What do you think of NPR firing Juan Williams?
Juan Williams has been a regular voice on NPR for years, providing some reporting and regular political punditry.
His role has often been controversial, in part because he also spends a lot of time offering his views on Fox News.
According to various news reports, NPR finally cut Williams loose yesterday after he made the following comments (quoted here from a transcript on the Huffington Post website) to Fox’s Bill O’Reilly.
“I mean, look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.”
NPR media reporter David Folkenflik tweeted about the controversy yesterday, sending the following message
NPR terminates contract of longtime analyst Juan Williams for comments made on Fox News about Muslims. More to come.
During his appearance on Fox, Williams argued that political correctness is clouding our view of the conflict between the West and Muslims. Watch the video here.
NPR issued a statement which says that Williams’ comments were “inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR.”
Last year, NPR asked Fox news to stop identifying Williams as an NPR news analyst, though as of yesterday the cable news network was still doing so.
NPR’s decision is certain to be controversial. In a blog post this morning, Time magazine columnist Mark Thompson suggested that public radio executives were censoring a dissenting viewpoint.
Tags: media
Survey of Muslim attitudes:
http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/pdf/feb09/STARTII_Feb09_rpt.pdf
Andrei Codrescu on ‘All Things Considered’
“The evaporation of 4 million [people] who believe in this crap would leave the world a better place.”
It was about Christians and he didn’t get fired.
And your point is?
Andrei Codrescu is a poet not a news commentator. Poets get their own special license.
If I were NCPR, I would be angry with NPR for firing Williams just before the start of a fund raiser. I hope it doesn’t cost you a few member’s support but it probably will.
To knuckleheadedliberal who asks “What’s wrong with trying not to be offensive,” I ask why not be offensive when it’s a one way street?
If western women are required to wear head cover in a Muslim country, why shouldn’t western countries, such as France is doing, prohibit Muslim women from wearing head covers?
There is an old saying. East is east and west is west and never shall the twain meet. If we were just talking about a religion, I don’t think there would be a problem. But when a religion takes over a government, any religion, and uses the government to cram its doctrines, rules and prohibitions down everyones throat without any regard to what their religion might be, there is a problem.
And I’m not just talking about Islam here. Same goes for all forms of Christianity and every other religion.
It’s one thing to have a viewpoint or belief different from another. It’s a whole other ball game when you use or try to use a government to enforce with laws a particular viewpoint or belief. Freedom is a very fragile thing and can easily be trampled when debate is silenced by using PC and mustn’t offend anyone tactics.
Speaking of being offensive, I find that so called Christian group who pickets funerals of soldiers killed in action to be truly offensive. How would they feel if a bunch of gays, dressed in thongs, picketed their church?
Would that be wrong? Would the government allow it? Would the good townsfolk allow a topless bar to open across from the church? Where do you draw the line? Where does the nonsense end?
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, if pornography is known when you see it (according to community standards, whatever that might be), then what is offensive is in the eyes and ears of the beholder and not much of anything else. It’s a phantom people use to claim they are better than someone else and I find that offensive.
Sorry. Poetic license!
Regarding Pete’s comment about the timing of this in relation to NCPR’s upcoming fundraiser I will say that it has given me pause. I have always regarded NPR as more balanced than most other media sources but I now wonder. I had already submitted my renewal electronically but briefly thought perhaps I should reconsider. I won’t because I believe that the local station is reasonably balanced and there is already too much knee jerk response going on including NPR’s actions against Juan Williams.
I re-read Juan Williams entire statement.
Wow what a mistake by NPR, he talked about how this is a fear that is not based in fact, he made the major error of being honest about things many Americans think about. It would have been a great conversation to have; and of course address the fears and address the misconceptions that people have. But now it is silenced and a message has been sent to other employees of NPR.
‘ “The evaporation of 4 million [people] who believe in this crap would leave the world a better place.”
It was about Christians and he didn’t get fired.’
Correct but then again NPR didn’t have to worry about thousands of Christians rioting and killing people if their faith gets denigrated. They didn’t have to worry about the religious leader of an entire Christian country issuing a death warrant against them a “fatwa” that any Christian who can has a duty to kill him if they can.
I mean we wouldn’t want to offend anyone.
