what he said was a litany of journalistic missteps around coverage of several major news events, including the origins of Covid-19 and the war in Gaza. He also said the internal culture at NPR had placed race and identity as “paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace.”

Mr. Berliner’s essay has ignited a firestorm of criticism of NPR on social media, especially among conservatives who have long accused the network of political bias in its reporting. Former President Donald J. Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to argue that NPR’s government funding should be rescinded, an argument he has made in the past.

NPR has forcefully pushed back on Mr. Berliner’s accusations and the criticism.

“We’re proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories,” Edith Chapin, the organization’s editor in chief, said in an email to staff on Tuesday. “We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world.” Some other NPR journalists also criticized the essay publicly, including Eric Deggans, its TV critic, who faulted Mr. Berliner for not giving NPR an opportunity to comment on the piece.

In an interview on Thursday, Mr. Berliner expressed no regrets about publishing the essay, saying he loved NPR and hoped to make it better by airing criticisms that have gone unheeded by leaders for years. He called NPR a “national trust” that people rely on for fair reporting and superb storytelling.

“I decided to go out and publish it in hopes that something would change, and that we get a broader conversation going about how the news is covered,” Mr. Berliner said.

He said he had not been disciplined by managers, though he said he had received a note from his supervisor reminding him that NPR requires employees to clear speaking appearances and media requests with standards and media relations. He said he didn’t run his remarks to The New York Times by network spokespeople.

When the hosts of NPR’s biggest shows, including “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered,” convened on Wednesday afternoon for a long-scheduled meet-and-greet with the network’s new chief executive, Katherine Maher , conversation soon turned to Mr. Berliner’s essay, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting. During the lunch, Ms. Chapin told the hosts that she didn’t want Mr. Berliner to become a “martyr,” the people said.

Mr. Berliner’s essay also sent critical Slack messages whizzing through some of the same employee affinity groups focused on racial and sexual identity that he cited in his essay. In one group, several staff members disputed Mr. Berliner’s points about a lack of ideological diversity and said efforts to recruit more people of color would make NPR’s journalism better.

On Wednesday, staff members from “Morning Edition” convened to discuss the fallout from Mr. Berliner’s essay. During the meeting, an NPR producer took issue with Mr. Berliner’s argument for why NPR’s listenership has fallen off, describing a variety of factors that have contributed to the change.

Mr. Berliner’s remarks prompted vehement pushback from several news executives. Tony Cavin, NPR’s managing editor of standards and practices, said in an interview that he rejected all of Mr. Berliner’s claims of unfairness, adding that his remarks would probably make it harder for NPR journalists to do their jobs.

“The next time one of our people calls up a Republican congressman or something and tries to get an answer from them, they may well say, ‘Oh, I read these stories, you guys aren’t fair, so I’m not going to talk to you,’” Mr. Cavin said.

Some journalists have defended Mr. Berliner’s essay. Jeffrey A. Dvorkin, NPR’s former ombudsman, said Mr. Berliner was “not wrong” on social media. Chuck Holmes, a former managing editor at NPR, called Mr. Berliner’s essay “brave” on Facebook.

Mr. Berliner’s criticism was the latest salvo within NPR, which is no stranger to internal division. In October, Mr. Berliner took part in a lengthy debate over whether NPR should defer to language proposed by the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association while covering the conflict in Gaza.

“We don’t need to rely on an advocacy group’s guidance,” Mr. Berliner wrote, according to a copy of the email exchange viewed by The Times. “Our job is to seek out the facts and report them.” The debate didn’t change NPR’s language guidance, which is made by editors who weren’t part of the discussion. And in a statement on Thursday, the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association said it is a professional association for journalists, not a political advocacy group.

Mr. Berliner’s public criticism has highlighted broader concerns within NPR about the public broadcaster’s mission amid continued financial struggles. Last year, NPR cut 10 percent of its staff and canceled four podcasts, including the popular “Invisibilia,” as it tried to make up for a $30 million budget shortfall. Listeners have drifted away from traditional radio to podcasts, and the advertising market has been unsteady.

In his essay, Mr. Berliner laid some of the blame at the feet of NPR’s former chief executive, John Lansing, who said he was retiring at the end of last year after four years in the role. He was replaced by Ms. Maher, who started on March 25.

During a meeting with employees in her first week, Ms. Maher was asked what she thought about decisions to give a platform to political figures like Ronna McDaniel, the former Republican Party chair whose position as a political analyst at NBC News became untenable after an on-air revolt from hosts who criticized her efforts to undermine the 2020 election.

“I think that this conversation has been one that does not have an easy answer,” Ms. Maher responded.

Benjamin Mullin reports on the major companies behind news and entertainment. Contact Ben securely on Signal at +1 530-961-3223 or email at [email protected] . More about Benjamin Mullin

Katie Robertson covers the media industry for The Times. Email: [email protected] More about Katie Robertson

Essay on Honesty is the Best Policy for Students and Children

500+ words essay on honesty is the best policy.

Honesty implies being truthful. Honesty means to develop a practice of speaking truth throughout life. A person who practices Honesty in his/her life, possess strong moral character. An Honest person shows good behavior, always follows rules and regulations, maintain discipline, speak the truth, and is punctual. An honest person is trustworthy as he always tends to speak the truth.

