Juan Williams news analyst fired from NPR

[Liteninbolt]

What in the world was head of NPR thinking firing this fine person? Apparently he feels like most Americans about boarding a plane if there happens to be people who wear what appears to be Muslim garb...nervous. One statement from his mouth merits a firing from a government funded radio station is outrageous. I don't agree with some of views, but integrity his is beyond reproach. Then he is branded as being unstable of mind...unbelievable. This is a shameful act.

[Humpty]

i don't mind, they can fire or hire whoever they want. if someone wants to be xenophobic in a company whose business depends on public image and political correctness...well, that's a stupid mistake.

[Liteninbolt]

NPR espouses freedom of speech. Plus, Juan was what they considered as being their only minority of race(African American). Not to mention the comment he made was not made on NPR, but on his own time. So, what about their position on political correctness. NPR should lose their government funding over this debacle.

[Humpty]

OH NO THEY FIRED THE TOKEN BLACK DUDE. He messed up. He paid for it. I'd find it more outrageous if they ignored his mistake just because he's black and they think they need a token black dude. White guy says "Nappy-headed ho" and the whole country hates him, black guy says something equally bigoted...I don't see why it deserves a significantly different response.

[Liteninbolt]

I'm sure NPR will receive their well deserved backlash for their knee-jerk PC response from both sides of the political spectrum. Juan has a well justified wrongful firing suit to bring to court against NPR.

[PavlovianModel146]

The funny thing about freedom of speech is that just about everyone will defend it to the death until you say something they don't like.

[Humpty]

freedom of speech doesn't mean the right to not get fired. the secret police aren't knocking his door down. he just lost his job. if i started calling my boss a n*gger and got fired, would you then start defending my "freedom of speech" as well? or would you say, "ur a fucking idiot, why did you say that?"

freedom of speech an getting fired for saying the wrong thing are unrelated topics. completely unrelated.

[Liteninbolt]

I believe some other under lying aspect is behind this. If it had been NBC, CBS or ABC, there would have been a reprimand instead of a firing. It seems to me since NPR is a pubicly funded organization with government ties, pressure may have come from the present administration. If NPR loses it's government funding, they wouldn't fare well in the private sector.

[Humpty]

that must mean NPR isn't worth paying for...for anybody. if removing government funding means the business collapses, it really can't be providing that valuable of a service.

[Liteninbolt]

That seems like a fair assessment.

[PavlovianModel146]

I believe some other under lying aspect is behind this. If it had been NBC, CBS or ABC, there would have been a reprimand instead of a firing. It seems to me since NPR is a pubicly funded organization with government ties, pressure may have come from the present administration. If NPR loses it's government funding, they wouldn't fare well in the private sector.

CNN just recently got rid of Rick Sanchez, and I don't believe he was on any kind of CNN program when he said what he said either. I think he was on some show on Sirius/XM.

I also think that NPR would survive in the public sector, they would just have to eliminate many of the markets in which they broadcast. I've driven all over the place in my life, and I have heard NPR (on FM at that) in some places you really wouldn't expect.

[Liteninbolt]

CNN just recently got rid of Rick Sanchez, and I don't believe he was on any kind of CNN program when he said what he said either. I think he was on some show on Sirius/XM.

Do you think Sanchez was fired over something as innocuous as what Williams had said?

[PavlovianModel146]

CNN just recently got rid of Rick Sanchez, and I don't believe he was on any kind of CNN program when he said what he said either. I think he was on some show on Sirius/XM.

Do you think Sanchez was fired over something as innocuous as what Williams had said?

I know he wasn't, but either way it was a shot taken at a specific Religion. That's really all that matters with respect to the media, it's a black/white affair, it's either PC or it's not; there is no gray area.

[Xunzian]

Juan Williams is not the only person of color on NPR, nor is he the only African-American on NPR. I don't know where you got that source from.

He's been a problem for a while, vacillating between balanced news analyst on NPR and opinionated pundit on FOX. While there is a place for both news analysts and pundits, those two hats can't sit comfortably on the same head -- it is a pretty direct conflict of interest. Juan Williams has been disciplined by NPR several times over the past few years for overstepping that particularly shaky line, notably from his appearances on the O'Reilly Factor. This isn't a one-time event. After repeatedly ignoring warnings and reprimands given to him by his employers at NPR, he was finally fired for violating NPR's code of ethics.

I don't see what is controversial about this except for the fact that the right has a long-standing grudge against NPR and is grasping at straws to criticize it.

[tentative]

The message Williams sent to all Americans was that we need to be afraid of Muslims. I could expect that sort of bullshit from fux news, but not from a supposedly neutral news analyst and I don't give a rat who he works for. NPR would lose 2% of it's budget if government funding was pulled. BFD. The wingnuts are just looking for any opportunity to smear anyone or organization that doesn't pimp their line of horseshit.

[uglypeoplefucking]

i'm basically with you, Tent - while i'm not sure the comments he made (when taken in context) warranted his being fired, i do understand NPR's concern and think they were totally within their rights to let him go - the fact that they receive a miniscule amount of federal funding doesn't change the fact that they should be able to exercise this kind of discretion. This is not a freedom of speech issue.

[Liteninbolt]

The good news to come from all of this that the Fox News Corp. has recognized Mr. Williams' potential and has picked him up. I suppose NPR values political correctness over integrity and honesty.

[tentative]

The good news to come from all of this that the Fox News Corp. has recognized Mr. Williams' potential and has picked him up. I suppose NPR values political correctness over integrity and honesty.