Ellen, many Washington journalists go on TV shows and express opinions. Some worked in government for one party or the other. I don’t condone this, but it’s reality. So I am curious as to how Juan Williams crossed the line in the past. As to the most recent incident, he didn’t even express an opinion. He was describing his reaction to seeing Muslims on a plane. So is NPR firing him for having these thoughts or for admitting in public that he has such thoughts? Either way, it makes NPR look like the Thought Police.
NPR did the right thing.
1. Williams is not some bozo with a mic saying the first thing that comes into his head, he measures every word.
2. This has nothing to do with the first amendment: he is free to stand on a street corner and proclaim his opinions to all and sundry.
3. Muslims who plan to blow up planes do not dress in traditional garb. The 9/11 hijackers spent years in the US blending in. Williams comment is not only impolitic, it reveals a not very sharp intellect.
Late comment. Whatever this incident may, or may not, show about about NPRs alleged liberal bias, it certainly has demonstrated a healthy range of perspectives among NCPR’s listeners.
NCPR news staff regularly voice their opinions here on the In Box. Are you all about to be fired for doing so? Juan Williams wasn’t even saying what he felt on NPR. It was on FOX where he has a different role. If he was fired for also working for FOX then there should have been an exclusivity clause in his NPR contract. That there wasn’t is NPR’s fault. This is wrong. It is being politically correct thought police.
Isn’t it interesting that the best way to get those on the Right to defend an NPR commentator is to fire him.
oa: “Mannimals”– good one!
He was fired because he is a man of color, where’s Sharpton, Jackson, Rangel et al. Shoe’s on the other foot NPR, how does it make you feel. :)
After thinking more about it, if I was on the NPR board I would fire Schiller and rehire Williams. She put a huge target on NPR with this decision.
I think Mr Bullards 7:47 comment hits the mark. I listened to NCPR and NPR 4-5 hours a day or more back when I was still gainfully employed riding the roads in the Adk’s. I’ve heard a lot of commentary over the years that has been far, far more…ill considered(?) than Williams. This isn’t about professional standards, it’s about Fox.
I just want to add this, I don’t watch much tv news. Sometimes I’ll turn on Fox and then MSNBC and then CNN. I don’t like the way Fox does news. I mean real news, I don’t like the way many of the networks do it. Just read the stupid news and get on with it. The commentary is something else, the talking heads only differ in their slant. Listen Maddow or Olbermann and then listen to O’Reilly or Hannity- you get the same degree of slant form both sides with O’Reilly being closest to neutral. So I don’t see what the big deal is anymore. You choose what you want to listen to. We have choices. Most of the commentary like The View (gag!) or Beck is clearly biased in one direction or the other. Some people act like Fox is the end of the world when all it is is another choice. NO news organization is without bias, I don’t care what you guys say. NBC planted bombs on pickups when they wouldn’t explode right, Reuters photoshopped explosions, NCPR’s station manager publicly took a political stance a few years back. Okay, so they have bias and opinions. They are also doing what they feel is right. As long as we’re aware of that and realize we don’t get just who, what, where, when , why and how anymore why is one evil and all the rest good?
I guess I just don’t get it.
Yet NPR never had issues with crotchety old Daniel Schor
knuckleheadedliberal,
While I don’t believe someone should intentionally be offensive (most of the time), I don’t believe one should live their life trying not to be offensive.
I guess I’m of the old school and really do believe, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.”
People have become just to darn sensitive. It’s as though they search to find offense in everything that is said and done.
Back to NPR and Williams.
Maybe Brian Mann should close down this blog. Maybe some touchy-feely person at NPR will be offended by one of his opinions. Maybe we can achieve 100% unemployment in this country when everyone is fired because they have an opinion that offends someone.
You simply cannot live your life without OFFENDING someone. Make that plural.
If you want me to offend you Pete, I’ll be happy to.
Trying to defend this firing is beyond the pale to reasonably people. Your (NPR) blind defense of this act confirms the worst fears people have about NPR/PBS being a provider of slanted news coverage not at all unlike Fox News. If you want to fire the guy so be it, but to do do it in this manner is just plain crazy. Then your tone deaf CEO , the next day in her own defense of the firing, alludes that he was mental unfit. Perfect.
I have thought for years tax payer funding of NPR/PBS was wrong but it was never a hot button issue. Now I hope Congress wrist slaps you by ending it, as my family will do with our yearly donations to NCPR.
Hello Mr. Williams! Hit the street jack… Literally, go run for congress. I’d vote for your campaign…