Every one of us must have heard the phrase “ Honesty is the Best Policy ”. It is indeed a wise phrase. Probably, every child learns this teaching from their parents. This beautiful teaching has been taught since time immemorial. However, its practice has certainly fallen short. People resort to lies very easily nowadays. Furthermore, there is rampant corruption these days. People deceive others by being dishonest. Hence, there is an urgent need for this teaching’s revival.

Benefits of “Honesty is the Best Policy”

A major component for developing moral character is Honesty. Honesty helps in developing good attributes like kindness, discipline, truthfulness, moral integrity and more. Lying, cheating, lack of trust, steal, greed and other immoral attributes have no part in Honesty. Honest people are sincere, trustworthy and loyal, throughout their life. Honesty is valuable and it is the habit of utmost importance. There are famous quotes, said by a great personality like “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom”. It holds good due to its ability to build, shape and motivate integral values in one’s life.

First of all, Honesty promotes authenticity. Honesty reflects one’s own feelings and thoughts. Honesty certainly helps people in knowing who you really are. Hence, one must be honest in self-expression.

Honesty removes fear from the heart. It makes a person courageous and confident . It certainly takes a huge amount of courage to speak the truth. Speaking truth is a sign of bravery . The one who lies is a coward. Speaking falsehood is a sign of low self-confidence.

Another notable benefit of honesty is maturity. Honesty certainly reflects the maturity of a person. An individual is probably mature if he regularly speaks the truth. Furthermore, a mature person speaks the truth in a non-hurtful way.

Honesty strengthens and improves relationships between people. It certainly helps in bringing people together. Most noteworthy, it fosters a connection between individuals

Another terrific advantage of Honesty is the peace of mind. Honesty certainly makes an individual feel free. An honest individual enjoys a light-headed feeling. This is because he does not feel the stress and tension of lying. Furthermore, an honest person does not have to deal with keeping secrets. All of this feels very relaxing.

Honesty definitely keeps troubles away. A lie can provide temporary relief to a person. However, lies only pull a person into more and more trouble. One lie can easily lead to a hundred more lies. Therefore, one must be truthful from the beginning. This essentially means one must stay honest on every occasion.

Honesty will certainly result in high-quality friends. An honest person will make lifelong friends. The friendship will be very close and strong which involve such individuals.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

How to Avoid Lying

Have faith in people. Almost everyone lies because of a lack of faith in others. One should not assume that others will not accept the truth.

Gather up courage to speak up the truth. Speaking truth certainly takes a lot of courage. It is not the job of a faint-hearted person.

Always think from the other person’s perspective. So certainly ask yourself the question: “would you prefer to be lied to?”. Certainly, the answer would be no. So, why should you lie to others.

One should always prepare the words before speaking the truth. Furthermore, one must ensure not to be rude or blunt. Also, the person must be diplomatic.

In conclusion, the phrase “Honesty is the Best Policy” is of significant importance. Honesty is the light of hope in this dark world. Honesty shall always prevail while falsehood is bound to perish.

Honesty – Benefits:

Honesty is always admirable in the family, civil society, friends and across the globe. A person with honesty is respected by all. For one to build the character of Honesty entirely depends on his/her family values and ethics and his/her surrounding environment. Parents showing honest behavior and character in front of their children create an impact on the children and we say “Honesty lies in their genes”. Honesty can also be developed practically which requires proper guidance, encouragement, patience, and dedication.

An honest person is always known for his/her honesty just like a sun is known for its eternal light and unlimited energy. It is a quality which helps a person to succeed in life and get much respect. It gives identification to the moral character of a person. Dishonest people may easily get trust and respect from other people. However, they lose that forever whenever they get caught.

Being dishonest is a sin in all the religions, however, people practice it for their short time benefits and selfishness. They never become morally strong and their life becomes miserable. An honest person moves freely in society and spread his/her fragrance in all directions. Being honest is never mean to bear the bad habits of others or bear ill-treated activities. Everyone has rights to reveal and take action against what is going wrong with him.

Importance of Honesty in Life:

Honesty plays an important role in everyone’s life and it is a character which is visible with open eyes like an open book. Having considered as an Honest person, by society is one of the best compliment one can dream of in his/her entire life. It is the real character a person earns in life by being sincere and dedicated towards it. Lack of honesty in society is doom. It is due to the lack of proper interpersonal relationship between parents-children and students-teachers. Honesty is a practice which is built slowly and patiently, firstly at home and then school. Hence home and school are the best places for a child to develop Honesty since his/her growing times.

Home and school are the places where a child learns moral ethics. Thus, the education system should ensure to include some essential habits and practices to keep a child close to morality. Children must be instructed right from the beginning and their childhood to practice honesty. Youths of any country are the future of that country so they should give better opportunities to develop moral character so that they can lead their country in a better way.

For all human problems, Honesty is the ultimate solution. Corruption and various problems are everywhere in society. It is because of the decreasing number of honest people. In today’s fast and competitive world, we have forgotten about moral and integral ethics. It is very important and necessary for us to rethink and remodel, that we bring the honesty back in society so that everything goes in a natural manner.

Conclusion:

Moral ethics of a person is known through Honesty. In a society, if all the people seriously practice getting honest, then society will become an ideal society and free of all the corruptions and evils. There will be huge changes in the day-to-day life of everyone. It can happen very easily if all the parents and teachers understand their responsibilities towards the nation and teach their children and students about moral ethics.