Mr Williams was already working for fux, supposedly providing "balanced" reporting, which was nothing more than a sham. Integrity and honesty? From fux news? You have to be kidding! And drop the PC bullshit. Williams was supposed to be a neutral analyst, and neutrality says you don't express opinions that might lead viewers to think you are reporting "news". And what was his opinion? That we should fear anyone dressed as a Muslim. Great fucking reporting, huh? NPR isn't the problem, Williams' obvious bigotry is the problem. He had the audacity to say, "I'm not a bigot". Shades of Nixon declaring, "I'm not a crook". He deserved to be fired from any real news organization. That's why he is now with fux, where there is no news, just wingnut bullshit.

[Xunzian]

How does a person who routinely wears two incompatible hats leading to him violating his professional code of ethics which he agreed to relate to the concepts of "honesty" and "integrity"?

[anon]

How does a person who routinely wears two incompatible hats leading to him violating his professional code of ethics which he agreed to relate to the concepts of "honesty" and "integrity"?

These days "honesty" and "integrity" are synonyms for expressing your feelings about something, at any particular moment in time, and in any and all contexts.

[jonquil]

I think it's very interesting and telling that Williams just got a $2m contract to work for Fox. I know what I think.

[Liteninbolt]

Here is an interesting analysis from Bob Beckel who is a dyed-in-the-wool far left commentator concerning the firing of Juan Williams.

[jonquil]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-m ... 72766.html

Dear Juan,

Sorry to hear you got fired by National Public Radio for saying on Fox that you get nervous when you see Muslims on a plane with you. It was dumb to say such a thing, but I don't think saying one dumb thing should be a firing offense. (I DO think an NPR journalist wanting to take money from Fox News to be a regular commentator should be a firing offense, but that's another story).

But there's more to this -- and some important things that everyone is missing.

For instance, what you said about Faisal Shazad, the Pakistani immigrant who wanted to bomb Times Square. When he was being sentenced this month, he claimed, according to you, that his attempted attack was just "the first drop of blood." We can't let political correctness blind us to this, you explained.

I guess Shahzad made a big impression on you, because after being fired you went back on Fox and told them, "You can't ignore the fact what has recently been said in court with regard to 'this is the first drop of blood in a Muslim war against America.'"

Sadly for you (and this is also why you shouldn't be working for a real news organization like NPR), Shahzad never said that. If you were a real journalist, you would have quoted him accurately. What he actually said was that he was the "first droplet of the flood," not blood. But I know how easy it is to mishear things when scary Muslims are talking. And I guess it's not a huge difference anyway.

What really matters is that you're 100% right: We shouldn't let political correctness stop us from paying close attention to what people like Shahzad say. The problem is you just haven't taken it far enough.

MM then goes on to show what Shahzad has actually had to say... most enlightening.

Would that the press were truly free, and that journalists were actually journalists.

[Liteninbolt]

Here is Alan Colmes take on Juan Williams dismissal:

If You Believe Juan Williams Shouldn’t Have Been Fired, Where Were You About Imus? Sanchez? Ward Churchill?Posted in Liberaland by Alan • October 21, 2010, 7:53 PMET •

Glenn Greenwald makes some good points about the inconsistency with which we judge the acts of others. Juan Williams should not have been fired, but those who agree with that didn’t always have similar opinions about others who made comments that were not very PC and which offended, resulting in termination.

Professor Ward Churchill was the bogeyman of the right which eventually succeeded in pushing the University of Colorado to fire him for his unpopular speech. Churchill is still fighting to get his job back. It’s especially chilling when professors at institutions of higher learning have to watch what they say.

Bill Maher lost his “Politically Incorrect” show for saying something that was politically incorrect. Are Juan Williams’ defenders the ones who defended Bill Maher? Imus shouldn’t have been fired from two jobs simply for being Imus. His contract even stipulated that he couldn’t be fired without a warning, a provision which was ignored. As for Rick Sanchez, even the person he criticized, Jon Stewart, said he shouldn’t have been fired.

Yes, let’s stand up for Juan Williams. And Ward Churchill, Bill Maher, Imus, and Rick Sanchez. And, while we’re at it, Helen Thomas.

Source: http://www.alan.com/2010/10/21/if-you-b ... Liberaland)

[uglypeoplefucking]

should we be tolerant of intolerance? i don't see why, if we are trying to be an objective-minded news organization. the question then becomes was Williams' remark an intolerant one, or is he just admitting what we already know: that we all have racist feelings, even those of us who don't technically hold racist views? or is it both questions? i too would feel a tinge of alarm if i were getting on a plane with a muslim. should a muslim be a cause for alarm these days? part of me says sure, another part of me regrets that it is that way, and only the strictly rational part of me says no. sometimes i don't trust the strictly rational part of me tho - who knows what part of the logic i might be missing? not me.

i doubt an actual terrorist would want to call attention to him or herself at the airport by dressing as a muslim, tho. it was a stupid thing to say, for a respected news analyst, a stupid feeling to publically admit to millions (or is it billions by now?) of people

but it wasn't alone a firable offense - he was trying to fit in with the FOX news crowd - i'm sure they were courting him anyway, and NPR looking for a reason to let him go - everybody gets what they want, only NPR fails to forecast the shitstorm, which, too, was pretty stupid. of course, Williams doesn't look so stupid when you consider the money he's fallen into. this was very skillfully handled by FOX and ineptly handled by NPR. that doesn't mean NPR should be punished for doing what they are within their rights to do, but it does mean NPR comes out looking bad - at least to the people who have always looked badly upn NPR - namely, the FOX news zombies.

conservative David Brooks denies NPR is an ideological organization, but then again he works for them - my general impression is that he is correct, but maybe it is because i lean left and therefore fail to notice the slant?