People should realize the value of honesty in order to manage social and economic balance. Honesty is an essential requirement in modern time. It is one of the best habits which encourages an individual and make capable enough to solve and handle any difficult situation in his/her life. Honesty acts as a catalyst in strengthening our will power to face and fight any odds in life.

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NPR suspends veteran editor as it grapples with his public criticism

David Folkenflik

NPR suspended senior editor Uri Berliner for five days without pay after he wrote an essay accusing the network of losing the public's trust and appeared on a podcast to explain his argument. Uri Berliner hide caption

NPR suspended senior editor Uri Berliner for five days without pay after he wrote an essay accusing the network of losing the public's trust and appeared on a podcast to explain his argument.

NPR has formally punished Uri Berliner, the senior editor who publicly argued a week ago that the network had "lost America's trust" by approaching news stories with a rigidly progressive mindset.

Berliner's five-day suspension without pay, which began last Friday, has not been previously reported.

Yet the public radio network is grappling in other ways with the fallout from Berliner's essay for the online news site The Free Press . It angered many of his colleagues, led NPR leaders to announce monthly internal reviews of the network's coverage, and gave fresh ammunition to conservative and partisan Republican critics of NPR, including former President Donald Trump.

Conservative activist Christopher Rufo is among those now targeting NPR's new chief executive, Katherine Maher, for messages she posted to social media years before joining the network. Among others, those posts include a 2020 tweet that called Trump racist and another that appeared to minimize rioting during social justice protests that year. Maher took the job at NPR last month — her first at a news organization .

In a statement Monday about the messages she had posted, Maher praised the integrity of NPR's journalists and underscored the independence of their reporting.

"In America everyone is entitled to free speech as a private citizen," she said. "What matters is NPR's work and my commitment as its CEO: public service, editorial independence, and the mission to serve all of the American public. NPR is independent, beholden to no party, and without commercial interests."

The network noted that "the CEO is not involved in editorial decisions."

In an interview with me later on Monday, Berliner said the social media posts demonstrated Maher was all but incapable of being the person best poised to direct the organization.

"We're looking for a leader right now who's going to be unifying and bring more people into the tent and have a broader perspective on, sort of, what America is all about," Berliner said. "And this seems to be the opposite of that."

Conservative critics of NPR are now targeting its new chief executive, Katherine Maher, for messages she posted to social media years before joining the public radio network last month. Stephen Voss/Stephen Voss hide caption

Conservative critics of NPR are now targeting its new chief executive, Katherine Maher, for messages she posted to social media years before joining the public radio network last month.

He said that he tried repeatedly to make his concerns over NPR's coverage known to news leaders and to Maher's predecessor as chief executive before publishing his essay.

Berliner has singled out coverage of several issues dominating the 2020s for criticism, including trans rights, the Israel-Hamas war and COVID. Berliner says he sees the same problems at other news organizations, but argues NPR, as a mission-driven institution, has a greater obligation to fairness.

"I love NPR and feel it's a national trust," Berliner says. "We have great journalists here. If they shed their opinions and did the great journalism they're capable of, this would be a much more interesting and fulfilling organization for our listeners."

A "final warning"

The circumstances surrounding the interview were singular.

Berliner provided me with a copy of the formal rebuke to review. NPR did not confirm or comment upon his suspension for this article.

In presenting Berliner's suspension Thursday afternoon, the organization told the editor he had failed to secure its approval for outside work for other news outlets, as is required of NPR journalists. It called the letter a "final warning," saying Berliner would be fired if he violated NPR's policy again. Berliner is a dues-paying member of NPR's newsroom union but says he is not appealing the punishment.

The Free Press is a site that has become a haven for journalists who believe that mainstream media outlets have become too liberal. In addition to his essay, Berliner appeared in an episode of its podcast Honestly with Bari Weiss.

A few hours after the essay appeared online, NPR chief business editor Pallavi Gogoi reminded Berliner of the requirement that he secure approval before appearing in outside press, according to a copy of the note provided by Berliner.

In its formal rebuke, NPR did not cite Berliner's appearance on Chris Cuomo's NewsNation program last Tuesday night, for which NPR gave him the green light. (NPR's chief communications officer told Berliner to focus on his own experience and not share proprietary information.) The NPR letter also did not cite his remarks to The New York Times , which ran its article mid-afternoon Thursday, shortly before the reprimand was sent. Berliner says he did not seek approval before talking with the Times .

NPR defends its journalism after senior editor says it has lost the public's trust

Berliner says he did not get permission from NPR to speak with me for this story but that he was not worried about the consequences: "Talking to an NPR journalist and being fired for that would be extraordinary, I think."

Berliner is a member of NPR's business desk, as am I, and he has helped to edit many of my stories. He had no involvement in the preparation of this article and did not see it before it was posted publicly.

In rebuking Berliner, NPR said he had also publicly released proprietary information about audience demographics, which it considers confidential. He said those figures "were essentially marketing material. If they had been really good, they probably would have distributed them and sent them out to the world."

Feelings of anger and betrayal inside the newsroom

His essay and subsequent public remarks stirred deep anger and dismay within NPR. Colleagues contend Berliner cherry-picked examples to fit his arguments and challenge the accuracy of his accounts. They also note he did not seek comment from the journalists involved in the work he cited.

Morning Edition host Michel Martin told me some colleagues at the network share Berliner's concerns that coverage is frequently presented through an ideological or idealistic prism that can alienate listeners.

"The way to address that is through training and mentorship," says Martin, herself a veteran of nearly two decades at the network who has also reported for The Wall Street Journal and ABC News. "It's not by blowing the place up, by trashing your colleagues, in full view of people who don't really care about it anyway."

Several NPR journalists told me they are no longer willing to work with Berliner as they no longer have confidence that he will keep private their internal musings about stories as they work through coverage.

"Newsrooms run on trust," NPR political correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben tweeted last week, without mentioning Berliner by name. "If you violate everyone's trust by going to another outlet and sh--ing on your colleagues (while doing a bad job journalistically, for that matter), I don't know how you do your job now."

Berliner rejected that critique, saying nothing in his essay or subsequent remarks betrayed private observations or arguments about coverage.

Other newsrooms are also grappling with questions over news judgment and confidentiality. On Monday, New York Times Executive Editor Joseph Kahn announced to his staff that the newspaper's inquiry into who leaked internal dissent over a planned episode of its podcast The Daily to another news outlet proved inconclusive. The episode was to focus on a December report on the use of sexual assault as part of the Hamas attack on Israel in October. Audio staffers aired doubts over how well the reporting stood up to scrutiny.

"We work together with trust and collegiality everyday on everything we produce, and I have every expectation that this incident will prove to be a singular exception to an important rule," Kahn wrote to Times staffers.

At NPR, some of Berliner's colleagues have weighed in online against his claim that the network has focused on diversifying its workforce without a concomitant commitment to diversity of viewpoint. Recently retired Chief Executive John Lansing has referred to this pursuit of diversity within NPR's workforce as its " North Star ," a moral imperative and chief business strategy.

In his essay, Berliner tagged the strategy as a failure, citing the drop in NPR's broadcast audiences and its struggle to attract more Black and Latino listeners in particular.

"During most of my tenure here, an open-minded, curious culture prevailed. We were nerdy, but not knee-jerk, activist, or scolding," Berliner writes. "In recent years, however, that has changed."

Berliner writes, "For NPR, which purports to consider all things, it's devastating both for its journalism and its business model."

NPR investigative reporter Chiara Eisner wrote in a comment for this story: "Minorities do not all think the same and do not report the same. Good reporters and editors should know that by now. It's embarrassing to me as a reporter at NPR that a senior editor here missed that point in 2024."

Some colleagues drafted a letter to Maher and NPR's chief news executive, Edith Chapin, seeking greater clarity on NPR's standards for its coverage and the behavior of its journalists — clearly pointed at Berliner.

A plan for "healthy discussion"

On Friday, CEO Maher stood up for the network's mission and the journalism, taking issue with Berliner's critique, though never mentioning him by name. Among her chief issues, she said Berliner's essay offered "a criticism of our people on the basis of who we are."

Berliner took great exception to that, saying she had denigrated him. He said that he supported diversifying NPR's workforce to look more like the U.S. population at large. She did not address that in a subsequent private exchange he shared with me for this story. (An NPR spokesperson declined further comment.)

Late Monday afternoon, Chapin announced to the newsroom that Executive Editor Eva Rodriguez would lead monthly meetings to review coverage.

"Among the questions we'll ask of ourselves each month: Did we capture the diversity of this country — racial, ethnic, religious, economic, political geographic, etc — in all of its complexity and in a way that helped listeners and readers recognize themselves and their communities?" Chapin wrote in the memo. "Did we offer coverage that helped them understand — even if just a bit better — those neighbors with whom they share little in common?"

Berliner said he welcomed the announcement but would withhold judgment until those meetings played out.

In a text for this story, Chapin said such sessions had been discussed since Lansing unified the news and programming divisions under her acting leadership last year.

"Now seemed [the] time to deliver if we were going to do it," Chapin said. "Healthy discussion is something we need more of."

Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp and Managing Editor Gerry Holmes. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.

Katherine Maher
uri berliner

Turmoil at NPR after editor rips network for political bias

The public radio network is being targeted by conservative activists over the editor’s essay, which many staffers say is misleading and inaccurate.

Uri Berliner had worked at NPR for a quarter-century when he wrote the essay that would abruptly end his tenure. On April 9, the Free Press published 3,500 words from Berliner, a senior business editor, about how the public radio network is guilty of journalistic malpractice — for conforming to a politically liberal worldview at the expense of fairness and accuracy.

“It’s true NPR has always had a liberal bent, but during most of my tenure here, an open-minded, curious culture prevailed,” Berliner wrote. “We were nerdy, but not knee-jerk, activist, or scolding. In recent years, however, that has changed.”

The essay, whose arguments were disputed by NPR management and many staffers, plunged the network into a week-long public controversy.

Last week NPR’s new CEO, Katherine Maher, indirectly referenced Berliner’s essay in a note to staff that NPR also published online. “Asking a question about whether we’re living up to our mission should always be fair game: after all, journalism is nothing if not hard questions,” she wrote. “Questioning whether our people are serving our mission with integrity, based on little more than the recognition of their identity, is profoundly disrespectful, hurtful, and demeaning.”

The drama reached a pinnacle Wednesday, when Berliner resigned while taking a shot at Maher.

In his resignation letter, Berliner called NPR “a great American institution” that should not be defunded. “I respect the integrity of my colleagues and wish for NPR to thrive and do important journalism,” he wrote in the letter, posted on his X account. “But I cannot work in a newsroom where I am disparaged by a new CEO whose divisive views confirm the very problems I cite in my Free Press essay.”

Berliner’s comments have angered many of his now-former colleagues, who dismissed as inaccurate his depiction of their workplace and who say his faulty criticisms have been weaponized against them.

Berliner’s essay is titled “ I’ve Been at NPR for 25 Years. Here’s How We Lost America’s Trust .” On its face, it seemed to confirm the worst suspicions held by NPR’s critics on the right: that the legendary media organization had an ideological, progressive agenda that dictates its journalism. The Free Press is an online publication started by journalist Bari Weiss, whose own resignation from the New York Times in 2020 was used by conservative politicians as evidence that the Times stifled certain ideas and ideologies; Weiss accused the Times of catering to a rigid, politically left-leaning worldview and of refusing to defend her against online “bullies” when she expressed views to the contrary. Berliner’s essay was accompanied by several glossy portraits and a nearly hour-long podcast interview with Weiss. He also went on NewsNation, where the host Chris Cuomo — who had been cast out from CNN for crossing ethical lines to help his governor-brother — called Berliner a “whistleblower.”

Initially, Berliner was suspended for not getting approval for doing work for another publication. NPR policy requires receiving written permission from supervisors “for all outside freelance and journalistic work,” according to the employee handbook.

An NPR spokeswoman said Wednesday that the network does not comment on personnel matters. Berliner declined The Washington Post’s request for further comment.

In an interview Tuesday with NPR’s David Folkenflik — whose work is also criticized in the Free Press essay — Berliner said “we have great journalists here. If they shed their opinions and did the great journalism they’re capable of, this would be a much more interesting and fulfilling organization for our listeners.”

Berliner’s future at NPR became an open question. NPR leaders were pressed by staff in meetings this week as to why he was still employed there. And some reporters made clear they didn’t want to be edited by Berliner anymore because they now questioned his journalistic judgment, said one prominent NPR journalist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preserve relationships. “How are you supposed to have honest debates about coverage if you think it’s going to be fodder for the point he’s trying to make?” the staffer said.

Berliner had written that “there’s an unspoken consensus” about stories to pursue at NPR — “of supposed racism, transphobia, signs of the climate apocalypse, Israel doing something bad, and the dire threat of Republican policies” — and that the network operated without friction, “almost like an assembly line.”

Several prominent NPR journalists countered that impression. “We have strong, heated editorial debates every day to try and get the most appropriate language and nuanced reporting in a landscape that is divisive and difficult to work in as a journalist,” Leila Fadel, host of “Morning Edition,” told The Post. “Media and free independent press are often under attack for the fact-based reporting that we do.” She called Berliner’s essay “a bad-faith effort” and a “factually inaccurate take on our work that was filled with omissions to back his arguments.”

Other staffers noted that Berliner did not seek comment from NPR for his piece. No news organization is above reproach, “Weekend Edition” host Ayesha Rascoe told The Post, but someone should not “be able to tear down an entire organization’s work without any sort of response or context provided, or pushback.” There are many legitimate critiques to make of NPR’s coverage, she added, “but the way this has been done — it’s to invalidate all the work NPR does.”

NPR is known to have a very collegial culture, and the manner in which Berliner aired his criticism — perhaps even more than the substance of it — is what upset so many of his co-workers, according to one staffer.

“Morning Edition” host Steve Inskeep, writing on his Substack on Tuesday , fact-checked or contextualized several of the arguments Berliner made. For instance: Berliner wrote that he once asked “why we keep using that word that many Hispanics hate — Latinx.” Inskeep said he searched 90 days of NPR’s content and found “Latinx” was used nine times — “usually by a guest” — compared to the nearly 400 times “Latina” and “Latino” were used.

“This article needed a better editor,” Inskeep wrote. “I don’t know who, if anyone, edited Uri’s story, but they let him publish an article that discredited itself. … A careful read of the article shows many sweeping statements for which the writer is unable to offer evidence.”

This week conservative activist Christopher Rufo — who rose to fame for targeting “critical race theory,” and whose scrutiny of Harvard President Claudine Gay preceded her resignation — set his sights on Maher, surfacing old social media posts she wrote before she joined the news organization. In one 2020 tweet, she referred to Trump as a “deranged racist.” Others posts show her wearing a Biden hat, or wistfully daydreaming about hanging out with Kamala D. Harris. Rufo has called for Maher’s resignation.

“In America everyone is entitled to free speech as a private citizen,” Maher wrote in a statement to The Post, when asked about the social media posts. “What matters is NPR’s work and my commitment as its CEO: public service, editorial independence, and the mission to serve all of the American public.”

Maher, who started her job as NPR CEO last month, previously was the head of the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that operates the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. An NPR spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday that Maher “was not working in journalism at the time” of the social media posts; she was “exercising her first amendment right to express herself like any other American citizen,” and “the CEO is not involved in editorial decisions.”

In a statement, an NPR spokesperson described the outcry over Maher’s old posts as “a bad faith attack that follows an established playbook, as online actors with explicit agendas work to discredit independent news organizations.”

Meanwhile, some NPR staffers want a more forceful defense of NPR journalism by management. An internal letter — signed by about 50 NPR staffers as of Wednesday afternoon — called on Maher and NPR editor in chief Edith Chapin to “publicly and directly” call out Berliner’s “factual inaccuracies and elisions.”

In the essay, Berliner accuses NPR of mishandling three major stories: the allegations of the 2016 Trump campaign’s collusion with Russia, the origins of the coronavirus , and the authenticity and relevance of Hunter Biden’s laptop. Berliner’s critics note that he didn’t oversee coverage of these stories. They also say that his essay indirectly maligns employee affinity groups — he name-checks groups for Muslim, Jewish, queer and Black employees, which he wrote “reflect broader movement in the culture of people clustering together based on ideology or a characteristic at birth.” (Berliner belonged to the group for Jewish employees, according to an NPR staffer with knowledge of membership.) He also writes that he found NPR’s D.C. newsroom employed 87 registered Democrats and zero Republicans in editorial positions in 2021. His critics say this figure lacks proper context.

Tony Cavin, NPR’s managing editor of standards and practices, told The Post that “I have no idea where he got that number,” that NPR’s newsroom has 660 employees, and that “I know a number of our hosts and staff are registered as independents.” That includes Inskeep, who, on his Substack, backed up Cavin’s assessment.

Berliner also wrote that, during the administration of Donald Trump , NPR “hitched our wagon” to top Trump antagonist Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) by interviewing him 25 times about Trump and Russia. Cavin told The Post NPR aired 900 interviews with lawmakers during the same period of time, “so that’s 3 percent. He’s a business reporter, he knows about statistics and it seems he’s selectively using statistics.”

Cavin said some inside the organization agree with points Berliner made, even if they “don’t like the way he went about it. The irony of this is it tells you how diverse as an organization we are, in ideological terms.”

“There are a few bits of truth in this,” NPR international correspondent Eyder Peralta wrote on Facebook. But he said the essay “uses a selecting reading to serve the author’s own world views” and paints with “too broad a brush.”

“I have covered wars, I have been thrown in jail for my work,” Peralta told The Post, “and for him to question part of what is in our nature, which is intellectual curiosity and that we follow our noses where they lead us, that hurts. And I think that damages NPR.”

Some staffers have also been attacked online since the essay’s publication. Rascoe, who, as a Black woman host for NPR, says she’s no stranger to online vitriol, but one message after Berliner’s essay labeled her as a “DEI hire” who has “never read a book in her life.”

“What stung about this one was it came on the basis of a supposed colleague’s op-ed,” whose words were “being used as fodder to attack me,” Rascoe said. “And my concern is not about me, but all the younger journalists who don’t have the platform I have and who will be attacked and their integrity questioned simply on the basis of who they are.”

NPR, like much of the media industry, has struggled in recent years with a declining audience and a tough ad market. NPR laid off 100 workers in 2023, one of its largest layoffs ever , citing fewer sponsorships and a projected $30 million decline in revenue.

Going forward, some staffers worry about the ramifications of Berliner’s essay and the reactions to it. The open letter to Maher and Chapin said that “sending the message that a public essay is the easiest way to make change is setting a bad precedent, regardless of the ideologies being expressed.”

An earlier version of this article included a reference to Uri Berliner's Free Press essay in which Berliner cited voter registration data for editorial employees of NPR's D.C. newsroom. The article has been updated to clarify that this data was from 2021, not the present day.

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Watch CBS News

Viral claims about Donald Trump's hush money trial, fact checked

By Laura Doan , Rhona Tarrant

Updated on: April 17, 2024 / 9:35 AM EDT / CBS News

As former President Donald Trump's historic criminal trial gets underway in New York this week, the CBS News Confirmed team has been tracking potentially misleading narratives that have gained some traction on social media. Here are three of the viral claims that have emerged during the trial so far and what to know about them.

Claim 1: Judge Juan Merchan won't let Trump go to his son's graduation

On Monday, Trump posted to his nearly 7 million followers on Truth Social that Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the trial, likely will not allow him to go to his 18-year-old son Barron's graduation in May.

"Who will explain for me, to my wonderful son, Barron, who is a GREAT Student at a fantastic School, that his Dad will likely not be allowed to attend his Graduation Ceremony, something that we have been talking about for years," Trump wrote in a post that had garnered over 18,000 likes by Tuesday.

The claim was echoed by others online, including his son Eric Trump, who posted on X that "Judge Merchan is truly heartless in not letting a father attend his son's graduation."

Merchan has not yet made any decision about whether Trump can attend his son's graduation. But on Monday, he signaled that he's open to it, although it is also possible that if the trial is behind schedule, he will not allow it. In an excerpt from the court transcript obtained by CBS News' Graham Kates, Merchan said this:

Regarding counsel's request that the Court adjourn on Friday, May 17th for Mr. Trump to attend his son's high school graduation and Friday June 3rd to allow a member of the defense team to attend their son's graduation, I cannot rule on those two requests at this time. It really depends on how we are doing on time and where we are in the trial. If everything is going according to schedule without unnecessary delays, then I am sure we will be able to adjourn for one or both of those days, but if we are running behind schedule, we will not be able to.

Claim 2: Stormy Daniels denies having an affair with Trump

In a tweet from April 10 flagged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Monday as a potential violation of Trump's gag order, Trump wrote on Truth Social: "Look what was just found! Will the fake news report it?" The post included a picture of a 2018 letter written by adult film star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, which included the statement, "I am denying this affair because it never happened."

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican operative Roger Stone, and others shared the same picture in posts on X that attracted over 60,000 "likes."

Although it was presented by Trump as being new, this letter from Daniels has been public knowledge since January 2018 — and she has since recanted it. A few months after she signed her name to it, in March 2018, Daniels went on " 60 Minutes " to say she had been pressured into signing and releasing the letter by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen and others. Daniels said that she did have an affair with Trump.

Here's what she said on "60 Minutes" to correspondent Anderson Cooper:

Anderson Cooper: So you signed and released — a statement that said, 'I am not denying this affair because I was paid in hush money. I'm denying it because it never happened.' That's a lie? Stormy Daniels: Yes. Anderson Cooper: If it was untruthful, why did you sign it? Stormy Daniels: Because they made it sound like I had no choice.

She went on to tell Cooper that she felt there might be legal repercussions for not signing the letter.

"The exact sentence used was, 'They can make your life hell in many different ways,'" she said. She believed "they" in that case was Michael Cohen.

Claim 3: Trump's gag order is unconstitutional

Trump posted on Truth Social Monday, "This Crooked Judge has GAGGED me. Unconstitutional! The other side can talk about me, but I am not allowed to talk about them!" The claim was later echoed by others on social media.

Merchan's  April 1 gag order prohibits Trump from speaking about witnesses, court staff, the family members of court staff, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's family, or Merchan's family. The judge said the order was necessary because some of Trump's rhetoric might keep jurors, lawyers and court employees from performing their duties in the court.

"This pattern of attacking family members of presiding jurists and attorneys assigned to [Trump's] cases serves no legitmate purpose," Merchan wrote of Trump in the gag order. "It merely injects fear in those assigned or called to participate in the proceedings, that not only they, but their family members as well, are 'fair game' for Defendant's vitriol."

Trump is still allowed to criticize Merchan and Bragg. And the former president may talk about the case publicly and call the trial political if he wishes.

Many legal experts argue Merchan's gag order is lawful and doesn't interfere with Trump's First Amendment rights. Duncan Levin, who worked in the district attorney's office before Bragg, told Politifact that gag orders "with very limited exceptions have long been found not to violate the First Amendment… [Trump] is free to discuss the criminal justice system but not to make ad hominem attacks on particular people associated with the case."

However, Trump's lawyers have challenged the order and said it is unconstitutional because it curbs his free speech rights. Trump's request to lift the order will now go to a five-judge panel for consideration.

Donald Trump

Laura Doan is a reporter and associate producer for "Prime Time with John Dickerson." She covers the climate crisis, science and technology, and U.S. politics.

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12 jurors have been picked for Donald Trump’s hush money trial. Selection of alternates is ongoing

A jury of 12 people was seated Thursday in former President Donald Trump’s history-making hush money trial. (AP Production: Javier Arciga)

Two jurors in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial were dismissed Thursday, one after expressing doubt about her ability to be fair and impartial and the other over concerns that some of his answers in court may not have been accurate.

A jury of 12 people was seated Thursday in former President Donald Trump’s history-making hush money trial, propelling the proceedings closer to opening statements and the start of weeks of dramatic testimony.

Former President Donald Trump holds up news clippings as he speaks following his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Timothy A. Clary/Pool Photo via AP)

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Former President Donald Trump speaks with the media while holding news clippings following his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings during jury selection at Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, April 18, 2024 in New York.(Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings during jury selection at Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, April 18, 2024 in New York.(Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump speaks alongside attorney Todd Blanche as they return from a lunch break in his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)

Former President Donald Trump gestures, while he returns to Manhattan criminal court in New York, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump walks out of the courtroom during a break at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)

Former President Donald Trump, second from left, watches juror number d2 speak at the podium to Judge Juan Merchan in Manhattan criminal court regarding her desire to be excused from the jury after " sleeping on it” and having concerns about her ability to be fair and impartial, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP, Pool)

Former President Donald Trump, seated far left, looks on with Judge Juan Merchan presiding as members of the jury panel answer questions from the jury questionnaire in Manhattan criminal court Thursday, April 18, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP, Pool)

Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings during jury selection at Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, April 18, 2024 in New York. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump holds up news clippings as he speaks following his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Attorney Todd Blanche listens at left. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court during jury selection in New York, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings during jury selection at Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, April 18, 2024 in New York. (Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court during jury selection in New York, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)

NEW YORK (AP) — A jury of 12 people was seated Thursday in former President Donald Trump’s history-making hush money trial , propelling the proceedings closer to opening statements and the start of weeks of dramatic testimony.

The court quickly turned to selecting alternate jurors, with the process on track to wrap up by the end of the week. Prosecutors could begin presenting their case early next week.

What to know about Trump’s hush money trial:

Trump will be first ex-president on criminal trial. Here’s what to know about the hush money case.
A jury of his peers: A look at how jury selection will work in Donald Trump’s first criminal trial .
Donald Trump is facing four criminal indictments, and a civil lawsuit. You can track all of the cases here.

The jury of Manhattanites includes a sales professional, a software engineer, a security engineer, a teacher, a speech therapist, multiple lawyers, an investment banker and a retired wealth manager.

The first-ever trial of a former American president is unfolding in New York during this year’s race for the White House, meaning the presumptive Republican nominee will spend his days in court confronted by salacious and unflattering testimony about his personal life while simultaneously campaigning to reclaim the office he held for four years.

He’s made clear his determination to use his legal jeopardy, already a central issue in the race against Democratic incumbent Joe Biden, to his advantage. After a full day of jury selection, he complained to reporters that he should have been out campaigning but was in court instead for what he said was a “very unfair trial.”

Former President Donald Trump attends jury selection at Manhattan criminal court in New York, April 15, 2024. (Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP, File)

“Everybody’s outraged by it,” he said. “You know the whole world’s watching this New York scam.”

Jury selection proceeded at a plodding pace earlier Thursday when two jurors were dismissed, one after expressing doubt about her ability to be fair following disclosure of details about her identity and the other over concerns that some of his answers in court may have been inaccurate.

But lawyers who began the day with only five jurors settled on the remaining seven in quick succession, along with one alternate. Judge Juan Merchan has said his goal is to have six alternates.

The process of picking a jury is a critical phase in any criminal trial but especially so when the defendant is a former president and the presumptive Republican nominee. Prospective jurors have been grilled on their social media posts, personal lives and political views as the lawyers and judge search for any bias that would prevent them from being impartial.

Inside the court, there’s broad acknowledgment of the futility in trying to find jurors without knowledge of Trump. A prosecutor this week said lawyers were not looking for people who had been “living under a rock for the past eight years.”

Former president Donald Trump, comments after visiting a bodega, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, who’s owner was attacked last year in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

To that end, multiple jurors chosen for the panel acknowledged having personal opinions of Trump or his presidency.

One juror, a man who works in investment banking, earlier described himself as “ambivalent” about Trump, adding, “I might not like some of his policies, but there has been some good” for the country.

A woman picked for the jury said she thought Trump seemed “very selfish and self serving,” adding, “I don’t really appreciate that from any public servant.” Defense lawyers were out of peremptory strikes, which would allow them to dismiss a juror without giving a reason.

The trial centers on a $130,000 payment that Michael Cohen , Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer, made to porn actor Stormy Daniels to prevent her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump from becoming public in the final days of the 2016 race.

Prosecutors say Trump obscured the true nature of the payments in internal records when his company reimbursed Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2018 and is expected to be a star witness for the prosecution.

Former President Donald Trump addresses the media following the second day of jury selection, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at Manhattan criminal court in New York. Trump is charged with falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal during his 2016 campaign. (Justin Lane/Pool Photo via AP)

Trump has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels, and his lawyers argue that the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses.

Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He could get up to four years in prison if convicted, though it’s not clear that the judge would opt to put him behind bars. Trump would almost certainly appeal any conviction.

Trump faces four criminal cases, but it’s not clear that any others will reach trial before the November election. Appeals and legal wrangling have caused delays in the other three cases charging Trump with plotting to overturn the 2020 election results and with illegally hoarding classified documents .

The jury selection process picked up momentum Tuesday with the selection of seven jurors. But on Thursday, Merchan revealed in court that one of the seven, a cancer nurse, had “conveyed that after sleeping on it overnight she had concerns about her ability to be fair and impartial in this case.”

And though jurors’ names are being kept confidential, the woman told the judge and the lawyers that she had doubts after she said aspects of her identity had been made public.

“Yesterday alone I had friends, colleagues and family push things to my phone regarding questioning my identity as a juror,” she said. “I don’t believe at this point that I can be fair and unbiased and let the outside influences not affect my decision making in the courtroom.”

A second seated juror was dismissed after prosecutors raised concerns that he may not have been honest in answering a jury selection question by saying that he had never been accused or convicted of a crime.

AP AUDIO: 2 jurors dismissed from Trump hush money trial as prosecutors seek to hold ex-president in contempt.

In an AP interview defense attorney Arthur Aidala says the lawyers make sure to check social media pages of potential jurors.

The IT professional was summoned to court to answer questions after prosecutors said they found an article about a person with the same name who had been arrested in the 1990s for tearing down posters pertaining to the political right in suburban Westchester County.

A prosecutor also disclosed that a relative of the man may have been involved in a deferred prosecution agreement in the 1990s with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting Trump’s case.

Because the juror was questioned Thursday at the judge’s bench, off-microphone and out of earshot of reporters, it was not known whether the man confirmed or denied that either instance was connected to him.

After dismissing from the jury the nurse who had already been selected, Merchan ordered journalists in court not to report prospective jurors’ answers to questions about their current and former employers.

“We just lost, probably, what probably would have been a very good juror for this case, and the first thing that she said was she was afraid and intimidated by the press, all the press, and everything that had happened,” Merchan said.

In other developments, prosecutors asked for Trump to be held in contempt over a series of social media posts this week.

The district attorney’s office on Monday sought a $3,000 fine for Trump for three Truth Social posts they said violated the judge’s gag order limiting what he can say publicly about witnesses. Since then, prosecutors said Trump made seven additional posts that they believe violate the order.

Several of the posts involved an article that referred to former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen as a “serial perjurer,” and one from Wednesday repeated a claim by a Fox News host that liberal activists were lying to get on the jury, said prosecutor Christopher Conroy.

Trump lawyer Emil Bove said Cohen “has been attacking President Trump in public statements,” and Trump was just replying.

The judge already scheduled a hearing for next week on the prosecution’s request for contempt sanctions over Trump’s posts.

Tucker reported from Washington.

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